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The lack of something is the sign of its arrival. The recognition of this void brings us the knowledge of its absence.  And the seekers and curious beings we are, we begin to look for it.

We human beings are probably wired to constantly find or create such voids. But then we are also known to have egos which force us to present ourselves as omniscient beings.

For those of you who ever watched the BBC comedy “Goodness Gracious Me” there was this character who would reply to anything with “I knew that”. That’s the case with the most of us, isn’t it? The lack of knowledge is such a big taboo that we try hard to hide it.

To learn anything new, one has to start from the recognising its absence, going on to seeking it and then acquiring it. Our social system blocks us out right at the first stage. “I don’t know” is a phrase to be avoided and eventually a thought that is erased from our minds.

A design process is aimed at solving a problem and finding an answer you do not know as yet. If you did, then it would’ve happened. You start form an “I don’t know” phase, listing down things you do not know and need to know more about. As you go along with finding them, you discover more things you didn’t know about. It is a constant process of learning through the knowledge of its absence. And during this process the ambiguity of the problem fades away and a solution emerges.

Doing a pitch for a project means skipping this very important state of learning and unlearning and giving solutions based on false assumptions. It is being untrue to the ultimate aim of finding a good contextual solution to the problem.

The end is always a new beginning. Life is a full circle. Human intervention has caused several roadblocks in this path of nature, consequences of which our race is struggling to deal with. As per Design Council’s Annual Review 2002, eighty percent of the environment impact of the product, services and infrastructure around us is determined at the design stage.

Design is not limited to just creating new objects to bring a change to our world, but its main aim is to transform the habits, perspectives and lifestyles of people. One designer who shines in bringing such transpositions with his creations is Anuj Sharma.

Our friend and associate Anuj has created a niche in the market using existing material creatively and is always eagerly awaited for every year to show something creative and wearable. Anuj believes that design should be sustainable. The cause is dear to his heart and he practices this in all his creations without the typical media hullabaloo that motivates other designers. Instead of using newly created environmentally products, he believes it is better to use what already exists and give them a new and acceptable form. “Design essentially is about bringing a change”, he says.

Our minds often get stuck to the most obvious use of an object. The lack of imagination here becomes our biggest enemy, as it forces us to clutter our world with newer objects that we could’ve done without.

When asked to create a bag for people to use to donate their old clothes, he thought of a very simple, obvious and yet a different solution. He created bags using old clothes. Avoiding any new material or extreme processing, the process is simple and can be applied to most garments in order to hold clothes.

This design can be used in our day to day lives to storage and is especially helpful to people short on space and money. When stacked together these bags form a montage and buttons on the clothes allow easy access to clothes, creating a functional, portable and affordable wardrobe. It is a technique easily learnt, used and passed on. Using existing material in this fashion is an intervention in the product’s lifecyle which prolongs its usage, also making the disposable of clothes more planet-friendly.

You should try making these bags too by referring to the slideshow and share your experience with us.

It’s loads of fun!

Even if you are selling a product, it is providing a service to the customer which is the reason for him/her to buy it. Every business is a service business. Thus, it becomes extremely important to understand a service system. By understanding a service system, it allows one to create a better or a new service, make customers happy and make more profits!

A service is provided by a service provider. There are a number of offerings in a service. These offerings are provided to the customer through a range of interactions, which are called touchpoints. A customer may not interact with all the touchpoints. Every customer would interact with the touchpoints differently. The touchpoints he interacts with, the quality of the touchpoints, the synchronisation amongst the various touchpoints, all of these factor affect the value that the customer gets.

For example, when you subscribe for a caller tune on your mobile phone, this facility is an offering by the mobile service provider. The way you get informed about the service, the interface with the service, the agent that helps you with the service, etc. are the touchpoints of the service. Each of them should gel well to provide you a smooth experience of getting and using a caller tune for your mobile phone. When the caller tune is as per your want, it is easy to subscribe or edit, you feel that you have received something of value.