In the ever-evolving world, the dynamics of design education has undergone significant changes. Three decades back when I entered the design industry as a new graduate with much confidence and dreamed quite high, I had no idea of the way world looked at design as compared to the way we were taught at NID back then.

As a young professional driven by empathy, it was a dreadful experience to have people reach you out for window dressing or beautification of a product. I had a minimal idea that someday, design would become an integral tool to business solutions.

As a young and enthusiastic professional, ready to be part of the change, you always want to see the world as a beautiful and better place. In most of my conversations outside the design community and creative industry, I have found the design to be greatly misunderstood and only perceived as means of beautification. 

Read about Apeejay Stya University Gurgaon

With the emergence of a new lifestyle, new consumer and a need for a stronger interface between “the things and beings” there is a need to build a newer perspective. What was “happening” is redundant, what was once “sort” is gone?

The consumer of our generation has become immigrant of the virtual world, while the new generation consumers known as millennials and centennials are new natives of this emerging world.

The upcoming generation is driven by technology which is difficult to match. With technology comes change, change at a speed unimaginable to many of us. This continuous change is redefining how we want to look at our lifestyle, the spaces we live in, relationships we build and the jobs we take up.

The current industry is ready to shift and revamp the entire style of working; we have transitioned to an unpredictable space. Our industry is well aware of the facts that proper and specific skill sets and innovation can help us sustain the upcoming growth.

Major question: Why is a designer practicing design process succeeds better at defining solutions for any business context than someone with a very linear approach does?
Answer: It is because the whole process gets driven by empathy as a core value and has the involvement of all stakeholders. As an educator, if I am designing a solution for my students, the solution is bound to fail if the stakeholders are not a part of this collaborative solution.

Till a decade back, education was imparted in a typical classroom format. But, today’s generation is not looking for such a style of education they need practical knowledge. It has become a need of the hour for the institution as well as the faculty to redesign the entire curriculum.

For teaching a subject like “Design”, it is necessary to give proper exposure to the student. The institute must assure to keep up with the technology and keep updating their syllabi to keep up with the industry standards. One of the ways to do so is to hold seminars, workshops, events and guest lectures regularly.

A trans-disciplinary approach in design learning is the only way out to have transferable skill sets required for this new shape-shifting industry and world at large. Design schools having very linear focus will have to gear up towards being “student ready” and the ones who encourage 360-degree learning will have to re-look at not just the content but also the new approach design has taken for itself.

To sustain itself, every business today needs innovation; the right design education will empower a student to be an effective innovator, believes Jyoti Manral, Dean (School of Design and Visual Arts, Apeejay Stya University).