Design Open is two heady days of workshops, talks and showcases organised by India Design Council, the National Institute of Design (NID) and spread on 5th and 6th march 2016.

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5TH
+ 6TH
MARCH 2016
INDIA DESIGN MARK + DESIGN OPEN
REPORT 2016

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DESIGN RISES IN BANGALORE
Design Open in conjunction with the India Design
Mark 2016 Bangalore was a powerful event that
brought together innovators, technologists, speakers,
panelists, entrepreneurs, students, and designers in
a heady celebration of the art and science of design.
Design Open 2016 Bangalore, was organised on the 5th and 6th
of March by Spread Design in collaboration with the India Design
Council and the National Institute of Design. Celebrating design at the
intersection of business, technology, and innovation, the event saw
3000+ registrations and the participation of 2500+ people with two days
of heady talks, presentations, design dates and workshops, at the JN
Tata Auditorium, Bangalore.
Prior to the event, its website www.designopen.in was created by the
SPREAD tech team. Emailers, posts on social media groups and blog
posts about the event followed with people sharing, tweeting and
tagging themselves on the Design Open logo.
Times of India , one of the nation’s leading news dailies, published
elaborate advertisements on the 4th and 5th of March leading up to
the event.
As a result , there was a fantastic rush for registrations and Design
Open, a free for all event, was chock-a -block packed within the first
week of its announcement.
2 DAYS
10 WORKSHOPS
40+ SPEAKERS
2500+ PARTICIPANTS
3000+ REGISTRATIONS
7500+ FOOTFALLS
TALKS
DESIGN WORKSHOPS
PRESENTATIONS
DESIGN SHOWCASES
GOOD DESIGN SEMINAR
INDIA DESIGN MARK EXHIBITION
GOOD DESIGN PRODUCT SHOWCASE
(JAPAN)
TAIWAN INTERNATIONAL STUDENT
DESIGN COMPETITION SHOWCASE

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5TH MARCH DAY 1 DESIGN LEAP
The day started with the Welcome Address by Ms. Sonia Manchanda,
Founding Partner, SPREAD Design and Learning, Bangalore.
Speaking on how the future is being prototyped at the present moment,
she raised important points on how start-ups can better design their
brands and experiences, how design embraces new technology, and
why design is important for students.
This was followed by the Opening Address by Prof. Pradyumna Vyas,
Director, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad who highlighted
the huge lack in the numbers of graphic designers, only 10000 in a
population of 1.2 billion in India, and how much of a scope that presents
us for the future. He also spoke about how design has been at the core
of our 5000-year old rich heritage.
Next, Mr. Hrridaysh Deshpande, Consultant Advisor, India Design Council,
presented the Vote of Thanks. On a lighter note, he debated with
Prof. Vyas about organising India Design Mark 2017 in Mumbai or Chennai.
ON 3rd
MARCH THE INDIA DESIGN
MARK JURY ASSEMBLED TO
JUDGE THE 2nd
STAGE OF
INDIA DESIGN MARK PRODUCT
SHOWCASE.

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The first panel for Design Leap, was a discussion on Design for
Startups, moderated by Sonia. The panel comprised of Mr. Umakant
Soni (Venture Investor at Stealth, Bangalore), Gita Ramanan and
Shezan Bhojani (Co-founders at Design Cafe, Bangalore), Mr. Tanay
Kumar (CEO of Fractal Ink, Mumbai), and Mr. Shivakumar Viswanathan
(Executive Director at Brand Union, Bangalore). The panelists discussed
how design enables the building of beautiful customer experiences.
Following the discussion, the panel was opened up for questions.
The second panel on Creative Enterprises was moderated by
Mr. Umakant Soni with Mr. Abhijit Bansod (Founder and Creative
Director, Studio ABD, Bangalore), Ms. Annabelle M Viegas (Founding
Partner, Think Happy Everyday, Bangalore), Mr. Amit Mirchandani
(Managing Director Lucid + Design Director, Concrete Labs, Bangalore),
Mr. Sandeep Sangaru (Founder, Sangaru Design Objects, Bangalore),
Mr. Karthik Vaidyanathan (Founder ,Varnam, Bangalore), and Ms. Joyce
Hostyn (Design Catalyst, Canada). The panelists discussed the potential
of design as a core factor in creating amazing work cultures. Following
this, the panelists took questions from the audience.
The final panel for the day was on Disruptive Change that aimed at
uncovering how design is being used as a tool of change to solve
complex problems. Moderated by Mr. Hrridayash Deshpande, the
panelists comprised of Mr. Vivek Rajkumar (CEO & Co Founder,
Airwood, Chennai), Mr. Karma Bhutia (Design Leader, Honeywell,
Bangalore), Mr. Vipul Mishra (Founder, CanvasFlip, Hyderabad), and
Mr. Ranjan Malik (Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Storm the Norm
Ventures, Bangalore).
The panels ended in a lot of cheer from the audience.
THE PANELISTS DISCUSSED
THE POTENTIAL OF DESIGN AS
A CORE FACTOR IN CREATING
AMAZING WORK CULTURES

