Shilp Sangrah - Design Bank
Digital Information System
An idea to promote local handicraft and help sustain the rare craft of NE India
Saulkuchi Local Artisans
Artisan in action while making high quality silk in Saulkuchi – a village near Guwahati
High quality Silk Work
High quality silk sarees in display at local store in the village at nominal price
Hajo Bell-metal artisan
Traditional bell-metal work at Hajo earning very little on the finished products
Hajo Bell-metal artisan
Metal vases ready to be shipped to local contractors who make enormous profits
Initial Wireframes/IA
Conceptualization of a digital system than can allow artists to get better price for their craft
Final E-commerce Website
E-commerce section of the design bank showcasing rich hand crafted products
GIS Interface – Material
Prototype of a GIS to show the process and materials used in making the final product
GIS Interface – Products
GIS prototype showing local stores selling the product that the end user is interested in buying
Usability testing
A short usability test of the e-commerce section of the website to usability issues
Promotion Brochure
Brochure design to promote the design bank and publicize its unique feature
GIS enabled online platform to showcase and trade handicraft products made by local artisans of North-East India
The local artisans of North-East India possess unique art form and create high quality handicraft products. But due to inadequate infrastructure and over dependence on middlemen, the artisans are left highly underpaid. In addition, the lack of awareness of the craft amongst the buyers also affects the return on these high quality products.
Concept
Shilp Sangrah is designed to increase sustainability of local artisans in North-East India by providing a digital platform to trade and showcase their craft and finished products. This GIS based system comprised of two components: an e-commerce portal showing products and the GIS based interface showing the process behind development of the products. The two sections were integrated to give the end users (buyers) the rationale and efforts (art form) behind making these product.
Recommendation and data of this Bachelor thesis project was shared with the Government of India (planning commission) initiative to use technology in uplifting the local artisans in the NE India region.
Project Context
- Jan 2008 to May 2009
- Bachelor Thesis Project
- Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati
- Thesis Report
Techniques
- Literature Review
- Contextual Inquiry
- Field Study
- GIS data collection/analysis
- Interviews
- Competitive Analysis
- GIS Prototyping (arcGIS)
- Web Development
- Usability Evaluation
Team
- Abhinav Gupta, Student
- Subhrajit Das, Student
- Saurabh Vyas, Student
- Prof. R. M. Punekar, Guide
- Prof. A. K. Das, Guide
- Prof. C. Mahanta, Advisor
Design Process
Shilp Sangrah
The project aimed to provide a human centric design solution to allow sustainability of the artisans in North-East India. During the initial research and literature review it was found that the artisans have to face several challenges to sustain their traditional art and ancestral art form.
Field Study: To learn more about Artisan's problems, we conducted several field study and contextual inquiries. We went to nearby villages of Saulkuchi to learn about Silk handicraft and Hajo to learn about bell-metal handicrafts.
