PRE-THESIS PROJECT 2018
THE TRICKY TRAY STUDENT:
VIKRANT MISHRA
PROJECT:
You Are What You Eat
SPONSOR:
Self initiated
PROGRAM:
Undergraduate Professional Programme
AWARD:
Industrial Arts and Design Practices
GUIDES: Shiuli
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THE TRICKY TRAY
Pre-Thesis Degree Project 2018 7
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CONTENTS
13 Acknowledgement 15 Proposal 27 Research
RESEARCH PHASE
28 Understanding the Brief 31 Lotus Blossom 32 Influences 34 Questionnaire 36 Survey 47 Talk with the Staff 48 Insights 50 Experiments
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56 Design Core 58 Concepts 77 User Personas 81 Inspiration 83 Parallel Products 85 Prototyping 87 Material Sourcing
DESIGN PHASE
89 3D Printing 91 Fabrication 93 Final Product 114 Dimensions 118 Investments 119 Color Palette 120 Business Canvas 123 Reflection 125 Bibliography
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This Pre- Thesis project is more permanent and ephemeral in many ways. It has nurtured my mental faculties and has provided innumerable learnings about human and sustainability. I am proud to have undergone a mindful process and produce something universal yet so centric at the same time. Endless gratitude goes to Shuili who efficiently and brilliantly mentored me through the project. As a facilitator she steered me in the right direction whenever I needed it. Her guidance and expertise in this sensitive subject of food and sustainability helped me to think through the project, with my research and in the production of the project. A heartfelt thank you to Athreya Zerfas who relentlessly guided me and helped me shape my project. His passionate participation and inputs about the habitual pattern reading exercises, the design elements and food grade materials appropriate for the Indian audience furthured me to widen my research from various perspectives. I also thank Mr Giridhar, from Tata Elexi who brought life to my design as he helped in the 3-D printing and the production. His valuable insights on the consumer health friendly plastic and food grade materials that are appropriate, broadened the knowledge about my own design. I also had the opportunity to work with Mr. Imran, the fabricator who not only gave finishing touches to the product but also shared knowledge from his practice. His advice and suggestions to use food grade lacquer and other processes extended the scope of the product. A very special gratitude goes out to Aditya Tupe’s unfailing support in carrying out this project. His comments, critiques and suggestions were highly enriching. His knowledge and skill of the software, Solidworks, helped me develop a detailed design for my product. Thank you to Soukarni Barai, Aditya Tupe and Sushant Sharma for simulating discussions, insightful comments and encouragement. Working with similar concepts of sustainability, they helped me grow my project conceptually and intellectually.
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I also thank my dear friend, Jumana Motiwala for being a constant support throughout. She was a part of all the material explorations held, and insightful expeditions to the plastic and acrylic industries. Together, we gathered facts on certain appropriate materials for product fabrication and production. I am highly indebted to Neel Pendse, who enthusiastically worked with me through the production of the shoot and in documenting the product. His ideas about the user-testing scenarios, effectively captured the essence and functionality of the product. I also appreciate Aniket Godbole’s efforts and photography skills in helping me document my product mock-ups. Some special words of gratitude go to Soukarni Barai, Vedika Lall, Priyanka Shah, Jishnu Bandopadhyay and Aniket Godbole for being a major source of support and motivation. Thank you to these friends for enduring sleepless nights of working before deadlines with me. They have been around for all the highs and lows and for sharing ideas and fears. Nobody has been more important to me in the pursuit of this project than the members of my family. I would like to thank my parents and my brother whose love and guidance are with me in whatever I pursue.
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PROPOSAL
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RESEARCH STATEMENT “Throwing away food is like stealing from the table of those who are poor and hungry.� -Pope Francis.
The issue has lots of segments, in which the wastage happens at various stages and scales. The importance of food waste stretches from environmental pressures to economic and social impacts. The following research looks into the Indian context of food wastage that happens in mess halls.
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RESEARCH PROBLEM Especially in places like mess halls, where food is served in larger quantities and not in smaller portions, the consumption rate is immense. Being part of the Indian society, we’re habitual to taking food in larger quantities, without thinking once about the leftovers that go into the dustbin/landfill. Apart from excessive consumption, excessive food serving habits, prevalent in the Indian culture also add to the generation of food wastage. This project aims to focus on impacts of culturally developed serving habits as well.
