World café style Confluence of design thinkers from across the globe deliberate ‘Impact of Design’
Chandigarh, 2nd March 2017: Pearl Academy, India’s leading institution in design, fashion and creative business institution hosted 6th edition of ‘What’s Next’, a World café style confluence in New Delhi. With ‘Impact of Design’ as its theme, the two day event gathered some game-changing ideas from more than 80 design influencers and thought leaders, who articulated the impact of design on various realms of life.
Pic 5 - Pranjal receiving the award from the changemakers for student design pitch-
The first day of the conference included two sessions – ‘Impact of design on Society’ and ‘Impact of design on Industry’ that presented a wide array of unique ideas through design in order to overcome the pressing problems faced in the society. The change makers explained that the world is in a dearth of direction and designers can be the expert navigators.
The day concluded with a panel discussion where senior academicians and design thinkers discussed and deliberated remodelling design education to make impactful interventions in the education industry. Panellists included Shobha Mishra Ghosh, Senior Director, FICCI, Education, Line Christiansen, Head of School, Domus Academy
The second day continued with an in-depth discussion amongst the senior leaders and academicians from renowned design institutes like Dr Preeti Shroff-MICA, Nina Sabnani – IDC IIT-Mumbai, Sumatara-Shiv Nadar, Mookesh Patel-ISDI, Millie Thakur-Symbiosis, and Dr Ghoshal – UPES at Pearl Academy Campus. The session involved exchange of ideas on how the design schools and institutions can come together and collaborate to five life to ideas and projects discussed at the forum so that they do not remain just on paper. This was critical to give final shape and completion to these revolutionary ideas.
The sessions witnessed the presence of not only eminent thought leaders from industry but were also joined by educators from the design field. The confluence saw active participation by design experts such as KB Jinan (De Schooler, Nilambur, India), Feroze Gujral (Founder, The Gujral Foundation), Ashwini Deshpande (Co-founder, Director, Elephant Design Pvt. Ltd.), Anthony Lopez (Founder, Lopez Design), Poonam Bir Kasturi (CEO, Daily Dump), Judy Frater (Founder Director, Somaiya Kala Vidya), Massimo Randone (Project Leader, Vibram University), Stefano Mirti (Founder& Head Strategy IdLab, iversity), Claudio Moderini (Head Academics, Pearl Academy), Dr. Skye Morrison (Special Projects, Director Mela). Academicians such as Dr. Poonam Shroff (Dean, MICA), Jatin Bhatt (Dean – School of Design, Ambedkar University) were also present on the occasion.
Going forward with the in-depth discussion on the role of design in society, Nandita Abraham, CEO, Pearl Academy said,” We’re witnessing a revolution in technology, lifestyle and education, where design plays a key role. A platform like ‘What’s Next’, confluence is a great start to bringing an interesting stream of ideas from across the world. With this, we have started a new journey towards innovation through design, by taking small steps that will ultimately help us bring a bigger impact on the nation. It’s fascinating to see so many people with a common purpose of transformation. And I am sure that together we can reshape the world and steer it towards a better tomorrow.”
The confluence garnered appreciation from the renowned academicians and design thinkers who not only found this initiative to be innovatively productive but also saw this as the need of the hour.
“I think this is a great and a much required initiative that Pearl Academy has taken bringing academicians and design thinkers in one room to discuss something so critical such as design thinking. Our current global education system is catering to the second industrial revolution. It’s imperative that we deliberate on redefining our education system with innovative pedagogy and mechanisms to equip our youth with knowledge and skills to deal with the future challenges for wellbeing of all”, said Shobha Mishra, Senior Director, FICCI, Education.
What’s Next Ideas from Students & Design Professionals
Pearl Academy had also invited students and design professionals to send in their entries for their revolutionary ideas in design that can have an impact on nation building and society & culture. These competitions received an overwhelming response and after a two level selection process, the winners got an opportunity to present their ideas to the renowned gathering.
The winners were
Professional winners
Name
|
Project
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Amitesh Singhal, Designation
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Youth Club – Valuing the here and now
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Dominika Wasik
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Body Dialogue–Combination between body language and sign language
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PrasannaBaruah
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Ahimsa Silk – Exploring the concept Ahimsa Silk as a strong device of Female empowerment in Assam
|
Students Winners
Name
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Campus / Location
|
Course/Name of the project
|
Akansha Malhotra
|
Pearl Academy Noida
|
Communication Design – The Tough champs – Breaking stereotypes of women professionals
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RaminderKochar
|
Pearl Academy Noida
|
Communication Design - Save before late- Inculcating environmental conscience among children
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Chinmay Saini
|
Pearl Academy Noida
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Product Design – Design for autism
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Pranjal Kaila
|
Pearl Academy Delhi
|
Communication Design – Creative coding to bridge the gap between education and learning
|
About Pearl Academy
Pearl Academy is one of the leading institutions in design, fashion and creative business in India and has been a catalyst for success of the students across these creative industries for over two decades. With a legacy of over 23 years, Pearl Academy offers over 30 uniquely designed under-graduate, post-graduate and professional development pathway through its campuses in Delhi NCR (East & West), Jaipur and Mumbai. Its reputation of preparing ‘Industry ready’ professionals has been recognized by leading fashion, retail and design brands, which has helped in ensuring a healthy track record of over 95 per cent placement for the last three years. Its path-breaking alliances with renowned bodies such as the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) and Institute of Indian Interior Designers (IIID) have ensured that its faculty and students get an exclusive access to ‘industry in the classroom’.
The institution was ranked as the best private fashion collage in India for the fourth consecutive year by India Today – AC Nielson survey, The Week- Hansa Survey and Outlook – Drshti Survey. Pearl Academy was also awarded the ‘Best Design Institute in India 2016’ award by industry body ASSOCHAM. Jaipur campus of the academy was ranked as one of the most beautiful college campuses in India by India Today. Pearl Academy is a member of Laureate International Universities network, a global network that has presence in 28 countries, serving more than one million students. The Academy is also closely associated with renowned global institutions such as London College of Fashion, Domus Academy (Italy) and NABA (Milan) amongst many others.
For more information, please visit: www.pearlacademy.com