DriMark, based in the US, is a leader and a generic brand in highlighter and marker pens. Their products are largely targeted at the corporate gifting market and as an extension of their core competence in highlighting instruments they wanted to develop a mouse that could perform this function too. The eLighter mouse concept is unique, one-of-its-kind , and for DriMark their first foray in to electronics based products. The product targeted Doctors, Lawyers and Research students for whom it would be a big advantage. With the eLighter mouse they can directly highlight text on their computer using three or four different colours to track different threads of thought. The selection would be saved separately as files of that particular colour. They could then refer to these files when required. No physically highlighting printouts and then poring through reams of them. The software could be loaded on to the computer and work with any commonly used programme.
What should the physical form of the highlighter mouse be? An extra mouse in addition to the regular mouse or a different tool altogether? That’s when we came in to the picture.

Greatly enthused by the concept, we went back to our drawing boards and got cracking at various creative routes for the eLighter mouse. This mouse, we decided, would function as the regular mouse with the additional functions of the highlighter tool. Taking off from this premise we explored many options; from additional click buttons of different colours, to a scroll wheel, to a disc with colour selections that could be turned around or a slider switch; and various forms for the mouse. Every concept was brainstormed, put through mock-up tests to check usability, while also simultaneously consulting with the technical team (for the project) on its feasibility. Electronics was planned out such that it did not interfere with the regular functions of the mouse. Critically the shape and dimensions of the mouse was decided based on ergonomics.
After the client chose the final design for the mouse, the PCB layout was developed within which the regular click functions, the additional highlighter click functions (four buttons for four different colours) and the scroll wheel could be located. The product was further refined, the electronics integrated with the physical form and then extensively tested for usability and comfort. Styling followed and we signed off with a successful working prototype for the client.

Hands free units for mobile phones are becoming acceptable with a few men….especially when driving and in situations where both hands are occupied.
The typical technology used is Bluetooth.
Few women are comfortable using a hands free device (they don’t like to have a tech device attached to their ears).
The adoption of this useful tech product by women has been low.
Adamya Technologies had developed their patented Bluetooth stack which could very efficiently communicate with the mobilephone using Bluetooth.

Wearing the device as a pendant on their neck is more acceptable by women…if the pendant is not very techno….and attention seeking.
The mic on this pendant is not too close to the mouth hence it picks up surrounding noise…thereby hampering communication.
Adamya developed an efficient noise reduction technology that was integrated to the product for better hands free communication.
The user controls too was to be provided at an ergonomic location….and this control needed to be done in such a way that it was not operated accidentally…hence a slider switch was selected.

The discovery led to the concept development of a simple pendant that could house a very compact PCB. The noise reduction circuit was later added to improve better communication with the mobile phone. The ergonomically selected control to receive calls was placed at an intuitive location…Thereby making it easy to use.
The enclosures were designed to be mass manufactured with simple manufacturing techniques.

SI2 Microsystems, a Bangalore based EMS firm, engaged Icarus to design a high performance ADSL modem. The brief was simple – First, to stand out in the clutter of modems dominated by cheap products bought out from China! And second, keep the cost low. With a modem usually given free or at very low cost with every broadband connection, the cost margins were very tight. If we could achieve this, SI2 Microsystems was confident of reversing the trend of service providers going to China for this product.

The probable weight of plastics was determined even before the project started. We could bring it down further, but not go up even by a few grams.

Not daunted by the brief, we approached the project inside out. The first step was to discover a plastic construction that will have the required strength with reduced wall thickness. And the second was to look at materials and combinations that could keep the cost low. Many concepts later, we arrived at a simple two piece, but variable wall thickness construction that could meet the plastic weight as well as the strength criteria. We also concluded that the base could be recycled ABS while the top in virgin ABS.

With this as the framework, the next step was to style the product so as to differentiate it from the many modems in the market. User research showed that the design of the modem is always approached from a technology angle, as a technology accessory. While actually, in the households that they are actually use, they are a home accessory, along with other products like music systems, DVD player. Hence, the styling direction explored was largely in lines with gadgets at home. The soft, yet aerodynamic looks helps blend in in a home environment yet communicate the higher performance of the product.

MingleStick, an innovative USB device uses wireless technology to exchange business contact/ identity information between people.Two people connect by simply pointing their MingleSticks at each other and pressing a button; and information is exchanged in a matter of seconds.The MingleStick is a small handheld device with an attached key-chain, and of big value at important conferences where one interacts with large numbers of people; and where business cards may not help recollect faces or important profile details.Users can plug the MingleStick into the USB port of their computer and link up to get business profiles and their photos on the Mingle360 website. No more business cards to stack up and a Mingle online manager helps the user to edit and sort business contacts.

How could design help the MingleStick achieve the simplicity and sophistication of its technology in its form?