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APPROACH The research looks into various habitual & psychological factors that affect food wastage directly and indirectly. This includes factors like food preferences, ethnicity, consumption rates, size of portions, number of meals etc. It also looks closely at lots of cultural influences that affect the food serving practices, ways of consumption and patterns/styles of eating.
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AIM The project aims at preventing food wastage in mess halls, before it reaches the dustbin. This includes newer and better design for mess plates and utensils. This takes in play the psychological & subconscious aspects, to prevent one from overeating & discarding food. The design will be brought to life by keeping the Indian food consumption habits & cultural practices in mind.
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BACKGROUND Looking at food wastage through the context of psychology is something that is new in the Indian context. That is because on researching further, not much data was obtained in this sector. The subject requires further study because psychology plays a major role in the way food is consumed. Indian weddings and ‘bhandaras’ are a great location for one to study food consumption psychology. It also brings to light the culture of over serving food in these gatherings because the hosts are bound by the code of “Atithi Devo Bhava”. They tend to order food in quantities larger than the invited crowd. Particularly in India, about 130-150 plates of extra food is prepared at these events. This is simply to avoid the embarrassment of not being able to provide enough to a guest. India produces about 10% of the world’s consumable food out of which 40% of untouched food is wasted.
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ASSUMPTIONS The people are culturally wired to follow the act of consuming and providing a lot of food. This is leading to most of the food waste that is generated in mess halls. The cultural practices are embedded so intrinsically in the mind sets of people that it is now subconscious. Not following these very “rules� makes one feel like they are falling short of their duties as an Indian citizen. It is also known that a lot of waste is generated in systems like mess halls and catering services. Unfortunately, this data is based on experience and there is less to no empirical data on this niche subject. This is why the project aims to target these systems.
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Thousands of Kg of food waste is discarded at the biggest institutions in our country every day. It can be estimated that tons of food waste is produced in dining facility every year, a part of which enters the municipal solid waste systems, while the rest goes to local landfills. A very small percentage also goes to local poultry farmers to feed their animals.
There are various causes which leads to major wastage of food in these campuses. Too much extra food is cooked in in the mess, People take more than, they actually eat and quality of food also affects the quantity of wastage. Since sometimes it happens that a person has a wish to eat the food but due to poor quality of food he/she throw it in dustbin and prefer other food facilities/options. A similar food serving scenario is the mess hall in large institutions. Food is prepared in extremely large quantities and many factors affect whether the food will be consumed entirely or not. It also happens to be among the leading contributors of food wastage in the country due to overserving, overconsumption, food production mishaps and much more.
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INQUEST • How were currently existing mess plates originally designed? • How cultural practices affect food consumption habits in urban settings? • Statistics on food waste generated in mess halls • Does the food quality affect consumption patterns? • Consumption durations based on food items • Cross cultural presence in mess halls and varying perspectives of the mess plate • Food plate sizes and forms affecting Psychology • Adaptability to the proposed design. • Food consumption in excess due to abundance • Study of food utensils in India - materiality, form, function and history.
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RESEARCH DESIGN & METHODS A small-scale survey will be conducted in order to establish food eating preferences of students in mess halls. This survey will enable us to obtain at least some form of data to study patterns and habits. The project may also gather first-hand information from the people who work in the mess through interviews. This will be done to understand the other side of the story. It will explain food production habits, their budgets and multiple other factors that contribute to the food management and provision. Secondary research will also be done by visiting the web for accumulating data and statistics. Not many scholarly articles are available on this subject so the project is relying on news articles, videos and blog entries. The following is a summary of the next stages of this project: • Collection of surveys and interviews from people • Ideation and finalizing the concept • Building mock-ups and prototyping • User-testing • Adaptability to the proposed design. • Food consumption in excess due to abundance • Study of food utensils in India - materiality, form, function and history.
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EXPECTED RESULTS To develop a design that will enable lesser food wastage. The aim is to come up with an intervention that will trick a user into believing that they have consumed a lot but in reality it will not be so. It was also enable generation of lesser food waste due to small consumption.
