For his own company, Sanjay needed to project the stringent design process he follows while arriving at a design solution. At the same time, the branding needed to not look ‘too corporate and serious’. Over a week, Sanjay kept sketching diagrams for a design process where an ideal design solution should serve these purposes – ergonomics, technology, cost to environment, time to be invested, aesthetics, creativity, economy, and replicability. The results, which evolved spontaneously, were easy to recognize and replicate for a common person, and intriguing for those who were curious about the shape and philosophy.
A quickly (over one week) made documentary to showcase the unique case of rapid economic uplift in an apple-growing remote region of Jumla, Nepal, as a result of implementation of SNV’s strategy for the development of a marketing and distribution systems.
Sanjay interviewed the program manager and researched the available literature over a one-hour flight. Having landed, Sanjay developed the script overnight and shot the footage over the following three days at the location. He wrote the narration on the flight back and edited the film over the following two days in Kathmandu. The film went on to be showcased at the SNV’s Global Summit Philippines.
In light of the fact that in this time and age, with the emergence of digital media, this product design was crucial when users are increasingly moving away from physical printed calendars. The product had to be useful and had to promote programmes of UNFPA.
The illegal selling and buying of girls is one of the major social crimes in Nepal that is being closely monitored by international agencies. In human trafficking, innocent and illiterate girls from rural areas are sold within Nepal and overseas for prostitution and forced labour. These posters were designed by Sanjay to highlight the trafficking issue, raise awareness, and to trigger a dialogue.
The book and its interactive CDROM were aimed at travel agents and experts to provide them with complete and comprehensive information on market data and strategies to assist tourism businesses in Nepal and Latin America.
Based on the report – ‘The Market for Responsible Tourism Products in Latin America and Nepal’, Sanjay designed the publication and restructured the content for the CDROM. Sanjay designed icons and illustrations that were commonly recognized across the audiences. In the otherwise tedious text, Sanjay added several interactive elements like interactive maps and stimulating animations to give the user a sense of control and participation.
Online report link: https://www.slideshare.net/Vitchetduoi2987/the-market-for-tourism-products
Aimed at sharing the stories of HIV-positive children on World AIDS Day 2007, Sanjay directed a Marionette show with HIV-positive children from ages 5 to 12 living at Special homes. Sanjay spent time with HIV+ children and learnt more about AIDS and the ’dos and don’ts’. Once the children were at ease with him, Sanjay held workshops with these children to collect their stories. Among these stories, a common story was picked up and worked upon to give out a message.
Next, Sanjay went around Kathmandu to find material to make marionettes and researched several ways of making marionettes. The moppets were designed simply, so that the children could play with them easily. Sanjay trained the children in acting and making Marionettes act. Extreme care was taken to hide these children’s identities (thus, no pictures). Having a month-long preparation, a Marionette show was presented by the children in front of a mass gathering on World HIV Day.
Aimed at improving communication methodologies between knowledge generators and knowledge seekers in the Greater Himalayan region, the project was to examine and promote the use of traditional media for passing on relevant agriculture and livelihood-related information to grassroots communities. Indigenous Media being a pilot project, Sanjay needed to exercise careful judgement in selecting project sites and partners that could provide representative samples of the regions of the Greater Himalayan region. Cultural attitudes, languages, currently used Indigenous Media and capabilities of local NGOs and institutions, were the basis for selecting partners and sites.
Along with the training of the use of the Indigenous Media process and creating prototypes in the project areas, Sanjay scripted and directed a documentary film about the project to be used as a reporting tool.
Throughout the project, Sanjay hired a photographer and a videographer to assist documentation of the activities and to interview key partners. At the end of the project, Sanjay scripted and storyboarded the documentary and produced it in a story form.
Aimed at improving communication methodologies between knowledge generators and knowledge seekers in the Greater Himalayan region, the project was to examine and promote the use of traditional media for passing on relevant agriculture and livelihood-related information to grassroots communities. Indigenous Media being a pilot project, Sanjay needed to exercise careful judgement in selecting project sites and partners that could provide representative samples of the regions of the Greater Himalayan region. Cultural attitudes, languages, currently used Indigenous Media and capabilities of local NGOs and institutions, were the basis for selecting partners and sites.
At the head office, Sanjay checked the possibilities of replicating the Indigenous Media process and prototypes and assessed the responses and impacts. He also held workshops to see future courses for Indigenous Media efforts and to write proposals.
At the end of this pilot project, Sanjay extensively wrote a 400-page report explaining the timeline, methodology, and findings of the project, the relevance of using indigenous media in technique and message dissemination, the role of religion and culture in message dissemination, and the potential use of the digital media in such endeavors. The role visual communication plays in effective and precise technical knowledge transfer in absence of literacy was thoroughly researched and presented. For future reference, he defined and documented the Process Design of Indigenous Media production with sensitivity toward cultures, languages, religions, and issues.
With rapid population growth, economic development, urbanization, high rates of out-migration, and consequent feminization of rural activities, the Greater Himalayan region has experienced huge changes in the past years. In particular, the mountains have gained greater attention as hotspots for climate change. These changes pose challenges to traditional livelihood strategies and coping mechanisms. At the same time, the mountains have been widely recognized for the ecosystem services they provide. ICIMOD Nepal has been working to enable sustainable and resilient mountain development for improved and equitable livelihoods through knowledge and regional cooperation.
On the silver jubilee of ICIMOD’s existence, a series of posters depicting the areas of ICIMOD’s efforts to bring safety and better incomes to the people of the Greater Himalayas were created by Sanjay.
In 2004, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Study on Violence against Children estimated that every year between 41 and 88 million children in South Asia witnessed violence at home – the highest regional total in the world. Evidence also showed that half of the world’s child brides lived in South Asia, and around 44 million children were engaged in child labour in the region. Sexual abuse and exploitation, as well as child trafficking and corporal punishment, were also the major concerns for countries in South Asia.
This interactive CDROM is aimed at training the local officers of UNICEF in understanding, preventing and /or helping the traumatized victims. The project required Sanjay to sensitize himself to the gender issues in Asia. He took extreme care with the kind of photographs published, and the interactivity in CDROM was simple considering the diverse age groups and cultural sensitivities of users and the quality of computers available to the trainers.
