| Design Concepts & Concerns... |
Faculty: M P Ranjan, Rashmi Korjan & Dimpl... |
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Design Concepts & Concerns is a powerful way of introducing critical thinking and helps develop deep understanding of domains for design action. At the National Institute fo Design, Ahmedabad, India all students take this course at the foundation level. The concepts are introduced by lectures, assignments and discussions. Brainstorming, Categorisation, Analysis, Modelling, Synthesis and Scenario Visualisation are iterative processes used with field interfaces with real situations and contexts to teach design thinking and action capabilities. Finding, Knowing, Thinking and Doing, all supported with Feeling which is the most important part of our educational process in this course. Critical thinking and action must be rooted in value systems that are sound and sustainable. Each batch is given new themes to explore so that our collective understanding of the broader application of design is triggered.
Khadi was chosen as a theme for this course in October 2003 since it was getting hyped up attention at the Institute through the ongoing "Afri-Khadi Project" and with the establishment of the "KVIC-NID Design Centre. The teachers decided to offer Khadi to the PG batches from Textiles & Apparal (Batch 1), and Product, Furniture, Ceramiic & Lifestyles (Batch 2) so that the area of Khadi could be looked at afreash without the baggage that had been accumulated over the years of its existance. The tools that are introduced during this course are visually rich and a powerful means of grappling with any complex design problem. Any topic can be processed by groups of motivated people to apply design to resolve complex situations.
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Prof M P Ranjan
Faculty of Design
National Institute of Design
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| Design is a powerful tool that can be used to transform India, across all the 230 critical sectors of our economy that are in desperate need of its application. |
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Class Highlight |
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Class Calendar |
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Class Work |
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Concept to Exhibition
A great learning experience that will last for a lifetime and be remembered with all the digital images that were captured during the course. All students were given a CD ROM containing over 3000 pictures.
The course culminated with an symbolic exhibition at Gandhi's Kochrab Ashram. A pinch of salt in the ocean of society, but with conviction that it will be effective in bringing change.
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Course was offered in October 2003 in two batches of two weeks each. Each batch took the theme of Khadi and followed the lectures with team based assignments and all the time having a close look at themselves and their belief systems. Many were challenged to redraw their assumptions about themselves and about their colleagues capabilities in a process of confidence building and understanding group processes in design and finally the work was showcased at Gandhi's Kochrab Ashram in Ahmedabad. The show coincided with "Afri-Khadi" in Delhi.
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The work done in this class can be quite effectively taken forward and multiplied since much of it is rooted in real information and insights gathered through the design processes and with a good deal of motivation and contact with experts in the field and with teachers at NID. Many sectors of Khadi were the subjects of imaginative exploration and scenario building and some of these atre indeed potential seeds that can act as transformers of the sector in the days ahead. We do wish our dreams will be supported and realised. Gandhi's concept of non-violence and peace is embedded in the very fibre of Khadi and its manifestations in numerous applications in the years ahead will help us steer forward through many crisis and development initiatives that lie ahead for all of us.
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