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RESEARCH
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UNDERSTANDING THE BRIEF Food Wastage is among one of the leading causes of our depleting and limited natural resources. First world countries being the front runners in contributing to this waste category. One would expect well established economies to be better functioning in terms of this matter but the facts have proven otherwise. As we narrow our lens to India we notice that this problem exists here too. An article by The CSR Journal claims that the food waste generated by India amounts to nearly 58,000 crores per year (Food Wastage in India 2017).
The issue has lots of segments, in which the wastage happens at various stages and scales. The following map looks into various stages of food production, processing and retail where wastage could occur. The importance of food waste stretches from environmental pressures to economic and social impacts.
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To dig a little deeper, we went through an exercise called ‘the crazy eight’. The exercise expected us to come up with eight different instant ideations/ concepts in a really short period of time. It really helped us in exploring different ideas through various possible sectors. The activity brought in lots of contrasting concepts and variety in our ideation processes. The time constraints in the activity helped us explore the design problem and little deeper than how we would have normally. The first hand ideations that were generated are as following.
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LOTUS BLOSSOM The Lotus Blossom technique focuses the power of brainstorming on areas of interest. It does so through the use of a visual representation of ideas and is similar to a mindmap, but is more structured and pushes you in ways you don’t experience in classic mind-mapping. The activity helped us in varying and focusing down our concepts into various elements that the given design problem worked upon. It also focused on different key design elements and details that could possibly be explored to make the design more efficient and successful.
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INFLUENCES
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For this project, I used my personal influences to the kind of food I’ve been influenced by and exposed too. My family background is cultured through Northern India, while I’ve been born and brought up in the west. And now I’ve been living in the southern one for my studies since last three years. During all of these phases I’ve been associating food from a certain zone with certain qualities. While the food in the North focuses on gravies, spices and feasts, the food in the south talks about aromas, portioning and healthier consumption behaviors. What I’ve observed is the intersection of the both that happens in the west. The west uses the concept of ‘thali’ to use the gravies from the North and portioning techniques from the South. This intersection of my personal experiences helped me zoon into the feelings and keys that people associate with food and their community/region.
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QUESTIONAIRE Name: Age: Occupation: Location: Sandhya Mess / Umesh Mess / Anita Mess / Other
Contact Number:______________
Are you a local resident of Bangalore? Yes / No How long have you been living in Bangalore? _____________________________________________________________________________________________ What would you prefer from the following? Self-cooked food / Mess Food / Restaurant Food How many times in a week do you eat out? _____________________________________________________________________________________________ When and where was the last place you ate out? _____________________________________________________________________________________________ How often do you cook? _____________________________________________________________________________________________ What is the kind of food that you prefer to cook? _____________________________________________________________________________________________
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At what speed do you consume your food? Slow / Moderate / Fast Is the mess plate sized perfectly with respect to the quantity of food you consume? Yes / No What is the type of plate that you generally use in the mess? Plates with / without compartments How many sections do you generally use in the mess plate? One / Two / Three / Four / Depends How many times do you refill your plate? Once / twice / thrice / more Do you think the design of the plate could be improvised? Yes / No
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SURVEY
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LOCATION Srishti Institute of Art Design & Technology is located in Yelahanka New Town, one of the major suburbs in Bangalore city. The area constitutes of multiple colleges and independent residents who live in an assortment of flats, individual bungalows and gated communities. Since it was known that a lot of college students are residents within the area, the presence of PG’s and hostels was obvious. Due to primarily being private colleges, the systems established found were mostly PG’s. being directly in contact with the PG system of Srishti Institute, it was a more feasible option to study them.
Yelahanka New Town is a pretty large area with Srishti students present close to the college vicinity and also sporadically present in external apartments and gated communities living independently. The Survey did not study those present outside PG systems as it does not have a regulated system of food production. Narrowing down further, it was found that the PG system established has multiple PG’s existing within it. Each located within close vicinities of each other but being run in different ways. The common factor was that these PG systems had a similar system in terms of their mess halls where food was served. To gauge the general stakeholders of this PG system a survey was conducted. Names of major PG owners were listed down to gather a general number of the students present in each of these establishments. The image mentioned below is the data that was obtained.
