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Sacred Digital Experiences

Cleaning is a sacred act. It has been done in the Indian culture (and also in other cultures around the world) since times immemorial. The Indian culture and traditions have been full of rituals and ceremonies in almost every event. And all of these rituals happen after an act of cleaning. There are festivals in which you have to clean up the houses as a compulsion, as it is said that the goddess of wealth, Lakshmi, only enters those houses that are clean. In the traditional times (and also to a large population even today), people would not even take food without cleaning themselves up completely after bathing and performing a sacred ritual. This is even done in the coldest of months, and in the harshest of conditions. Many see these acts as cleaning the human soul. At times the act of cleaning also signifies the need to keep off the bad omen and the evil spirits. An extension of this is the ridiculously superstitious ceremonies that are held widely across the country. In times of adversities, the gods are summoned even more and every bit of effort is made to please the gods, so that the souls can be ‘clean’ and the society ‘cleaned’ of the adversity.

Being an Indian, who is religious, and who does not take any food on all most all days without having a shower (unless of course if I am starving), and who wants the goddess of wealth to bless me, I think that “Cleaning my computer’s desktop” (more specifically on a Mac) is a truly sacred act. The sacred experience that I have every time I have to clean my desktop gives me a joy and a sense of satisfaction that perhaps no other act does.

I see the computer’s desktop as an . . . → Read More: Sacred Digital Experiences

Comments are closed   experiencedesign, HCI, Interaction Design, writings    

FACED (For A Collaborative Effort in Design) framework

FACED: For A Collaborative Effort in Design – Reflections on a framework for design in India.

Indian Design Industry today is faced with an identity crisis. Having worked in the design industries across continents, amongst cultures that are so different from one another, it is interesting to see the ways in which design is practiced. This essay is to provide a reflective analysis of the present scenario of design profession in India and also to provide a framework for looking ahead and facing the challenges that lie ahead. While the analysis is currently limited to and based on Interaction Design, it can be expanded to view the other frameworks in design.

The FACED Framework.

The metaphor used for the FACED (For a Collaborative Effort in Design) framework here is that of a face. It is an epitome of a perfect design. It is with this wholeness that the Indian Design needs to face the world. Neglecting even one of them would lead to incompleteness in the face and hence the efforts could be lacking. In particular the face is that of a Brahman priest, who is considered to be the highest class in the erstwhile existing caste society in India. Design to me is a profession that is of the highest class and hence this association.

The boundaries of the face signify the Design in India presently. The internal parameters (the Stake holders, the Real, the Evangelism, the Judgment) that lie within the boundaries are the ones that the designer has control over directly. The external parameters (the Theory and the Criticism, as denoted with the ears) are the ones, which have been controlled from the outside.

Within all these the designer has to become a reflective practitioner. The center of the forehead is used to signify the . . . → Read More: FACED (For A Collaborative Effort in Design) framework

Comments are closed   HCI, Interaction Design, writings    

Semiotic Theory application in Graphic Design Critique

I think that understanding of the sender / recipient , addresser/ addressee is really important as a designer. Just like we discussed in one of our class with the case of the User Research, I think that using this understanding is really important while doing brand identity and logo design. Here is a case of Bharti , one of India’s industrial powerhouse. The context being discussed here is the company changing their logo recently.

Old Logo

So when a company goes in for a change in their brand identity, in most cases they they get it done by a different design company (or individual at times). So we have a change in the sender. For the designer doing the design, the recipient of the design is the client. But the final addresser perhaps would be the entire company and the addressee the audience to which the design is presented (the you and me). Thus one can see how they are all different in this case.

New Logo

The sender (the actual person) here would be the person who designed the logo in the design team (which one is not sure, as many times groups in India have it done by non-designers), the actual addresser in this case is the company, Bharti (group of companies rather). This is not the same as , the founder / owner of the company speaking through the design. It’s a non human that we are being spoken by. In this case one does not even think that its Sunil Mittal the CMD, who is speaking to the addressee.

When the client (addresser) has a vision , then does it hold the same for the designer (sender) as well? While designing a logo for a company with any . . . → Read More: Semiotic Theory application in Graphic Design Critique

One comment - (Comments are closed)   critical theory, critique, writings
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