Behind the scenes of ‘Ideators’ - episode 5:

Deal on wheels!

Ruwini Jayawardana

Many of us can imagine the thrills and chills of getting behind the wheel and zooming our way to the finish line on a speedy racing car with competition hot on our heels but how many of us actually know about the dedication, knowledge and expertise at work while designing the vehicle?

There are many aspects to take note of in these colourful beauties which sweep past you along the dirt track. Last week's 'Ideators’ disclosed these facts to its viewers. Some might be common knowledge but there were many surprising details in store which related what racing car owners look for as a part and parcel of their package.

In this light team Lion Heart’s work scored above team Reflex’s product because it embodied the essential details that Duminda International required.

British Council’s 'Ideators' episode five rotated around S K Amarasiri who pioneered modifying cars into racing machines. Amarasiri’s three children came together to give our ‘Ideators’ the challenge of designing two racing cars with the ‘Team Amarisiri’ emblem and the newly introduced energy drink, ‘Carabao’ logo. The catch in the story is that ‘Team Amarasiri’ is the client's name while Carabao is the sponsor.

Therefore our competitors were confused on who should be given more space in the designs - a fact that Lion Heart perceived correctly when they gave a majority of their bonnet space to make 'Team Amarisiri' stand out.

Reflex's Indrajith who was also the team leader of this task confesses that this was one of the crucial points where the team went wrong.

“We were under the impression that we had given equal amount of prominence to both Amarasiri and Carabao. Considering what is already out on the field, say for instance, the Red Bull F1 cars - which are completely colored in the brand's shades and even the name plastered across, I guess we made an error of judgment.

Well, these things happen. It is a fickle world out there,” he said.

Final briefing for the ‘Ideators’ The boardroom session

However the task gave the student working in the Interactive Multimedia Design sector in Raffles Institute of Higher Education a big break as he was able to put his graphic skills to use.

He was pleased to hold the reins and come up with a very eye catching creation with the help of his colleagues.

Indrajith notes, “I most definitely did jump at the chance to shine. As stressful as the idea of taking up leadership was, I still wanted to head the team, and was thoroughly excited, even though designing car vinyls were never my thing.”

Meanwhile there was a lot of merriment at the Lion Heart’s camp in between carrying on the task. Udana and Suraaj mostly provided the entertainment which kept the team’s spirits up even when crisis hit them like in the case of getting the measurements of the car wrong for their sticker designs.

However Nimanthie explains that team leader Suraaj's quick thinking and decision making helped the team overcome such hurdles.

“One of the awesome moments was when we realized that the number Nimanthie had randomly chosen as the car number turned out to have the most amazing significance to Team Amarasiri.

They also liked my idea for a Team Amarasiri logo so much that they wanted to use it as their permanent logo,” Suraaj recalled. He also adding that there were a few stressful moments like when the team Lion Heart had to wait in the “highly poisonous and intoxicating printing area” with the smell of ink and printing so strong and new that their eyes stung and they had to fight back nausea.

“There were also the moments when genius ideas had the habit of popping up just when we were putting the finishing touches to their work," he grinned.

They were also looking out for the best means of outwitting the Reflex team who had by now been christened as 'Cornflex' by Udana.

Queried if the Lion Heart members were still shaken after losing Natalie the week before or if they were eager to put the defeat behind them and start afresh, the graphic designing student of the Academy of Design (AOD) said that it was a bit of both.

“We were one part over our last defeat and ready to win another round and one part nervous enough to outdo Cornflex this time around.

The Lion Heart team does not panic - not until the last two hours before deadline anyway! But we were as confident about this round as we have been on previous rounds. At the end of the day we always stood by our designs, no matter what the outcome is. We never really lost the last round. The Compart still rules!” Suraaj noted with a smile.

Reflex’s Upekshi knew she was treading on dangerous grounds because the task was unfamiliar to her. The AOD student tells Daily News 'Punch' that this was the most difficult challenge she has faced so far in the competition.

She said, “I had no knowledge about vehicles what so ever and it was a graphic task. I have no background on either subject.”

The highlight of the episode was when the owners took off on the cars designed by the teams.

Suraaj enthuses, “The whole time I could hear the gravel under the tires. It sounded like pieces of metal coming apart in the back of the vehicle. While my imagine took the liberty of imagining worst case scenarios and my thrill sensors ran riot.

Finally we were all able to watch the vehicles in action in a dirt track. There really is nothing like watching your own works of art travelling at near breakneck speed.”

Next came the elimination process and the judges decided that Upekshi should be the one to go home. Reflecting on her experiences Upekshi reveals that 'Ideators' was no rosy venture for her.

“I did not enjoy any of the challenges. They were all horrible!!! We only won the one in which we had to design a furniture item. I think we won that challenge because we had a great judge for that episode. In the other tasks, even though the judges said they wanted something different in the brief, they always liked the cliché things,” she opined.

Speaking about her elimination the 19-year-old said that she did think she would be eliminated early in the competition.

“I thought so because when it came to that point in time I was already too tired to face any other tasks. I lost my physical strength after all the activities and this affected my creativity.

I was actually blacking out during the judging session because I was so tired!” she admitted. Upekshi also said that if the team had been given another chance to redo their work on the design, she would not advise them to change anything.

“If possible I would change the judges! If the Caraboa judge was at the boardroom instead of the Team Amarasiri judge, then it would have been fine” she said.

Asked if the Reflex members consider Upekshi the ‘black sheep’ of the group and were glad to bid her adieu, Indrajith was quick to rise to the defense.

“You are absolutely wrong. I know how it must seem to most people, but we were a team.

However much of differences we may have had in the past episodes, we never did badly because of one person. It was either all or none,” he explained.

So that is yet another ‘dramatic’ closing to an ‘Ideators’ episode and lots of food for thought. Will Reflex lose out again next week or will it be Lion Heart's unlucky day? Who would you pick to eliminate in episode six? Till we wait to switch onto to (Independence Television Network) ITN on Saturday at 9 pm, here is one for the road to renew your spirits!