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AGE DEMOGRAPHIC Students go to college at varying paces. Some are studying their double degrees, some who have taken a couple of years off before joining into the college. On obtaining the age groups of the people surveyed it was found that there were broadly two sections within the age groups. One constituted the students who had an early start in education; those who are early on track in terms of their academic cycle. On the other hand, the second group constitutes of students who are aged 21 and above. This age group defines those who are right on track and maybe pursuing their second degrees. It helped us establish the age average of the students surveyed. The food consumption patterns were easier to establish with this data. Those who were below 21 showed that they consumed food less number of times in their mess halls. On the other hand, those above 21 displayed more maturity when it came to consumption. They invested more occasions eating in the mess and not outside to save on money. The age distribution is depicted in the chart below.
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CONSUMPTION PATTERNS Once the age demographic was established it seemed suitable to study their consumption habits. Time is of the essence for students going to college. With their busy schedules many students tend to skip eating in the mess. Many who do visit the mess take a lot of food out of hunger but do not consume it entirely due to overestimation. Since time came up as an important parameter, we surveyed how fast or slow one generally eats. The data collected shows that most of the students did invest their time in a calculated manner when it was about mess visits. Followed by that, an equal number of slow and fast readers were recorded.
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FOOD PREFERENCES The freedom of choice that students obtain once they live away from their families shows in this report. It is interesting to note that most of the students surveyed preferred self-cooked food. It resonated with their homesickness and need for homely food. Right after this category is the second leading categoryRestaurant food. Restaurant food is mostly unavailable when one is at home with their families. The ease of availability, optimum monthly allowances and uncompromised taste factor contributes to the students preferring restaurant food. Finally, mess food follows these two categories as the third preferred option for these students.
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COOKING HABITS In an astonishing contrast to the previous data obtained where 40% of the students preferred self-cooked food, comes our next chart. Almost 71% of the student’s cook less than four times in a week with 5% who don’t like cooking at all. On the other end of the spectrum, 15% of the student’s cook every day. This is unfortunately still a smaller number when compared to the number of students who don’t cook. The contrast in the data makes one question the authenticity of the answers provided by the student. The results are conflicting but are a good source of study about the psychology target.
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PLATE SECTION USAGE To understand functionality and usage habits the survey also questioned students about how many sections they really use within mess plates. The maximum usage of three sections seems to be influenced by the menu PG’s usually prepare. There is always a lentil curry along with an additional vegetable curry consumed with rotis or a portion of rice. Some PG’s have larger plates with 6 sections in them. These plates aren’t used entirely as it doesn’t seem that there is a need for it. Four sections are used out of the entire available space explaining the unnecessity of the design. There was even a new option created by those answering the survey titled “Depends”. This 25% explain the constantly changing aspect of the menus in certain PG’s. It was learnt that some PG’s reserved leftovers from the previous meal to avoid waste. This increased the number of items available and hence the need for the extra compartments.
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PLATE REFILLING HABITS Despite the fact that mess food is the third choice for students to pick, they do consume it in a healthy quantity. 49% of the students go in for a second helping of food due to the excess availability. They do not think about how much a body needs but are mostly focused on filling their stomachs to the brim. The free food psychology of a person consuming more when a surplus is available is displayed here. 38% of the group said they served themselves twice. It was observed that the students actually tend to overserve themselves only in their first serving. Those who were serving themselves twice are usually very hungry or the mess is providing them with an exotic preparation on certain days of the week. An example of that would be, Umesh mess. They serve non veg preparations of food only on three days of the week which is almost half of the week.
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DESIGN IMPROVISATION Understanding the need of the audience is primary. This was the reason behind the last question of the survey “Do you think the design of the mess plate can be improved?� 85% of the students believe that the design does need to alter. They also provided side note suggestions about what they would wish to see changed. Some said that the sections which holds curries could be deeper so that one serving would be enough. Some pointed out the unnecessary extra sections and asked that they be removed from the existing design. This strong verdict explains that users are most definitely facing issues in terms of the functionality of mess plates. It also asserts the aim of this project to reduce the waste being generated by enabling a better food consumption experience.
