Design For Rural India

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Design For Rural India
Travel + Research + Pencil + Friends from Animation Design + Adobe Illustrator

A 8th Semester classroom project which included extensive research in chosen villages, which in my case were 29 villages in Bellary District, Karnataka. The problem being of women and men not saving enough. The systemic solution to the problem was a Self Help Group. My intervention as a communication designer was to encourage the woman to join these SHG's. The idea I used was to sight examples and success stories to these woman to lure them into joining a SHG. Hence, built these characters who will tell their stories of success with SHG(s). Initially you will see a proud husband boasting his wife who is a SHG member. Next, a SHG member herself and then a proud daughter who now goes to an English medium school because her mother saves enough money to send her to one. Then comes a SHG volunteer, an evil money lender who is now worried that no woman will come to her for borrowing money, and then a kind bank manager, who is waiting to help SHG members by giving them loans at low interest.

P.S: All communication will be in Kannada.

The first step was to develop the characters.

The proud Husband, the SHG member, the proud Daughter, the NGO Volunteer, the Evil Money Lender and the kind Bank Manager ( in order from left )

The idea was to use a folk media to give the message, hence I was inspired from the local dance form called Somana Kunitha which is also called the mask dance. Hence the large heads showcasing the prominent feature and the small body structure.

" I am proud of my wife ", is what this previously worried husband now says to every man he meets in his village. His ill-health was a big burden on the family and hence it's financial condition. However, as soon as his wife joined a SHG, she started saving money, and hence was applicable for a loan to help her family in crises.

" I take care of my family better now " says Noorbee after joining a SHG. She says that she now realizes the importance of saving money and that her SHG has helped her now own a sharbat shop in the village. She earns enough to support her family and is proud of it.

" My mother sends me to an English Medium School " says Asha with a big smile on her face and confidence in her eyes and thanks her mother for it. She believes that the SHG which her mother joined a few months back has helped her mother take care of her better. She also gets good food now and studies well in a good school.

" SHG will show the way " believes this volunteer of JSW Foundation who thrives hard to convince the women from these 29 villages to join SHG. She really believes that joining a SHGwill help these women both financially and socially. The present SHG members literally worship her for her guidance which has helped these women develop and be more independent and productive.

" I though she will never be able to pay me back " are the worried words of this evil money lender from the village who is so bothered by the fact that the women are now empowered enough to pay his loan back in time with the interest and that they no longer come to him for money because they have now learned to save money and consequently apply for loans directly from banks.

" I am here to help you realize your dreams " has been this kind manager's words to all the women to encourage them to join a SHG and be eligible to get big loans from banks at an interest of only 0.01%. He also states success stories of young girls who are helping realize the dreams of their parents.

I was told that these women need constant convincing about SHG(s) and hence I thought of using a Calendar as a media to regularly tell them about the importance and positive results of joining a SHG.