The evolution of design education started with consultancy for Artist and artisans. It led to apprenticeship and undergraduate courses which finally lead to independent degree programmes and graduate studies. Design as a discipline evolved from specialized education programmes to formal degree programmes to masteral research and finally doctoral programme. Many institutions offering design education are now coming up. Course structures were modified and reformed for specialization in different areas. The undergraduate programmes develop fundamental skills,inventiveness and sensitivity, integrative and critical thinking, and ability to apply design processes to industry and other problems. The post graduate programmes help explore areas of advanced interest. They provide professional opportunities and research and lead to Masters and Doctoral programmes.
The role of design world over is increasing due to economic competitiveness and for a better quality of life. There are many formal and informal routes to enter the design profession. Industry accepts talent without formal design training. Also, there are many avenues where skills can be acquired outside the format of formal education. Formalized design programmes came into being after design thinking was recognized and the demand for designers increased. Fundamental changes in design education can take full advantages of the new capabilities.
What is design ?
Design is not art, not engineering, not science.It is not a separate discipline but requires integrative use of all the reservoirs of knowledge. With increasing awareness about design, students are entering design education to pursue a career instead of deciding against other careers.Hence for design students, the sources of information and inspiration belong to all the fields; the process to use that wisdom in better products and communications is what is special to the design program. The design disciplines can be broadly categorized as follows:
· Industrial Design
· Communication Design
· Textile and Fashion
· Film & Media and Animation
Some of the new disciplines are
· Software Integrated Design
· New Media
· Transportation Design
Design Education in India
Architecture was one of the early sectors to become formalized through the Architects Act of 1972 which regulates all recognized schools of Architecture in the country as well as the profession and its code of conduct. In the formal education sectors, the numerous Fine and Applied Arts Institutes, within and outside the University system produce many skilled practitioners for the advertising and publishing Industry as well as the performing arts and the media sectors.
There are 108 recognized schools of Architecture distributed across India, all of which are regulated by quality standards set by the Council of Architects that was established by an Act of Parliament in 1972. Few of these schools have programmes in Interior Design, Landscape Design and Town Planning being offered at the Masters level. The National Institute of Fashion Technology has eight centres across India teaching Fashion, Textiles and Accessory design .
The National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad (NID) was the first major multi-disciplinary education, research and practice based institution to be set up by the Government of India in 1961. The private sector is entering the design education space in a big way and with the National and State Government Policies favouring the entry of private players into education, the stage is set for a large number of privately funded and managed design education programmes, across a large number of sectors and at many levels of entry and performance.
Design education is more than dissemination of technical skills. It communicates concepts to people, it creates ideas and markets and establishes relevance to commence business.
It is this diversity of application that makes design a sensitive and powerful tool of business and industry today. Design is inter related with technology and science on one hand and social sciences (market culture, society) on the other. When compared to the disciplines of Engineering and Technology, Management and Medicine, the disciplines of Architecture and Design are not that hotly contested. However the few seats that are available are contested each year but the growth in demand has not yet reached very high levels but it is anticipated to grow exponentially in the days ahead. Design is not yet a popular area of study, but the demand for designers is bound to explode with the liberalization of our industry and the open economy has created a healthy competition within industry which in turn has brought home the awareness that design matters in industry and in areas of Government investments in the social and development sectors of our economy. Selecting the right programme For potential design students, selecting the right program is no easy task. There are many factors that will guide choice of school, not all as obvious as location, size and cost. Much can be learned from school visits and conversations with faculty and current and former students.
Most important is to understand your own interests, as much as possible, so that as one learns about each department one will know whether it’s the right place for them. Design education is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and to get the most out of it, selecting the right program is crucial to success.
Different programs have different emphases.Some are more skill oriented, others more conceptual. Some educate graduates who are more suited to corporate design offices, others teach those who are more suited to consultancy work (not to say these are mutually exclusive, but consultancies often have some-what different needs). Some programs emphasize knowledge of engineering and manufacturing more than others, while others have a focus on environmental sustainability. None of these is necessarily right or wrong, one just has to think about what one wants.
Placement Opportunities
In recent years placement opportunities are many and all these designers, particularly those from the more reputed schools are immediately placed in very challenging positions within the design industry and in manufacturing as well as in education sector. The demand for designers
from Graphic Design, Animation and New Media are very high and these students find high performance positions within industry at a very young age. A small number migrate overseas for higher education at International Universities and Design Schools.
Design graduates are active in the key sectors of the economy, and many have distinguished themselves in diverse fields such as Textile, Product Design, Craft Design and Promotion, Advertising, Short Films and Multimedia, Developmental Communication etc.The spread of design education needs to be encouraged as well as regulated in order to ensure that the quality standards are met adequately. The success of the design agenda hinges upon the delivery of quality and for this to happen our education system should be producing individuals and teams that can deliver quality.National Design Policy In the recently announced National Design Policy by the Government of India, NID has been recognized as a pioneer in the field of design and has been accorded nodal role for spread of design education of India. NID has been entrusted the responsibilities to act as a catalyst institutions for promoting design education and research excellence in India.
