The faculties of Fashion Design and Interior Design at JD Institute of Fashion Technology, Bangalore attended a 2-day session at Design4India Summit, an initiative by NASSCOM at the Conrad on 22^nd & 23^rd of August, 2019. The summit was an open platform for Industry Experts across all verticals of design and technology ecosystem who shared and showcased their ideas and latest technology, to the attendees.

The summit consisted of a series of workshops, exclusive keynote – panel discussions, masterclasses, design cafes, product showcases and experience zones on various topics relevant to the current age of design development like Augmentation of Technology with Human Experience, Artificial Intelligence, UI/UX, Drone Applications, VR/VX etc. Focus was also given on topics like the human-centric approach to design, Storytelling for design Subinder Khurana, Dimensions of Innovation using Lego Serious Play, Designing for Behavioral Change and Impact, Service Design, Generative Design and many more.

Engaging panel discussions on topics like Designing for Sustainability and Design Education etc. piqued everyone’s attention. Some of the noteworthy workshops include – “Learning to Design for Voice – conducted by Mr. Sohan Maheshwar, Alexa Evangelist at Amazon. The session spoke about the nuances of designing for a voice-based interface, Situational Design and the possibilities of innovating beyond the current design scenario. The workshop started with theoretical information supported by informative videos helped even the beginners understand the complexities of AI with ease. The second half of the session was more interactive as the participants got a chance to collaborate to design their own hypothetical “skill” for Alexa during the hands-on Voice Design Jam.

Another session that enticed the audience was a panel discussion – Deep Dive on Design Education, chaired by Mr. Alok B Nandi, President of IxDA and Founder of Architempo. The panelists included design stalwarts from both the Industry and Academia, such as Srini R Srinivasan – CEO at Luminum; Nithin Sethi – Vice President, Digital at Indigo Airlines, Thomas Garvey – Executive Board Director at WDO, Associate Professor at Carleton University, Geetha Narayan – Founder Director at Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology Srishti Bajaj – Associate Professor and HOD of Product & Accessory Design at Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Revati Kant – Chief Design Officer – Titan.

The discussion focused on understanding how to fix the “chalta hai” attitude of the emerging designers who graduate from their respective institutions and lose their motivation for innovation and start focusing on “Jugaad.” Throughout the session, several perspectives emerged about the same point, both from the industry and academic representatives who spoke about incorporating design education at the basics, improvement of the professionalism attitude, incorporation of a practical approach to design learning and industry guidance incorporating into the curriculum.

Faculty of Fashion Design, Ms. Niveditha Vijayanand stated, “My experience at the summit as a whole was creatively enriching. The workshops and Deep Dive sessions helped me have conversations about design from a multi-perspective which helped improve my knowledge and motivated me to alter my thinking of the limitations to design evolution. From the networking aspect, it has given me contacts to help me contribute to the development of the students of JD Institute of Fashion Technology on various platforms”.