The old rusty red letterbox, popularly
known as "Lal Dabba" just got a new look.
This research project was taken up by Mr S Patil, student
and Prof. B. K. Chakravarthy of Industrial Design Centre.
There is a lack of well designed products in the public
domain due to the difficulty in tendering process in
the Government Sector. Unfortunately, new technology
based products need investments in tooling and development,
which do not figure in the method of operation for purchase
in the Government Sector. The attempt of the project
is to find out methodologies for Government Sector as
well as provide well
designed products in the public domain.
Having maintenance-free postboxes
was the long time requirement by the Indian post and
the initiative was taken-up as a student project and
later as a research project.
The new innovative letterbox has an
elegant stainless steel body mounted on a base making
it easy to collect letters because of the overhang of
the body as well as to keep the letters from getting
soiled during rains. It has an attractive red composite
plastic top with beak like aperture for posting letters
bringing in an inviting look for the letterbox and making
it identifiable.
The new model including the lock is
rust free, does not require painting and has a maintenance
free life of 20 years. The top box caps the stainless
steel body from all the sides, preventing seepage -
of rainwater into the letterbox; while the slopes at
the top drains out the water fully. Wide openings to
accommodate large envelopes, an easy time slider, a
flat top surface which can be used for writing, plus
a common key to open all letterboxes in one' region,
are some of the additional features of this easy to
install letterbox which creates new identity for India
Post.
The brief given by India Post was
to design a maintenance free letterbox, justifiably
so, since the existing letterboxes which are made of
mild steel were damaged easily and rusted rapidly. As
a result the postal department spent a lot of effort
and money in respect of painting, repairing and maintaining
them.
The stainless steel body is manufactured
using high-end CNC machines where production quality
is consistent. The letterbox is packaged in a knock-down
condition with the top and base fitted inside the main
body for transportation thus reducing transportation
cost. The design (No.201789) was registered in September
2005 and a royalty component is earmarked for IIT Bombay
for the design efforts as well as to ensure high quality
of production by the vendors.
In the modern world of Internet &
mobile communication, there is a quest ion mark on the
validity of letterbox. But with the Postal Department
bringing new businesses like e-post, the letterbox becomes
a corporate identity symbol and an advertisement for
India Post. Hence, its attractive and modern look helps
in establishing a retail visual identity for India Post
and becomes a brand ambassador. As a strategic marketing
initiative the new letterbox has large space for advertisements
on its sides and the cost of advertisements can pay
for the cost of the box for the initial period of 2
years, and later on become a revenue generating activity.
This new letterbox was launched on
18th October 2005 in New Delhi. Currently orders are
placed for their manufacture for deployment across the
country.
Source:
Industrial Design Centre
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Powai Mumbai 400 076
