A New Letter Box for India Post

Introduction

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