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TALK WITH THE STAFF In an interview with the head chef of Sandhya PG the entire food preparation system was understood. The name of the head chef is Yogesh. The ingredients are sourced from their monthly suppliers. They are then stored based on them being wet or dry. The Dry groceries include lentils, pulses and spices which are stored for a maximum of 15 days only. Wet groceries include vegetables and meats which are stored only up to 3 days. On some occasions these materials go bad and are discarded instantly. From the storage these ingredients then go into the kitchen. The ingredients are prepared (i.e. chopped, peeled or grated) or used as is for the cooking process. There are two types of waste generated during this process. The waste generated after chopping or peeling the ingredients and the other waste generated when the food prepared does not match up to the standard quality. These are also discarded instantly. Finally, the food prepared enters the mess hall where it is served for consumption. Here the food again falls into two categories. Untouched food, which the students haven’t eaten. This untouched leftover food is usually consumed by the staff or discarded if in excess. This is because the food cannot be saved for later. The second category is Touched food. This is the food being consumed by students. Here the food that they overserve themselves is what goes to the waste. All this waste generated aggregates to nearly 60-70 kg’s of food waste per day. That sums up to nearly 20-30 meals per day. This data is astonishing because it almost sums up to 2100 kgs of food waste per month from just one PG. This waste is ultimately collected by the BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagra Palike).
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INSIGHTS
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EXPERIMENTS
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HANDLING In this experiment, ‘engagement frames’ of the already existing plates in the mess were designed. The aim was to study how people pick up/handle plates/dinnerware. The main activities that were observed taking action were moving or handling things by lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling, carrying, holding, and restraining. The activity helped in adding more details to the product and its form in terms of ergonomics and material handling.
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VISUAL MARKING
While studying the semantics in details of a product, I discovered that certain visual level markers could play a really important role in affecting and influencing one’s amount of food being served/consumed. For the experiment, I took two common found parts of dinnerware i.e. a bowl and a glass. Certain markers were made on these utensils on a lathe machine, visible enough for anyone to see from a distance.
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There were two interesting observations that were made while the experiment was being conducted. People tend to perceive and utilize markers more when it came to liquids and semi-liquid food items (dal, curries, curd etc.) in comparison to solid food items (salad, rice, crispies etc.). From the tally of these markers being used, most of the people filled their utensils one third the size of it, only when the markers were provided.
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GESTURE MAPPING
The main focus of this experiment was to track/trace down the hand gestures and patterns that people make with their hands while eating. For this, I provided some of my friends with paper plates and food with high concentration of turmeric. They were then asked to use that plate and their hands to eat that given food. Certain patterns were generated at the end of the activity which were later decoded into certain forms and shapes. These shapes were used to design sections for the dinnerware, making the movement of the hand easier resulting in proper and clean consumption of food off the plate. 55
DESIGN CORE
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After conducting innumerable amount of experiments and studies, these were the key factors that I decided to finalize my down upon. These factors vary through a lot of different sectors, perspectives and lenses. These factors were majorly divided in two categories that influence people and their
lifestyles the most. Both of those being social and cultural influences segregated into smaller key elements. Lots of these elements contributed in proceeding forward through the project in a very focused manner.
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CONCEPTS
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An entirely new wireframe concept of a modular plate was deigned made out of stainless steel. The frame is supposed to hold on to the plastic modular sections being put on it, while the food is being served and consumed.
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A modular dinnerware was designed taking in consideration the flexibility of food portions during meals. The design constitutes of a bigger plate accompanies with two smaller bowls. The provided design makes the bowls sit easily because of the angles and the elevation provided. The same bowls could simply be picked up from one end and could be fixed on the outer edge on another side. The fixing happens because of the provided ‘snap and fit’ mechanism. The design lets you easily flex though different size of the meals across the different types of meals.
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The first-hand mock up of the finalized design, made entirely out of Sun-board.
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Various types of forms of secondary tray were designed and experimented with. The forms were majorly inspired from the various already existing assortment trays used in high-end modular kitchens.
