Last week, the Indian Government completed one of the most successful, high-profile crowdsourcing projects ever when it revealed its new symbol for the Rupee (
) which was created through a public design contest (a fantastic example of crowdsourcing!).
UdayaKumar, the winner of the contest (and now "designer of the RupeeSymbol"), has given DesignCrowd the green light to publish his(absolute killer) final presentation of his rupee symbol to the Indian Finance Ministry. DesignCrowd understands this is the first time Udaya's pitch has been published publicly*.
*dubious claim
Udaya Kumar's winning presentation / pitch of his rupee symbol to the Indian Finance Ministry ...
In addition to access to his presentation, Udayahas also given DesignCrowd an interview ...
How India Crowdsourced the Rupee - Interview with Udaya Kumar
About the Indian Rupee Design Contest ...
Q: What was the process for submitting and entering your design?
A: We were asked to post the entries to the Ministry of Finance,Government of India. They had asked for the hard copy of followingthings such as image of the symbol, a brief writeup, constructiondrawings and bio-data of the sender.
Q: How many other designers do you think entered the contest?
A: They got some 8,000 entries of which 3,000 was shortlisted and then five finalists.
Q: What was the process the Finance Ministry took to select the winner?
A: They had seven member jury comprising of two finance minsters, two fromReserve Bank of India and four from reputed design institutes.
Q: What prize did you win?
A: Five finalists receive 25,000 rupees and the winner gets 250,000 rupees (US$5,000).
Q: What will you be doing with your prize money?
A: [I will] donate everything!
Q: Outside of the money - how else has winning the design contest helped you?
A: It has given me overnight fame and lots of love and affection from well wishers across the globe.
Udaya on his winning design ...
Q: What does your winning design symbolize?
A:The symbol represent lots of things. It has Devanagri 'ra' and Roman script 'R' which expands to rupiya and rupee. Both denote the currency of our country. The symbol also represents [India's] tricolor flag flying high at the top ... [and] the arthimetic sign 'equal to'.
Q: How did you come up with your winning design?
A: The competition had a set of guibelines one was that the symbol should reflect out cultural ethos and tradition. I focused on the cultural aspect of the design. I looked at various Indian imageries that best reflected our culture. After researching I thought Indian scripts best represented our culture and were unique as compared to other scripts in the world. With Devanagri script, I also try to blend the Roman script to give a universality. My research in typography also helped me in arriving at this concept.
Udaya on crowdsourcing ...
Q: There is a school of thought that "competition drives better creativity" - do you agree with this? What effect did competing against thousands of other entrants have on your design process and thinking?
A: Partly yes. I knew the competition is very important because it is one's in a lifetime opportunity. I researched and worked hard, I wasn't concerned [about the] number of entries competing for it.
Q: What would you summarize as the advantages for governments of taking this approach?
A: To allow the public to participate and come up with a design.[You get] transparency by including the public ... [and] you also get various design concepts which are unique and diverse.
Q: What other types of design do you think governments could successfully run through crowdsourcing / contest approach?
A: [Any] public-related designs. For example UID (Unique Identification) logo design which was recently organized.
Q: Is there anything the Finance Ministry could have done better?
A: Maybe they could have posted the five finalists' symbols for public voting to choose the final winner.
Udaya on 'the future' ...
Q: What do you hope to do next? Where do you think winning this contest might take you?
A: Teaching. [Udaya is now a lecturer in design at the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai].
Below are some example applications of the new rupee and some excerpts from Udaya's pitch document.
What a rupee note might look like ...
What a rupee on a keyboard might look like ...
The dimensions of the rupee ...
What a stamp might look like ...
Symbolism in the rupee ...
Balance of the rupee ...
In summary ...
India nailed the re-design of the rupee (from a crowdsourcing perspective) and Udaya Kumar 'nailed the rupee' (from a design perspective - it has symbolism, balance and it 'fits' with the other major currencies of the world).
More broadly, the results and success of India's Rupee Design Contest highlights all governments should consider design crowdsourcing for their high-profile design projects. Why not crowdsource Olympic logos, World Cup logos or significant architectural projects? To New Zealand and Australia to Iceland and Kazakhstan we say: if your country needs a currency symbol, post a design competition on DesignCrowd today!
Written by DesignCrowd on Wednesday, July 28, 2010
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