INDUSTRY:
PRODUCT DESIGN
INFO:
COLLEGE PROJECT
YEAR:
2022
EXPERIENCE:
GAME DESIGN, WOODWORKING
Channapatna Chess Board - Product Design
about.
Credits: Jash Shah, Pujit Maini
The brief was to reimagine a dying Indian art form in a contemporary context — honoring its traditional techniques while giving it new life.
We chose the iconic wood-turned toys of Channapatna as our focus, and crafted a 3-dimensional chess board using the same time-honored tools, materials, and methods used by local artisans.
The result: a modern, functional object rooted in rich cultural heritage.
We studied the core qualities of Channapatna craft — rounded forms, bold primary colors, and child-safe, natural materials. Using traditional wood-turning techniques and vegetable dyes, we adapted this visual language to design functional, playful components for a modern 3D chess board.
Chessboard Design Highlights
Form: Sculpted like a battlefield — elevated edges, sunken center, traditional pawn layout with varied heights.
Modular Play: Divided into four interchangeable quadrants for customizable board setups.
Compact Storage: Quadrants interlock into two stackable cubes for easy, space-saving storage
Chess Pieces
Inspired by Channapatna’s rounded, symmetrical toy forms, each piece is lathe-turned and simplified in shape. The number of carved rings denotes hierarchy — from 5 rings for the king to 2 for pawns, echoing a common motif in traditional toys.
Forms are abstracted: the king and queen reflect simplified human figures, rook as elephant, knight as horse, and others adapted from conventional silhouettes. Two color sets were created using pigmented wooden varnish.
