Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology

Almost every thing you see around you has been designed – from a simple safety pin to an airplane.

Who is a product designer?

The product designer today needs to be stimulated and stimulating, to be an instrument of change, not always sweeping, but change that might be modest and yet crucial, to grasp the essentials of a situation, and suggest solutions that address the crux of the problem, in a way that is sustainable, socially, culturally and environmentally.

Product & Interface Design is a 2 ½-year specialization that deals with the physical world around us, and with the elements that make that physical world. No product exists in a vacuum, and is made by someone, bought by someone, used by someone and discarded, sometimes reused by someone. A key component of product design is understanding this cycle and more importantly, understanding the user.

We encourage students to engage with the real world by asking questions, identifying and solving design problems and empathizing with people who use or need design.

Artists and designers visit us from around the world and work on projects, labs or courses in our campus. The course is run mainly through projects and rarely relies on a lecture format for the dissemination of material for the students. The work is treated as a live space where students will have the freedom to negotiate their own pathways.

All this means that students studying Product design get to choose the projects they do, and they are encouraged to explore as widely as possible.

The kind of courses we offer are:

• Project based - where students work on live or self directed projects
• Skill based - like drawing and model making
• Research based - like user research
• Liberal Arts - for an overview of the kind of world we live in and design for
• Studio - for getting your hands dirty and learning some exciting skills

Product design is often seen as design of appliances for industry, but at Srishti we extend the definition to cover:

Product Design for Industry:

India is being seen as a strong emerging market by global industry and many of them have set up their design labs here. Consequently there is an increased demand for product designers who have strong User Research and Innovation skills.

Students at Srishti go through the design process to work on Industrially made personal electronic products like phones, laptops, music players as well as products for the home. Courses include User Research Methods, Techno-aesthetic Detailing (form, culture, detail), Drawing (CAD, 3D Rendering), Product Semantics, Prototyping and Ergonomics. The presence of Srishti Labs on campus ensures that there are live projects for students to work on.

Systems Design:

Systems design is increasingly seen as a vital part of business, society as well as for the not-for-profit sector. An example of a systems design problem could be ‘how can I optimize the use of water in a large housing complex?’ A multi disciplinary and collaborative approach is used in these projects.

Courses focus on User Research, Mapping techniques, Research, Understanding and use of Appropriate Contexts and Technology.

Craft:

Design and craft are traditionally closely related and at Srishti, students also design for the rich craft and artisan communities in our country, for the vibrant and creative small-scale industry.

Courses include Craft Documentation, Understanding Local Technologies and Material, Basic Product Design, Basic Prototyping and Cultural Mapping.

Interface Design

This includes user interfaces for the web and electronic devices, like mobile phones, tablet computers and other devices. Students learn to understand and analyse the 3 dimensional nature of applications and optimize them with design, working with User Centered Design principles.

Courses include User Research and Analysis, Using Innovation Tools, Blue Sky design, Forecasting, Web and Mobile Architecture, Interaction Design, Cultural Research and Mapping and Web related software.