A QUALIFIED engineer,
Pradyumna Vyas, Director of NID, may never have ventured into design had it not been for his professor at IIT-Delhi who took note of his aptitude. So he went on to pursue an M Des or Master of Design at IIT-Bombay’s Industrial Design Centre (IDC), in a discipline he is obviously passionate about – Industrial Design.
In an interview with
Merril Diniz of Careers360, he spells out the relevance of design in daily life, upcoming areas, and what impresses the admissions committee at India’s most prominent D-School – National Institute of Design (NID).
Q. For the benefit of students, tell us about the core of design.A. Design makes things better, whether for sustainability or ease of use, convenience, maintenance, assembling, manufacture, safety and ergonomic comfort of a product. Design, therefore, must come at the time a product is conceived or planned as opposed to when it is finished and you just beautify it. Design is not the facelift but an integral part of product development that minimises the product development cycle and risk of failure.
Q. Learning by doing is a concept one keeps hearing at NID. How do you ensure it ?
A. Our study is project-based and a jury evaluates these projects. Jury is an important and transparent process. In an open jury system seniors, juniors, classmates – all can ask questions, and we encourage discussion and debate. In fact a student’s final project is sponsored by a company or organisation.
Q. What are the upcoming avenues for design?
A. Interaction design or User Interface Design - these areas are in demand because we are also an IT hub. So IT-integrated design is an area with a great scope as it adds value to your product. Another area is Design Management because you may need to manage designers and work out design intricacies in terms of thinking and development, in organisers. Transportation and automobile design is coming up in a big way, which encompasses everything from road, air and water transport to bus stops.
And now the time has come for Universal Design, which we will be launching next year, where it is to do with inclusive growth. You will design for senior citizens, for children, for those with disabilities, and for those from rural background, because design will fulfil a specific need. Similarly, social communication, part of Communication Design is coming up in a big way due to development activities by the government sector. Yes, design is going to play a big role because policies are getting more inclusive! Eco Design will come to India eventually. In fact, whenever you design a product you should look into the environmental aspect anyway.
Q. What are the qualities that impress NID during admissions?
A. Our tests (written/studio) look into the balance between analytical thinking and creative aptitude. Not totally an artist, not totally an engineer but someone who can analyse the situation and then use his creative ability. Also, have you understood the situation you are being tested on, or are you just repeating what you heard from the TV or your friends? Depth of understanding is very important. For instance, we ask students if plastic should be banned. They say “yes”. We ask, “What is the alternative?” They have no answer! We also like humility and not overconfidence.
Q. What happens if your English is not that good?
A. At NID, you don’t lose points if your English is not good. In fact, more and more people are coming from smaller towns and remote areas and when one student from a place comes, then many more will apply from there. Also, parents have started believing that this is a good career for their children as value-addition is far better. We have special classes in the evenings to help people speak working level of English because the medium of instruction is English. We make an effort to give them support.
Q. You have an R&D centre in Bangalore. What happens here?
A. We have three PG programmes - two research-intensive ones i.e. Design for Retail Experience and Design for Digital Experience, and Information and Interface Design. This is because more Information Technology companies are based in Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad, so we can get experts from the industry to interact with students, and in turn produce IT-integrated designers. Also, projects.
Q. And the thought behind establishing the Gandhinagar campus?
A. Our numbers began increasing. So we shifted PG programmes without a corresponding UG programme to this campus. These include Toy & Game Design, New Media Design, design management and lifestyle accessory design
Q. Must be difficult to find really good faculty…
A. It is a difficult task but we are committed, though it is not practical to increase our numbers fast. We have 70 full-time faculty and 200 visiting faculty. Then we have a faculty development programme (two years) at the Ahmedabad campus to provide specialised design inputs in areas. We are now going to make it a more for formal and may increase the number. Selection is a rigorous process. We see the inclination for teaching, you need five years of experience in the area of design. We would also like to train faculty for other institutes, as NID needs to take what they have learnt there.
Q. What is your vision for NID?
A. The first thing, as we complete 50 years, is to shift design thinking to focus on more responsible design. How can we add both sustainability and quality in a more responsible way? We want value-added design for all.