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After an extensive research, various fitting mechanism were studied and explored to find out the best one that could work. The finalized option was the ‘snap and fit’ mechanism especially engineered for products made out of plastic and food grade products.
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USER PERSONAS
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SATISH | 35 Runs a Food Catering Service/Business Middle Class Has a good taste in Modern Kitchenware Progressive
GIRIDHAR | 55 Owner of a housing facility Upper-Middle Class Socially Aware Well Educated
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Madhu | 47 Parent, Working Woman Well Educated Upper-Middle Class Outgoing
YOGESH | 30 Commercial Chef Lower Middle Class Health conscious Experimental
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INSPIRATION
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PARALLEL PRODUCTS The existing mess plates and glasses in the mess were looked at with a closer lens. The largest plate that is available in the mess is steel in colour and is made of stainless steel. There are two rectangular and three circular section which makes it a total of five sections in the plate. The depth of each section is close to .8 inch. These plates are used for the two big meals of the day i.e., lunch and dinner. The second plate available is made of brown polypropylene plastic. There are three compartments for liquids, two large rectangular compartments for the staple items and one section for the spoons or forks. That makes up six sections in total. The depth is close to an inch. The next plate is the breakfast plate, which is also made of stainless steel. It has two main circular compartments and one rectangular compartment. The design allows just enough space for the usual 2-3 item menu offered for breakfast. There are also flat plates made up of melamine that are available in the mess. These flat melamine plates are available for every meal. The three section stainless steel plates are only available in the mornings for breakfast. The other five and six section plates are available for lunch, snacks and dinner.
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PROTOTYPING
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MATERIAL SOURCING Since the begining of the project, I’ve been engaging myself constantly in research and regular field visits to various industrial factories and fabrication centres. I got to see a lot of new processes and I saw various things being made. The field visits exposed me to various materials and their treatments like Melamine, Polystyrene, Polypropylene, Acrylic etc. To obtain the desired qualities in the designed product, there were lots of factors that were taken in consideration. The product being a food grade dinnerware, should be dense enough to hold certain weight and volume to itself. The product should be able to go through extensive washing and handling. The industrially preferred material should be some sort of a plastic polymer. The possible materials could be Polypropylene, ABS, Melamine and PET. These sort of plastics could be experimented with by mixing certain compounds to achieve extra function qualities.
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3D PRINTING For my final stage prototyping, I considered 3D printing as an option. The choice was made taking the consideration the amount of detail and performance that could be achieved. 3D printing food grade products have always been considered unsafe so it took me a lot of research to finalize upon what sort of plastic could be used for this. Using PLA (PolyActic Acid) for your coffee cup may be food safe, but the plastic is too soft for hot drinks and could melt in a dishwasher. ABS (Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) might make a stronger choice for the cup, but it’s not certified food safe and has chemicals that are potentially toxic to ingest. Out of all the plastics available, Natural PLA seemed the best option. PLA has already been used in the industry to make components for machinery involving food packaging and manufacturing etc. Natural PLA is made from corn starch and is generally considered food safe. However, it’s a bit more complicated than that. Other compositions could also be achieved for color, strength, or other features by adding composites. The Final Prototype was printed in PLA medium at 100 microns, which later turned out to be strong enough for long-term user testing.
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FABRICATION After achieving the base model, some marginal errors were found in the print. To overcome that the model was treated through various different prototyping processes. Initially it was sanded and smoothened with sand paper vigorously to get rid of the rough printing supports. After that it was sanded yet again to achieve a basic even finish. To make the angles and curves more prominent, the model was then coated with a thin layer of putty. The model was sanded again and then left for drying. To achieve a good quality food grade finish the model was then lacquered with automative lacquer. After drying it was given a base coat and then it was painted with a final coat of gray automative paint. To achieve a matte finish, the model was sanded again for the final time. To ensure that the model doesn’t degrade when it comes in contact with any liquids, it was then coated with a hydrophilic polymer coat. The model was left to dry and the user testing was accomplished later.
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FINAL PRODUCT
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The positive and negative ends of the ‘snap and fit’ mechanism.
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The junction through which the bowls could be ‘snap-fitted’ and slid along the edge.
