Masti Clean

A kit, made to reduce the mortality rate, by teaching underprivileged children the value and how-to of hygiene. By Landor Associates.This really reminded me of my own work on The Anaemia Project. Am glad such a large firm has realised the power of such work.



For more look here.

The Anaemia Project in Indian Express

The Anaemia Project was covered in the Indian Express, Ahmedabad on Wednesday, December 15th.

To read the article, click here.
Special thanks to Adam Halliday for the interview and Tarun Deep Girdher, my guide.

Acknowledgments

First off, I would like to thank my guide, Mr. Tarun Deep Girdher for being the driving force behind this project and for helping me select this topic, which is so close to my heart: women’s issues. I would also like to express my gratitude to Mrs. Lakshmi Murthy for her hospitality and time and for showing me her work. She is truly passionate about her work and it shows with the level of expertise she has acquired in the field of social communication. I would also like to thank my dear classmate Mudra, who had accompanied me to several of the meetings I had with the NGOs, their community health workers and of course the women residing in the slums. Throughout the project, Mudra let me bounce ideas off her and we had discussions on the same. Her sensitivity, concern and expertise in handling a subject like this is extraordinary for her age. Without her invaluable help, this project would not have culminated  into even a fraction of what it is. I would also like to thank my seniors Armeen Kapadia for her encouragement, Sanjay Basavaraju for his valuable feedback and all the others.
I am very lucky to have a supportive family and friends who have goaded me on all throughout my education. Thanks so much, Papa, Mummy, Yorick Pinto, Deepti Thomas and Anisha Crasto.
Lastly, but certainly not the least, a big thank you to Dr. Hanif Lakdawala, his team and all the Community Health Workers (CHWs) at Sanchetana. Without them, this project would not have been possible.

Bibliography

I used a lot of references, not in the actual documentation, but in my information collection. However the biggest source of information were interviews with the slumdwellers, and even more resourceful were the CHWs. So most of this list were books, journals, brochures and web documents I consulted as a sort of background. However I did not directly quote most of them in my documentation.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Chetna. “Gender & Women’s Health”, “Anaemia, Health of Women in Indian Families”, “Women & HIV/AIDS”, “Violence and Health”, “Breast Cancer”, “Training for Women’s Health & Empowerment”, “Panchayati Raj and Women’s Health”, “Indigenous Health & Healing practices”, “Mahilaon ka Manasik evam Bhavnatmak Swaasthay” Ahmedabad. October 2008. A set of brochures. Language: Hindi.
• Chetna. “Surakshit Prasav” Ahmedabad. Language: Hindi.
• Chetna. “Swaasthay Dekhbhaal aur Sevaaen Praapt Karna....” Ahmedabad. October 2008. Language: Hindi.
• “India: Urban Poverty Report”. United Nations Development Programme. Web. . 2009.
• International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) and Macro International. 2008. “National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3), India, 2005-06: Gujarat”. Mumbai: IIPS.
• Murthy L., Kagal A., Chatterjee A. “Learning from the Field, Experiences in Communication”, UNFPA, NID (National Institute of Design), July 2000.
• Murthy Lakshmi. Vikalp Design. Web. 17 Mar. 2010.
• Sanchetana. “Angst: Theirs and Ours; Domestic Violence: an epidemic on the upsurge”. Ahmedabad. January 2001.
• Sanchetana. “At a New Threshold” Annual Review. Ahmedabad. 2003.
• Sanchetana. “Reproductive Health Program” Ahmedabad. 2005-2007. 
• Sanchetana. “Why Some Men Beat their Wives?” Ahmedabad. 2003.
• Stoltzfus, Rebecca J., and Michele L. Dreyfus. “Guidelines for the Use of Iron Supplements to Prevent and Treat Iron Deficiency Anemia.” World Health Organization (WHO), International Nutritional Anemia Consultative Group (INACG), 1998. Web. 01 Apr. 2010.
• WHO Regional Office for the South-East Asia. “Adolescent Nutrition: a Review of the Situation in Selected South-East Asian Countries.” World Health Organization (WHO), 2006. Web. 01 Apr. 2010. .

REFERENCES

• IUPR (India: Urban Poverty Report) Published by United Nations Development Programme, 2009, www.undp.org

Final Product

The final photos of the product with an indication of the scale below.

DISCLAIMER: As you must be knowing if you have looked through this blog, this project aims to propose a system of graphic design solutions to improve the efficacy of Iron supplementation schemes by the Government of India. While this booklet is written in English, it can be easily translated to the local language of the area it is disseminated in as Anaemia is a nationwide health issue. In the same way, the illustration of the women in the booklet can be redrawn in similar style and treatment as given, but wearing the costume of that particular area.

