Pandita Ramabai: Book Design Project

Visual Communication Design, Professional Diploma Programme
Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology

Semester Two, 2007-2008

This book design project involved four third-year Visual Communication Design students working in collaboration with Nirantar, an NGO and centre for gender and education in Delhi. The brief was to design and illustrate a book in Hindi on the life of Pandita Ramabai an eminent Indian Christian social reformer, activist, Sanskrit scholar, and poet who championed the cause of women. She wrote the feminist classic ‘The High Caste Hindu Woman’, a scathing attack on Hindu traditional practices including widowhood, polygamy and child marriage. 

The project was divided into four phases: Immersion, Development, Refinement and Delivery. Through this live client project, the students advanced their capabilities in various aspects of design, including first-hand research and collection of archival material, teamwork, engaging with clients, working within restrictions and deadlines. They also developed some of their fundamental skills in typography, layout, illustration, presentation and print production. 

Phase 1: Research and Immersion

Constructing a timeline of major events from Pandita Ramabai’s life

Meeting with Nirantar, Delhi

Mukti Mission, Kedgaon, Pune

Mukti Mission, Kedgaon, Pune

Collecting archival material -  Mukti Mission, Kedgaon, Pune

Development and refinement

Students: Hazel Karkaria, Roshan Ali, Shyamli Panda, Somesh Kumar

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