Designer - Petalist / Soft Material

Green Skilling Program:

The focus of this project is to provide livelihood opportunities for beneficiaries with no other sources of sustainable income including adults with intellectual disability and unskilled women from low income families in urban and rural areas. Further, there is a strong environmental focus and all of the skill training is focussed on craft skills involving recycling and upcycling of a range of discard materials including such as Temple flowers, Paper-waste, Fabric leftovers and Silk thread discards.

The project is a comprehensive approach to craft based livelihoods that in addition to skill training also involves production, design and marketing support.

Responsibilities:

I. Research

● Research the discard materials thoroughly to understand different ways of working with them

● Research products made from recycling and upcycling with similar and other materials in India and abroad focussing on different techniques and innovations

● Research on different techniques / processes / tools / required for our products - physical market visits as well as online research

● Market research to study trends and understand scope and appeal of the craft skill / material / product range

II. Design Development

● Craft based product development across a wide range of craft skills including recycling and upcycling a range of discards (as mentioned above)

● Product development - designing, sampling and prototyping for all approved concepts

● Drive innovations particularly in flower recycling

● Incorporating features into the products that will appeal to our target audience (corporate professionals / retail customers as the case maybe) such as educational value, use of sustainable materials, durability, safety and so on.

● Designing suitable promotional material and branding including packaging and labels

● Market-centric designs focussed on our target bulk buyers for the different festive seasons - Diwali, Holi and Rakshabandhan ; as well as corporate gifting

● Plan and execute design development, sampling and prototyping along with our partner centres and trainers

● Ensure our product development is in keeping within target cost and price constraints / decisions  

● Work closely with design lead in Bangalore to develop products

III. Training and Production

● Design training & capacity building of craft trainers and master artisans

● Monitor the design training of beneficiaries

● Understand process efficiency for the craft since this will be a key input in finalisation of our designs ensuring production and cost efficiencies

● Planning for an integrated production line along with production team

● Assisting production team in planning for assembly line production

● Planning (monthly, quarterly and annual) for design and involvement in helping partners their own production.

● Conducting train the trainer workshops for our trainers and partner centres on a need basis

● Ensure partner centres deliver samples / prototypes / production orders within committed timelines

● Designer will have to ensure design guidelines are followed

● Suport partners with vendor connects and design support

IV. Project Documentation

● Design documentation: skill techniques, design specifications, sampling process and quality guidelines, photographs and videos 

● Actively involved in user feedback and testing of products

● Developing and standardising quality guidelines for all of the samples and products

● Submitting periodic reports as required 

V. Working with Stakeholders

● Work closely with our partner organizations in and around Bangalore and in other cities

● Design coordination with other freelance designers engaged under the program

● Work with external experts / institutes / technical advisors / mentors assigned to the project

● Agencies involved in Branding, Packaging, Product Testing, Certifications and so on

Qualifications:

● Bachelor's / Master's degree in Design

● 2 - 5 years experience in product design or related field

● Prior experience in recycling / upcycling natural materials will be an advantage

● Strong creative, design and communication skills

● Proficient in design software and graphic design