John wanted us to put together a sound, image & video installation within City Eco Lab on the variety and vitality of people selling things from or on bicycles.The objective is to sensitize people to the fact that bike-based commerce does not have to be backward looking and is infact a viable, flourishing livelihood for millions in India & other developing economies. Check out our mention on the Doors of Perception blog here.

So we decided to extend our brief a little and do an online installation besides what gets displayed at the exhibition. The installation goes by the url of http://www.velowala.org (“velo” = “cycle” in French & “wala” = “vendor” in Hindi).The website goes live on November 15 and is meant to be a resource that documents and explores opportunities / inspirations for bicycle based commerce in India. Here’s a quick creative for that and a pdf you can download (650KB, 12 pages) that is a compendium of what we found on the streets of Delhi in the first few days of research.

Avinash represents Quicksand at the biennale (is also presenting on November 15 at St.Etienne, France – for those fans who might want to travel to St.Etienne and catch him there ). He would also probably be playing a visual set at a Parisian club to unwind after the conference. Keep checking back on this space for more.

The survey recorded the feedback from about 30 subjects across New Delhi between July 2 – July 3, 2008. This data represents people from varied walks of life and demonstrates that the discerning consumer is not just the well-educated city dweller but is as much the “pan-wallah” around the curb or the migrant worker. A copy of this rich media survey is uploaded here (3.4 mb, 57 pages) and may be used with due credits.

The research questions we have addressed include the basic demographics of the respondent i.e. the person’s name, age and profession. The other set of questions are either around the mobile device they own or the telecom service provider they are subscribed to. The opportunities for innovation are typically hidden within the responses and behavior of people and these are just two facets we thought were worth
exploring.

The survey is a snapshot of the diversity of telecom users in our cities, reinforcing a few things that we must bear in mind as either a new entrant or an existing service provider in this space:

• the prevalence of mobile phone as a communication device cuts through all sections of society and therefore the same product ends up delivering almost as many unique experiences as there are consumers
• the power of social media, particularly for the uninitiated consumer, is the most defining influence on the choices they make
• the service that differentiates one provider from the other is almost non-existent and more starkly so when the consumer demands are as basic as they come

This document intends to trigger a dialogue on service design & innovation and re-focus the efforts on the wellspring of a great brand & service – the consumer. Also uploaded is short film we made of some interesting and leading user reactions.

A small stop motion film (below) and a downloadable pdf (127 pgs, 18mb) summarise the use of film & photography in documenting design contexts.

Take a look at the primer document (pdf, 4 pgs, A5, 2mb)

The project was to conceptualise a sustainable urban experience in what is now a largely defunct urban infrastructure in the heart Delhi – a stretch of railway line that runs between Nizammudin & Dhaula Kuan (further connecting to Mayapuri & the industrial belt beyond). With competing and more efficient modes of transport that run parallel to this stretch, the railway line in this zone is now a ghost stretch with little or no commuter traffic. The city on the other hand, is burgeoning around its fringes and in its wake transforming into a landscape that has little allegiance to its past.

We started it off today with a journey down this track to soak ourselves in the experiences and sights along this stretch… here are a few initial observations.

It remains an independent project for Anagram & Quicksand. So keep looking out at this space for progress on this (use the tags to track further developments)

This is a self-initiated project for which we are looking for sponsors.

(Click here to download a pdf of the proposal)

While many of the Jhoolas can be seen in local fairs where they can be appreciated for their fantastic vernacular & folk style, art and design, their true uniqueness comes from the fact that they reverse the traditional relationship between a child and the play facility. These are indeed ‘play-grounds’ that are wheeled out right to the doorsteps of childrens’ homes so that grand acts of play can then be enacted with the Jhoola as the facilitating artefact.

However, like most other fascinations of Indian material culture (past), the Jhoola is steadily being consumed by the City and its aggressive forces. This documentary examines what designers and design thinking can bring to a situation like this one. Drawing on ideas of participatory design, the design process for this project involved working with children, jhoolewalas, parents and teachers.

As part of a fellowship that was granted to Quicksand by Sarai-CSDS, this film has also been used as a part of course material at the Srishti School of Art and Design, Bangalore and National Institute of Fashion Technology, Delhi.

Click here to download the proposal as a pdf here.
Watch the actual documentary below.
Write to Quicksand if you want a hi-resolution copy of the film sent to you.