Tag Archives: Indian

This eco-friendly takeaway packaging was inspired by the stacked Indian tiffin

Posted on by

The Dip-In Tiffin by Srishti Garg is a clever solution that takes cues from traditional practices to make single-use takeaway food packaging eco-friendly, modular, eye-catching, and culturally relevant! Its stackable design is directly inspired by the vertically stackable steel boxes found in Indian tiffins (the Indian equivalent of a bento-box), and it uses easily available natural materials to store food, making it safer to dispose than plastic.

The Dip-In Tiffin was designed primarily for dry/semi-dry foods. Since the packaging isn’t air-tight, it tends to exclude foods that are gravy-based, limiting its options, but making it great for dry snacks like doughnuts, sandwiches, etc (the Indian context uses savory doughnuts and fermented rice-cakes). The tiffin’s main vessel is created using a dried, thermoformed Areca leaf, an eco-friendly alternative to conventional disposable plates. These vessels hold semi-dry, saucy, and oily foods really well too, offering a more reliable alternative to brown paper bags/boxes. The Areca bowls are covered with a simple branded paper sleeve, and slots along the sleeve allow multiple boxes to be suspended to each other vertically, resembling the tiffin. The solution was devised mainly for airports, which see patrons quickly grabbing meals and eating them within hours of checking in. It doesn’t use any glue, staples, or seals either, making it safe, and the all-natural makeup of the packaging means it can easily be disposed of after use!

Designer: Srishti Garg

These fitness-tracking toe-rings are the perfect fusion of wearable tech and Indian culture

Posted on by

The Lexus Design Award-winning Mettis Rings are the perfect confluence of heritage and the future. Building on the cultural significance of jewelry in India, the Mettis are toe-rings that are state-of-the-art yet culturally relevant. These toe-rings come embedded with the same technology as any fitness wearable, in a package that embraces traditional values. Toe-rings are often given to women as wedding gifts in Indian lore, and are considered to have health benefits that align with Ayurvedic practices… the Mettis builds on that by introducing technology into the rings in a way that makes those health benefits more direct and appealing to younger generations.

Even though they house technology inside, the Mettis rings embrace the persona of jewelry. Built for Titan, a prominent watch and jewelry brand in the country, the rings come with a metallic finish and sit inside one of two sleek, matte black cases – for charging at home and for charging while traveling. Originally toe-rings in the Indian culture come made from silver, which absorbs positive energy from the ground you walk on. The Mettis, however, use sensors that help monitor your health. Whether you’re walking, running, exercising, or even swimming, the rings capture your body temperature and your heart-rate, working just like smartwatches and fitness wearables do. The rings actively track your location, count your steps, monitor sleep patterns, as well as help you keep track of your period cycles… all while strongly echoing the cultural relevance of toe-worn jewelry in Indian customs and traditions.

Designer: Anshuman Kumar for Titan Industries

This rickshaw packs a mobile home with a detachable shop and terrace!

Posted on by

Tiny houses are all the rage right now with the skyrocketing real estate prices – and honestly, I am all for it! Solo 01 is a portable tiny house which is at the peak of our millennial lifestyle with its quirky visuals inspired by the South Asian local tricycle – the rickshaw. The designer, Arun Prabhu NG, has taken a wildly popular transport icon and essentially packed up a modular house in its trunk.

The Solo 01 was inspired by Arun’s own dream to travel the world and own a house – a dilemma everyone in this generation can relate to. It is a compact 6 x 6 feet space that includes all necessities that a person needs to turn a house into a home they can comfortably live in. It is the perfect modern home on wheels for the solo adventurer, “This ingenious small space design transforms a customized 3 wheeler into a comfy mobile home/commercial space. We’ve maximized the total area to give you value that isn’t minimalist but fully utilitarian. The concept is the fruit of research into actual needs; we’ve outwitted complex challenges with simple solutions” says Arun while describing his project. From the humble look of the house, you cannot gauge the exterior’s full strength – it is built to endure most constraints such as topography, material, aesthetics and weight balance with design details that allow for plenty of natural ventilation.

Like any house, this includes a kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, toilet, foyer, terrace area and also additional space if you run a small on-the-road business. The lower level is where you will find the kitchen, bathtub, toilet, foyer, and living area, while the sleeping zone and workspace are 3.5 feet up on the mezzanine level. The upper level has a solar panel (600w) and a water tank (250ltrs) installed but given that Arun is a millennial like us, he has also made space for a cozy lounge with shade on the terrace. The most interesting part is that the upper deck is completely detachable, you can unscrew the 6 bolts and put the set-up aside when needed which makes it a very versatile structure that can transform based on your needs. Born into a trader’s house, Prabhu is the first graduate in his family, “Most poor families live, eat and sleep together in a cramped 50-100 sq feet tenements. This takes a heavy toll on health and hygiene,” he says speaking from personal experience that molded the Solo 01’s functionality.

The layout of the Solo 01 is open and flexible to your lifestyle which makes it a long term investment. While being cool is great, being sustainable is more important and the Solo 01 is made using scrap metal that was discarded from old buses or buildings which is the reason why the costs for this house could be kept low. The bright earthy tones bring in cultural Indian aesthetic while brightening up the small spaces. Apart from the dreamy nomad stereotype, the Solo 01 is an affordable option for artists, small scale vendors, young adults with a small reserve of savings or even those who have jobs but are homeless because they can’t afford rent on minimum wage. The concept of this house is to cater to all economic residents of the society and the community can be innovative in its use.

Designer: Arun Prabhu NG

Researchers will attempt to ‘reanimate’ a corpse with stem cells

Posted on by
Brain death may no longer be a life sentence if one Philadelphia-based biomedical startup has its way. The company, Bioquark, plans to initiate a study later this year to see if a combination of stem cell and protein blend injections, electrical nerv...

Malaysia Airlines flight mystery deepens, Search extends to Indian Ocean

Posted on by

The mystery deepens after almost a week of tireless searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370. The result of the 6-day 12-nation search has been futile so far. Officials are now...