Refinements & Corrections

Having to look at the rough cut of my documentation and the final product to discover the errors prevalent.
I found quite a few.

• Since both sides of the booklet were of the same orientation, the book opened upside down. To correct that I changed the orientation of the text on the back panel (information panel).
• There was no connection between the image/text of the woman on the front panel and the information on the back panel. So I added one line of text to connect the communication.
• The woman on the front had no earrings, I had completely missed that out even though it was in my initial sketch, so I added that as well. There was some inconsistencies with her slippers and her hand was also misshapen.
• Some text at the end of the information had been repeated, so I needed to change that.

Looking through the rough printed version of my documentation for mistakes as well.

Next, will post the images of final printed documentation and final product (along with indication of scale).

Paper Considerations & Printing Estimation

Last but not least of all the considerations I need to take is on the paper. For this I consulted Mr. Bharat Suthar from the Printing Labs in NID for his advice.

BOOKLET

For the booklet, explaining I needed something durable, that wouldn't tear easily, get dog-eared or stained, he suggested Art Paper in a light weight. However, I thought that Art Paper was too expensive for my project, though I decided to a rough estimation for the same despite that. Consulting again for the same, he suggested I take Super Sunshine Paper, also from Bilt. This was much cheaper. Let's compare the costs:

• Royal Art Paper (Gloss) 90 gsm: Rs.1200 for 100 sheets of 23" x 36" stock.
• Super Sunshine Printing HB (Matt) 80 gsm: Rs.1150 for 500 sheets (ream) of 23" x 36" stock.

What a difference. The Art Paper is ideal, not only for its durability, but also the gloss factor, which creates a good impression for the average slumdweller, as in my research phase I found out that they prefer glossy over matt. But seeing that 18 booklets will be printed from one sheet of Art paper, it follows that:

Per 100 sheets there will be 1800 copies for Rs. 1200. Each booklet therefore is 1200/1800 =  Rs. 0.66 

With SS paper, 

Per 500 sheets there will be 18 x 500 = 9000 copies for Rs. 1150. Each booklet therefore is 1150/9000 =  Rs. 0.12 

This is not a huge difference, but both options can be utilised.

STICKERS

For the stickers, I needed a glossy paper for sure so I decided to go for a durable Art Paper chromo coated on one side. Inclusive of adhesive backing, the cost would be:

• Royal Art Paper C15 (Chromo) 90 gsm:
  Rs. 1600 for 100 sheets of 23" x 36" sheets. 
  (Sheets would have to be pre-cut to half its size- 23" x 18") 

After cutting this would be 200 sheets.Since 70 stickers fit on one sheet, hence for Rs. 1600 you can get 70 x 200 stickers = 14000.

Each sticker therefore is 1600/14000 = 

 Rs. 0.11 

PRINTING COST

For printing, a pre-mixed colour was required for one colour printing in an offset machine that could take 23" x 36" stock for the booklet, and 23" x 18" stock for stickers. I settled on a Bright Red (CF1624).

An average cost of Rs. 900 is applied per ream for one side of the paper in one colour.

For the booklet both sides will be printed on. Therefore, Rs. 900 x 2 = Rs. 1800 is the cost for printing 500 sheets. 500 sheets consist of 18 x 500 copies = 9000 copies.

Therefore the cost of printing one booklet is 1800/9000 =  Rs. 0.2 

For the stickers one side will be printed on. Each 23" x 36" stock is cut into 2, so 140 stickers sit on one sheet. 500 sheets consist of 140 x 500 copies = 70,000 copies. Therefore the cost of printing one sticker is 900/70000 =  Rs. 0.012 

TOTAL COST

Adding up the costs,

• Each booklet would cost 1200/1800 (art paper) + 1800/9000 (printing) =  Rs. 0.86 
• Each booklet would cost 1150/9000 (ss paper) + 1800/9000 (printing) =  Rs. 0.33 
• Each sticker would cost 1600/14000 (chromo art paper) + 900/70000 =  Rs. 0.13 

Per user, however there are three stickers given, which means that for the cost of printed material of one purse/one user:

• Booklet cost with Art Paper (.86) + 3 Sticker Cost (.13) =  Rs. 1.25 
• Booklet cost with SS Paper (.33) + 3 Sticker Cost (.13) =  Rs. 0.72 

N.B. These rates are applicable to papers from the NID store only. Outside of NID, these rates would have Rs. 200 additional applied to them. This makes a minor difference to the costing.