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Yosha - Convertible Coasters

Yosha - Convertible Coasters

Piyushi Patni
October 6, 2021
3 Comments

Yosha, is a simple and innovative universal product. It is a product built around an interesting concept inspired by the Indian craft of hand-painted dolls with natural dyes. It is an intriguing design that caters to the need of having different sizes of coasters for different sizes of glasses as well as serve-ware. It is a coaster that also replaces the need for having trivets by its ability to double up. The dolls when turned upside-down, makes the coaster into a trivet to keep pans and pots making it a multi-utilitarian product. This aspect helps cut down on materials, processes, effort, time and space to create a product that has been distinctively clubbed in a single design.



The coaster is a simple product that has proved its significance and utility in households for a long time now. There are various sizes of mugs, glasses and cups in the market for which coasters are available.

The design challenge was to come up with a solution that caters to the requirement of having different sizes of coasters for different types of serve-ware while enhancing the utility, usability and user experience.

The driving idea behind developing a solution was to incorporate user interaction and thus enhancing the user experience. Apart from these insights, we planned to imbibe the emotional aspects of equality through our design. This is my attempt at portraying "unity in diversity", racial and gender equality.

Yosha is a unique design that blends the use of both, a coaster and a trivet in a single product aesthetically; hence becomes a great space saver in today's day and age when space is a luxury. When the dolls are turned upside down, the coaster doubles up to serve the purpose of trivets.

It is an intriguing design that caters to the need of having different sizes of coasters for different sizes of glasses as well as serve-ware. The idea was to come up with a simple solution through craftsmanship keeping sustainability and eco-friendly materials in mind.

These dolls are hand-painted using natural colours to depict gender equality, racial equality and unity in diversity through a variety of dolls.

This project was shortlisted as "Top Finalist - Lexus Design Award India 2020".


The main software used for creating this project were: SolidWorks, KeyShot, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator.

Once the design was finalized, the CAD model was made on SolidWorks with appropriate dimensions and proportions, then translated into KeyShot for rendering. Final touches were given on Photoshop and Illustrator.


The concept was well accepted by the intended audience. Also, it was appreciated by our colleagues.

This project was shortlisted as "Top Finalist - Lexus Design Award India 2020".

Yosha is mindfully designed keeping manufacturing and materials into consideration. This design is handcrafted and is an assembly of 3 parts which include Dolls (4), circular wire and concentric circular pipe pieces.

The idea is to create a sustainable and eco-friendly product not only in terms of material but also from a manufacturing perspective. The dolls are of the same size and shape which makes them easy to manufacture in batches, reducing the time and effort. Up-cycled wood is used for manufacturing these beautiful dolls

The circular wire and pipe pieces will be cut as per dimensions and by bending, the required shape can be achieved.

Considering that the design has a negligible carbon footprint, it aligns with the concept of responsible consumption.

Piyushi Patni

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