This includes the responsibility for taking initiative in designing appropriate systems for identifying, nurturing and developing worldclass designers. This means that the institute needs to take leadership in designing systems for selecting potential designers, teaching and creating an enabling environment to develop future designers.National Institute of Design (NID) is internationally acclaimed as one of the foremost education and research institutions for industrial communication, textile and IT integrated (experiential) design. NID is an autonomous national ‘Institute of Excellence’ under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, in education, applied research, service and advanced training in wide spectrum of design domains. The responsibility of NID as a premier national design institute extends beyond its organizational boundaries.
The responsibility includes developing talent and capability relevant to design in the country. Translated in practical terms, NID needs to continuously enhance the nation’s capability and develop designers who would add value by enhancing the competitiveness of Indian products and improved quality of life. As a part of this responsibility of developing a robust selection process and disseminating the same to other design institutes, with similar vision, in India, it was decided that NID will review its own selection processes and modify it further to create an effective selection system applicable to other similar design institutions.
The selection process that will enable to identify talent with potential to be a designer and a process that will be scalable for future use by the design institutions.
WHAT IS NEED?
National Entrance Exami-nation for Design (NEED) is a qualifying examination for admission to the undergraduate level programmes in design, conducted by the National Institute of Design, on behalf of the Consortium partners. The objective of NEED is to measure the candidate’s aptitude for the field of design involving general mental ability, world view,sensitivity to environment, creativity, drawing and communication skills. NEED is only a qualifying entrance examination and therefore does not guarantee admission in any way.
NID will be the nodal agency for assessment of design talent in the country and widen its institutional base through greater inclusive processes. NID will create a consortium of Institutions of Design, which subscribes to NEED. NID would act as the leading founder and nodal agency of this consortium. The consortium would have three categories of members – Founding Members, Members and Associate Members.
For NID: Based on NEED score, candidates will be short listed and called for next phase of admission studio tests and interviews for final selection directly. Candidates need not apply to NID again.For other Consortium Partner Institutes: Based on the NEED scores, candidates have to apply to other Consortium Partner Institutes for admission separately and may have to fulfill their specific requirements for admission at the next phase. NID is not responsible for the admission procedures of consortium partner institutes.For more details or any specific queries on admissions or academic programmes of Consortium partner institutions, candidates are strongly advised to contact the concerned institute directly.
The consortium partners are
· National Institute of Design
· D.J. Academy of Design
· IILM School of Design, Gurgaon
· Indian Institute of Crafts & Design, Jaipur
· WLC College India, New Delhi
· Srishti School of Art Design & Technology,Bangalore
· Pearl Academy of Fashion, New Delhi
Graduate Diploma Programme in Design commences with a two-semester rigorous Foundation Programme. This programme is geared to assist in developing attitudes, sensorial skills and aesthetic sensitivity necessary for further specialization in specific areas of design. The purpose is to create an awareness of the environment and to arouse the student’s creative faculties. The primary concern of the Foundation Programme is to introduce the students to the Fundamentals of design, to initiate them to design as a creative problem solving process, and to develop a highly evolved ‘design’ attitude and understanding of the relationship with culture and human senses,emotions and feelings. In the foundation programme, basic design courses are augmented by related studies of Science and Liberal Arts,to help and develop an understanding of the Indian milieu, user needs and the intent application and processing of design and the focus in ‘synthesis’.
The foundation programme is geared to inculcate the development of values, attitudes,material and sensorial skills necessary for any design specialization. It aspires to create an awareness of the changing environment by constantly relating the students’ learning to real life situations. The programme provides the necessary direction, stimuli, facilities and experience to foster creativity and thereby help each individual to discover their own identity,ability and potentials.
The foundation programme is the basis on which the remaining design curriculum is built.It also makes students appreciate the multidisciplinary nature of design.This 4-year intensive professional UG programme is offered in the following three Faculty streams
· Industrial Design
· Communication Design
· Textile and Apparel Design
Post-Graduate Diploma Programme in Design is 2 to 2½ year programme offered in the following specific areas of sectoral specialization in 16 design programmes under the five faculties. Eligibility criteria for PGDPD:Candidates having a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent (including those who will be appearing for the qualifying examinations during the academic year is eligible to apply.
Programmes offered: Product Design, Furniture & Interior Design, Transportation & Automobile Design, Ceramic & Glass Design, Toy & Game Design, Textile Design, Apparel Design & Merchandising, Lifestyle Accessory Design, Graphic Design, Animation Film Design, Film & Video Communication, Strategic Design Management, New Media Design, Information & Interface Design, Design for Retail Experience, Design for Digital Experience.
(Courtesy : Employment News)