It was a pretty packed two days at the India Design Forum with tons to absorb. Great minds from the world of design, international and local, came together in the first-of-its-kind conference in India.
We heard Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator, Department of Architecture at the MoMA, talk about activist design and thinkering, Adam Bly of Seed Media Group on science + design, Jan Chipschase of Frog on ethics in design.In essence, the forum started with sessions on the deeper, more conscientious ideas all us designers ought to be thinking of.
Paola Antonelli, Adam Bly
From the mix local designers, Sujata Keshavan asked her question ‘What is the Indian identity?’ the answer to which can be as varied as the subcultures existing within the country.
Designboom’s Birgit Lohmann gave us a behind-the-scenes look at the online magazine, and the numerous design competitions they hold with a spotlight on the Renault 4 Ever competition. Paul Austin from the Austin Advisory Group tested our sense of smell, with a round of sniffs of Indian flower scents including jasmine. It was followed by a last sniff of Dior’s J’adore which is actually a combination of the ones we had just smelled.
And then there was the renowned trend forecaster Lidewij Edelkoort, who started her session with this lovely video of the song ‘Stand by Me’. Her predictions on trends were incredibly juxtaposed with the littlest of observations we all relate to. Li also introduced her project Trend Tablet, a social platform on sharing personal trend stories, that is growing into a global resource for trends.
Excitement filled the air as Karim Rashid, introduced as ‘the man with the pink tennis shoes’, walked up on stage. Besides sharing his thoughts on style vs. design, he encouraged designers to think about bringing closer the virtual and physical world with design.
Lidewij Edelkoort, Karim Rashid
Manish Arora wowed the audience with the story behind his Fall 2012 collection and the runway show that complemented his designs. ‘Life is beautiful’ was painted by graffiti artists in the backdrop simultaneously as the collection was presented on the runway. You can watch the video here.
Speakers also addressed the fact that India has the resources and talent to truly design. However, to reach the ideal standard— ethical, beautiful, functional, or efficient —the country, as with any individual, has to work from inside out to express its own individuality.
This was already a lot to soak in, and we still didn’t cover it all. The IDF is a much needed step in creating dialogue between designers from India and the world and we’re glad it’s here.
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