Accord, a Bangalore based software development company had developed the technology for a handheld GPS navigator for the specific use of the armed forces.The Wayguide has a fast acquisition GPS receiver combined with an efficient navigation engine to help military personnel navigate confidently through hostile or difficult terrain besides performing a host of other functions.It can share information about routes taken with the other Wayguide devices; upload data on to a laptop or a computer; enable device-to-device communication within a limited radius; and is loaded with maps and a digital compass. How could enclosure design help ensure a rugged product that could pass the most stringent physical tests of the military with success, critically the IP 67 (IP stands for Ingress Protection and #6 specifies the dust size (fine dust in this case) that should be prevented from entering the device, the #7 specifies protection of water entering the device when immersed in water for a short while).

Wayguide’s stringent product specifications were turned around to challenge and motivate Design explorations. Each test requirement opened out to multiple possibilities. Leveraging on them we were able to present a hardy, all-weather product that not just met with approving nods from the army but also found enthusiastic users beyond.

Various iterations helped arrive at an optimal product configuration for the main parts of the navigator namely the LCD panel, main PCB, Antenna PCB, the USB PCB, and the keypad.The screen size was kept as large as was possible to enable better viewing and interface. Styling flowed out from the ergonomic requirements and the final result was a compact, easy-to-hold and good-looking product that would easily fit into an army jacket pocket.

The Wayguide would be subjected to the toughest of challenges in military use, its ability to stay protected when drowned in water being the most critical. Its susceptibility was increased by the fact that it has multiple ports where water could enter.Finely engineered rubber over-rings helped ensure against this. Overmoulded Thermoplastic elastomers for the enclosure material absorb shocks, insulating the Wayguide from falls at varying heights and on the hardest of surfaces. The final product was a winner in the toughest of weather conditions, extremes of temperature variations, most difficult of terrains and with the very discerning of users!

The thermal printer market in India is a fast growing one thanks to rapid automation in various segments likeRetail, Micro finance, Rural banking, UID implementation, M Commerce, Ticketing and Healthcare. The Impress wasa versatile wireless thermal printer, and the only onethat could take up the varied demands of all those mentioned above. However this market segment was saturatedwith largely undifferentiated, unremarkable brands that lackedpersonality or a clearly articulated benefit.

Our study of this market segment helped us understand the buyer perceptions or the lack of it.Thermal printers had no customer visible face and were relegatedto being backend devices,like mobile chargers, for instance. We saw an opportunity here to introduce a sleek, smart looking gadget that would completely redefine the category, making it an accessory that added class to the business or the individual and thus bring it to the front-end, to customer’s focus! In other words we needed to produce a ‘looker’!

The Impress design strategyworked towards a stylish, compact, lightweight product, in line with the technology gadgets of today. The styling was modern, minimal and consisted of just three pieces that could be put together. The contours are smooth, and the paper roll flushed to the top surface, giving it a tight compact look that can be easily slipped into the pocket/carrying case. The silver ‘ribbon’ wraps around the Impressadded to its attractive looks.

The constant consistent demands of portable handheld devices are its size, weight and form factor. The weight of the product was optimized (220gm without paper roll) by the ‘chassis’ approach to the enclosure design. A thick-walled chassis, where in the electronics was assembled was completed with thin walled top and bottom covers. This also made assembly easy. All this was achieved without compromising on any of the functional and regulatory requirements of the product.

Introduce gamers to the phenomenal eO—a high-end, immersive gaming cum entertainment station. A private space where one (or even two enthusiasts together) could watch 3D movies, play games, videoconference with friends or listen to music,this pod—to be placed in public spaces like a mall—would be sound proof, echo-free with high fidelity audio and video equipment.

For gaming enthusiasts in India, the public gaming experience is very much a rudimentaryand unpleasant affair confined to the dingy, dark and cramped spaces of a video games parlour. They are forced to visit them for lack of any better option since the only available good gaming experience is limited to expensive personal devices.We would redefine the public gaming experience, designing for the suave gamer for whom performance was key. We would re-invent theirgaming experience and take it into a multi-sensorial stimulatorypeak zone.In the limited space of the eO enclosure we would simulate, in sensations, the infinite depths ofouter space and engulf the user in a nerve tingling, exhilarating out of this worldexperience!

The eO prototype worked at realising the multi-sensorial experience.This reflected in the form the gaming pod took and in every little detail and features that went in to it. The eO was designed to resemble a spaceship, futuristicin its form. We achieved this by abstraction of two free floating, spheres fusing together. Ergonomics guided the size of the spheres and their distance, to provide maximum comfort on prolonged usage.

The two main functional areas of the gaming pod were placed in the two spheres.To physically enable the multi-sensorial experience,the larger sphere had a luxurious, comfortable push back seat. No conventional door to enter the eO!Instead the big sphere rolls out, revealing the inviting interiors. Once inside the soft, diffused lighting relaxes the gamer and sets the mood.The gaming paraphernalia was enclosed in the smaller sphere. This included the high definition LCD screen, CPU, UPS, X Box, multi channel surround sound environment, mood lighting to increase the overall entertainment experience, A/C and such. This sphere can be rolled out as well, for the convenience of demonstration and for accessing the hardware during servicing. Large windows for people inside to be able to see outside also serve as emergency exits and to pass food and beverages from outside to inside.