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The ergonomically designed handle that sits in perfectly in one’s palm.
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The ergonomically designed base, providing more surface to the plate to be held just perfectly.
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The form designed in ways to scrape every bit of that delicious food off the plate without wasting a bit. 112
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DIMENSIONS
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105.
37
.93
6.2
5°
93°
°
158.96
3
89.3
72.51°
105.
22°
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MATERIAL FORECAST
To obtain the desired qualities in the designed product, there were lots of factors that were taken in consideration. The product being a food grade dinnerware, should be dense enough to hold certain weight and volume to itself. The product should be able to go through extensive washing and handling.
The industrially preferred material should be some sort of a plastic polymer. The possible materials could be Polypropylene, ABS, Melamine and PET. These sort of plastics could be experimented with by mixing certain compounds to achieve extra function qualities.
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INVESTMENTS
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COLOR PALETTE
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BUSINESS CANVAS
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KEY PARTNERS
KEY ACTIVITIES
Plastic Suppliers Recycling Units Mold Makers Houseware/ Kitchenware/ Dinnerware Companies Supermarkets Educational Institutions/ Organisations Schools/Colleges PG Service Providers Caterers
Identifying Market Trends Product Developement Design and Developement R&D Material Exploration Promotion Sales and Retail
COST STRUCTURE Direct Manufacturing cost Indirect Manufacturing cost Total Manufacturing cost Sales and General Administration cost Final cost Profit Selling price
KEY RESOURCES (Intellectual) Designs/ Concepts/ Patents (Physical) Raw Materials Plastics: PolyPropylene or PET Dyes Molds Packaging (Human Resources) Designers Investors Productions Staff Manufacturers Marketting Staff Retailers Suppliers Movers and Packers Labour Staff
UNIQUE VALUE PROPOSITION Food Conservation Resource Conservation Better Self-serving Habits Better Food Portioning Healthier Lifestyle Space Management Sustainable Design
DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS Web: Social Media Websites Blogs Healthy Branding and Media Design and Lifestyle Magazines/Blogs Food/Culinary Magazines/Blogs
CUSTOMER RELATIONS Online Stores Student Community PG service Community Social Gatherings Awareness Drives
CUSTOMER SEGMENTS Health Concious/ Socially Aware Business Owners/ Citizens Parents Students Start-ups
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REFLECTION This project has been a growing experience for me as a designer and as a person. Along with the evolution of my thought processes, I have also learnt about various realities. This project has allowed me to make my own decisions as a designer, while learning to remain ethical and sensitive to the ideas and concepts revolving around food and sustainability. A project so unique, this design intervention is a small offspring of the many possibilities this project has opened. Every stage had outcomes that were meaningful and reflective. Research, surveys, interviews, and collaborations have been the key valuables of the extensive methodology that this project has provided. I have developed new insights about human behavioral patterns, their needs and choices. Conceptualizing through layers of complexities, my intervention/product caters the masses also is mindful of an individual’s needs. This project has been a brilliant opportunity for me to push my boundaries and use my abilities to build a better world. With sustainability being a core concept in my previous projects, undertaking this process and methodology to design ‘the tricky tray, was highly rewarding. This tray aims at making people more aware of the current scenario and making them adapt to a lifestyle that I wouldn’t deny, but there were several pitfalls during the course of this project. There were unending struggles with the software, Solidworks. With support and technical help from my peers I could achieve a digital mockup of my final design. The persistent and relentless efforts of the all the people involved in the 3-D printing of the product motivated me. I am grateful for the several sleepless nights spent in fixing and understanding the first-hand prototype helped me gather new insights and ideas that made my design better. I know creating tides of change is a slow and gradual process, but we are all capable in our own little ways to create, tiny ripples of thoughts those would facilitate a more sustainable thinking and living. This project space was all about clear thinking, simple and effective design. In all it was a rich experience for me to engage with this project and develop a product which I am deeply proud of. And as H. L. Mencken puts it “For every complex problem, there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.”
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VIKRANT MISHRA Pre-Thesis Project 2018 (Undergraduate Professional Programme) Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology Bangalore - 560064 Karnataka
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