For the ‘Soft Prototyping’ module, as part of an introduction to physical computing, I worked on a very small Arduino based project called “Dustbinator”. The project is a very small scale project which is aimed to give an overall introduction on how Arduino works and how can we leverage it’s capabilities using a wide range of sensors.
The Dustbinator project uses an Arduino and an IR sensor to indicate trash level in a dustbin.
The Arduino Codes are provided below. Continue reading
As a semantics & communication theory exercise, I redesigned a color shade card keeping usability, in terms of functionality and scalability, as the main objective when secondary objectives like highlighting new shades, highlighting new or extra quantity tubes available are present.
The following is the first crude version of the shade card.
The first version of the shade card
Considering the semantics & the functionality aspect of the Shade Card, a couple of issues accompany this design.
As part of the Usability Evaluation Course, I had to read a lot of research papers on a topic of my choice. I opted for ‘Wearable Device in Interaction Design’ which apparently is a very huge and hot research topic.
The presentation below is the result after going through several research papers on the area.
Doing myself a favor as well as hoping to help some of the design enthusiasts out there, I am sharing a few thoughts about getting in at one of India’s best Design school. Honestly, I decided to write this post in the hope of saving myself from a lot of troubles of repeatedly telling each and every individual who asks me on ‘how to prepare’ for the examinations, the design aptitude tests and the interview. By the levels I’ve witnessed who reached out seeking for help, it seems many of the students are still new to the whole concept of ‘design’ and being a ‘designer’, well at least as far as I can understand. I’ve the modesty to say this because I think I’ve gained quite a considerable amount of knowledge as a designer in the past 1 and half year of my career. This fall I will be joining the Master in Design Program at the Industrial Design Centre, IIT Bombay and although I still have not joined yet, I believe this post will give a foothold to the aspirants; at the same time, when someone asks me the ‘how to question’, I could just share this link. Most probably, I would keep this post updated as I walk through the experience once classes starts, but until then, here we are.
Notice the two circular markings at the end of the toothpick. They are not only for decorative purposes. One is where a person breaks off the toothpick after it has been used to signify that it's a 'used' one. The second mark is to use as a peg to put the used pick on a flat surface so as that the tip doesn't touch the surface. Photo via Cosmic Thought
Design, as a matter of fact is subjective and some people may disagree with what I’m going to tell you here but nevertheless I believe you will gain some insights on the whole idea about it anyway. With saying this, it would rather be the wrong approach if you are looking for a crash-course or something of the kind hoping to get through design examinations and to become a good designer. Although towards the end of this post I’ve shared a couple of ’Quick notes‘ which you can go through if you are looking for a quick reference but let me remind you no amount of study materials I share or anyone else for that matter will cover the design substance a great designer needs. I would prefer if you would understand the approach, the attitude and the mentality of what makes a designer from within! Continue reading
Here is a collection of 10 of the best TED talks on design and creativity for your inspiration. If you can add more, leave us at the comments.
1) Amy Tan on Creativity
2) David McCandless: The beauty of data visualization
3) Don Norman on 3 ways good design makes you happy
Taking Meitei Mayek (the original Manipuri script) into a higher level, Mayek Design Project is doing a promising work on reviving the forgotten script with design in the forefront. This is probably the first or maybe even the only project till now that attempts to highlight the importance of the script of the culturally rich Manipuri society through typography.
Designers' Handbook of the Manipuri Script - The Mayek Project
The Mayek Design Project’s mission in their Facebook Page reads
To promote awareness and importance of the Manipuri Script in the present world and to make sense of our genuine existence in the culturally rich state otherwise having a poor show of script design which has been kept dominated by borrowed Bengalee script for the last 282 years.
The script as used today, as per my speculation seems to lack the typographic design edge following the adoption of digital devices. As such the various types existing today are a mixture of personal designs or improvisations. Continue reading
For designers and developers alike, if you have not watched this CUSEC 2012 talk by Bret Victor yet, you should watch it. Although it may be a little lengthy (54 mins), I’d say it’s worth it.
In the talk, Bret shows a ‘live coding prototype’ in which results and feedback are shown and reflected directly as you code.
Anyway, there has been enough posts and reposts on this video on various blogs and if you do a google, you’ll find several discussions or opinions from various people. What’s interesting about the prototype Bret showed is that, it is now becoming real!
Gabriel Florit has created a live demo based on Bret’s talk at http://gabrielflor.it/water and it’s called ‘Water‘.