All IPR developed belongs to Sacona.

A Moscow-based Indian restaurateur, running a highly successful Indian restaurant was in the process of launching another. This time,an Italian restaurant in an upscale Moscow location, to cater to the growing prosperous sections of the society hungering for newer international lifestyle experiences. The theme was in place, a glitzy steel, glass and mauve setting, representative of a nouveau riche section’s tastes. The client approached us to develop a name and identity that would hold the promise of an unparalleled experience for its audience.

While thinking up names for the restaurant, we simultaneously pursued visual descriptions that could be ascribed to the target profile’s lifestyle and ambitions. This newly rich society of people clearly favoured an over-the-top, flashy lifestyle that was classy within its limitations but truly showed off their having arrived in life. What they pursued had to be fast-paced, contemporary yet European and easily bought off the shelf. What they dined on wasn’t as important as where they would be seen. They sought an experience that was edgy, mysterious and brazenly glamorous.

Mestiere thus became the name that promised and translated in to this very contemporary Italian dining experience.We developed a typeface for the identity that was modern, elegant and classy without being old in its style.Glamour and its association with nightlife, partying, thrill in the air and of mystery, was recaptured in the very edgy deep mauve of the identity.
The European story was brought in through a Roman flourish to the font. The M of the Mestiere created an architectural memory of old Roman aqueducts. The defining imagery was a big inspiration—a visual abstraction of the patterns created by the famed cobbled streets of Roman Italy. This set against the backdrop of the Mestiere typeface brought in the intrigue and aesthetics of a novel Italian experience. While also referring to the glamour and high fashion that the target audience associated with modern Italy.The final identity was an amalgamation of class and chutzpah.

The Rajagiri group,one of the largest educational institutions in Kerala, was looking at visually integrating its two management schools under an umbrella identity to magnify its presence and impact in the management education space.

When we looked deep withing the wellsprings of inspiration of this institute which has such a long history of selfless service we discovered that its own core values could be transformed into competence . Service – a Rajagiri competence  could be ascribed to the group and its institutions. . While building imagery for its management school we needed to first define and communicate Rajagiri’s 60-yr old academic pedigree. Aspiring management students needed to know that the Rajagiri brand of education was a doorway to the world, with a well-rounded program that enhanced their career ambitions.

Our visual endeavors for Rajagiri’s management school led  to defining a unified and coherent visual language for all of Rajagiri’s institutions. The management schools were aligned together under a single, modern and progressive identity—the RCBS, the Rajagiri college of Business Studies.The logotype suggested an academically sharp, constantly evolving institute. The Rajagiri symbol was evolved to reinforce its timeless values  and strongly communicate the group’s academic pedigree. Their core values expressed in the old symbol as‘study, service, success’ was turned around to the more proactive, forward looking ‘Learn, Serve, Excel’. The symbols within the emblem were given a modern visual language and the fonts refined to suggest an evolved organization.
Rajagiri subsequently decided to extend the  new visual identity strategy to all other Rajagiri institutions. This has created  a strong sense of identification as a group that holds  similar values and ideals and speaking the same language to the outside world.

Rajagiri, a ubiquitous presence in the educational landscape of Kerala and the North East, is now a unified force, its purpose and its values  rings crisp and strong, across the educational spectrum. Cutting across academic silos the greater purpose envisioned by the CMI fathers has found a modern resonance.

A new company was formed after Tata Tea decided to divest a majority part of its stake in its Tea estates. New owners came on board, that included the estate workers, and a blueprint was created for a modern new corporate farming enterprise with a geographically spread out scale of operations. A first for India.

We discovered through our field visits that there there were several human dimensions to this change: Apprehension about losing the backing and trust that the ‘Tata’ name inspired , Pride of ownership, and a greater stake in the success of the venture due to the co-ownership model. Vastness of the enterprise and a sense of the number of people that it would affect. Amalgamated Plantations the new entity would be spread over 60,000 acres of estates affecting the lives of many.

To re interpret plantations in a modern corporate format, we had to first completely dissociate it from the conventional image of a plantation—feudal, archaic, hierarchical and rigid. The corporate farming initiative had to be presented as a pioneering business idea, ambitious & technology driven that would attract young bright minds who could in turn chart its success.

The new brand that emerged from our design explorations was a modern, sophisticated enterprise gearing up for big action!We used design elements evocative of plantations  reinterpreting them in a new visual language.  Thus the visual symbol  could be exploded into a multitude of meanings. It could be a seed that meant the germination of a new business idea, or a new road that was being taken. Or a fresh young leaf budding. The image was dynamic and exciting and held promise for young hopefuls.A minimalist look, a smart typeface and a unique green colour echoed  youthfulness, energy and purpose.

The new Identity has been used across all the companies business, endorsing its sometimes iconic tea estates,  its vast social welfare schemes and its B2B operations in commodity exchanges.