INTARSIO
Foundations in Form & Craft — Material and system thinking through ceramics
Graduation Project | ORVI Design Studio | NID, Ahmedabad | 6 months | 2021-2022
Context & Background
For my graduation project at NID Ahmedabad, I pursued a six-month internship at ORVI Design Studio with a deep interest in working with ceramics — specifically terracotta.
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The brief was to design a series of handmade terracotta tiles suitable for both interior and exterior architectural spaces. Inspired by the rich global and Indian history of terracotta, the project sought to celebrate the material’s cultural legacy while introducing thoughtful contemporary expressions.
Project Intent
Terracotta is one of the oldest human-made materials — simple, elemental, and deeply embedded in architectural history. With INTARSIO, I wanted to explore:
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How form and pattern evolve from material properties
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How repetition and modularity create visual rhythm
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How craft logic can translate into spatial systems
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How tactile understanding informs future digital systems thinking
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The goal wasn’t just to produce beautiful pieces, but to understand why certain patterns and structures feel right — how they relate to experience, sequence, and composition.
Design Process
Research & Immersion
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I started by studying:
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Traditional terracotta techniques
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Regional tile forms from various cultures
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Material behavior under different conditions
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This immersive phase grounded the project in history, context, and material logic.
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Exploration & Prototyping
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I experimented with:
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Different clay bodies
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Firing techniques
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Pattern modules
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Interlocking systems
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Each prototype helped refine how shape, proportion, and texture interact — a practice remarkably similar to iterating digital design components.
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System Development
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Eventually, the design system evolved into:
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Modular patterns
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Scalable tile layouts
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Symmetry and asymmetry combinations
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Rhythmic compositions
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These structured explorations reinforced my understanding of compositional systems.
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What This Project Taught Me
This project fundamentally shaped how I approach structure in design — whether physical or digital:
Material Awareness → UI Hierarchy
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Working with clay taught me how constraints inform decisions. Just as terracotta has a limit before it cracks, digital systems have constraints that guide interface behavior.
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Pattern Logic → Layout Systems
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Creating modular tile patterns encouraged me to think in repeatable components — the same mindset I bring to grid systems and design systems in UI/UX work.
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Sequence & Rhythm → Interaction Flow
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The way patterns repeat with rhythm influenced how I think about interaction pacing and visual cadence in digital interfaces.
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The hands-on, iterative nature of craft translated directly into design discipline, patience, and sensitivity — all qualities I carry into my UI/UX work today.
A glimpse at the 9th edition DIALOGUE 2021 by ORVI DESIGN STUDIO
Instagram story of FADD Studio by Farah Ahmed and Dhaval Shellugar
Instagram story of United Design Studio by Amrita Guha and Joya Nandurikar
Final Reflections
INTARSIO is more than a material project — it’s a design mindset awakening. It taught me to see patterns as systems, materials as information, and process as insight.
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These lessons remain active in how I approach digital interface design, from component logic to layout hierarchies, and from visual rhythm to thoughtful crafting of user experience.
