In her graduation project, she chose to work with Serene Design, a start-up working with different craft communities. There, she had to come up with two collections of terra-cotta home decor accessories and develop a range of earthenware glazes. She was given the freedom to work with any allied craft along with terra-cotta.
Her design process started with understanding the role of hand crafted products and terra-cotta in an urban scenario. Her research focused on human perception of Terra-cotta, hand craft products and user preferences of decorating their living space. Answers to these questions gave her critical insight to the needs and aspirations of urban users.
As the project went ahead, she chose to work on a collection of terra-cotta decor accessories which could be sold before the Diwali festival and another collection that presents a beautiful collaboration of terra-cotta with Sabai grass craft of Odisha. The ideation process was a combination of sketches, doodles and 3D pencil drawings. The main challenge was to design products which can be mass produced by a craft community and had the feel of studio pottery designs. Her learnings at NID helped her collaborate with artisans in an ethical way that would benefit them and bring their hard work and skill in the current market scenario. The Covid-19 situation in the country became a massive hurdle in this project and the timeline was extended. Nevertheless, the project concluded in the best possible way. In the prototype, jute is used instead of Sabai grass as the Covid situation hampered travel to Odisha.
Overall, this was an exciting journey of questioning her learning, trying to find the right direction, and exploring something extraordinary at every stage. In this documentation, she has tried to share her journey.
Craft Based, Home Decor Accessories, Sabai Grass Craft, Sustainable, Terracotta Decor