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A major highlight and crowd puller at the event was the SPREAD
Stall. SPREAD’s technical director Yashwanth M and his team
showcased the motion controlled human-computer interface
technology that SPREAD has developed in-house.
This, along with the Virtual Reality (VR) application, ensured that
everyone left SPREAD’s stall awestruck and with a smile on their
faces, reflecting on the new experience they enjoyed. The stall
ran the entire stretch of the event and was a compulsory stop for
everyone during the two days of Design Open.
Post lunch, Bangalore based start-up Team Indus, who call
themselves India’s Most Audacious Startup, presented their Million
to Moon idea.They demonstrated the Moon Rover robot amidst
great excitement and attention from the participants.

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DAY 1 WORKSHOPS
Day 1 came to a closure with a number of creative workshops
that saw participation in huge numbers and immense enthusiasm.
The workshops included Creative Disruption Game by Sonia
Manchanda and Delmo Oliveira, SPREAD, Digital Experience
Design Paper Prototyping by Tanay Kumar, Fractal Ink, and Rapid
Prototyping by Joyce Hostyn and Yashwanth M, SPREAD.
Over a 1000 participants, mostly students and start-ups participated,
and the workshops ended with fantastic levels of enthusiasm from
the participants.

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6TH MARCH DAY 2 DESIGN DISCOVERY
An invigorating opening session on Interaction Design by Dr. Akash
Rose (Director, National Institute of Creative Communication,
Bangalore) and Mr. Arjun Chetna (Partner/Designer at WINK,
Bangalore) who spoke on how design is reshaping human computer
interaction and redefining communication.
A session on Innovation and Design followed, with Prof. Shashank
Mehta (Faculty, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad) throwing
light on how design is being leveraged by businesses to solve
complex problems and generate innovative solutions.
The next session was on Communication and Graphic Design,
with Ms. Aleksandra Rose (Dean, National Institute of Creative
Communication, Bangalore) and Ms. Nijoo Dubey (National Institute
of Design, Bangalore) coming together to emphasise how graphic
design translates simple ideas to tangible outputs. A rapid question/
answer session followed, leaving the audience, mostly students and
entrepreneurs, visibly thrilled.
The day progressed with more sessions, more questions and more creative
ideas flowing. The session on Product Design, presided by Dr. Amaresh
Chakrabarti (Chairman, CPDM, IISC, Bangalore) and Prof. Janak Mistry
(Dean, Business Strategy and System Design, Srishti Institute of Art Design
and Technology, Bangalore) explored how product design creates unique
artefacts thus affecting our daily experiences.
The final session was on Urban Design. Mr. Prashant Dhawan and
Mrs. Seema Anand (Co-founders, Biomimicry India, Bangalore) and
Mr. Vinil Ratnakaran (Founder, Aquaponics Bangalore) came together
to speak on how urban design is leveraging biomimicry and other
practices in shaping the world of tomorrow.
THE 120 SEATER HALL
WAS SOON PACKED AND
THE SESSIONS HAD TO
BE SHIFTED TO A 750
SEATER AUDITORIUM
AT THE SAME VENUE.
THIS TOO, WAS FILLED
UP IN NO TIME!

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The high footfall at the event required a change in auditoriums. The 120
seater hall was soon packed and the sessions had to be shifted to a 750
seater auditorium at the same venue. This too, was filled up in no time!
Day 2 ended in engaging workshops such as Where Good Ideas
Come From by Ms. Annabelle Viegas and team, Think Happy
Everyday, Graphic Design Blind Date by Ms. Mandira Naidoo, Design
Experimenter, and Learn to Make Your Miniponics by Mr. Vinil
Ratnakaran, Aquaponics.
The Graphic Design workshop saw participants deconstructing the
Mona Lisa, while the Aquaponics workshop left everyone intrigued at the
potential of Biomimicry in creating sustainable urban design systems.
The National Institute of Design had also organised workshops on crafting
with Bamboo and Gamification that saw participation in huge numbers.
DAY 2 WORKSHOPS

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The India Design Mark is an annual open national exhibition and award
for products organised by the Indian Design Council in cooperation with
Good Design Award, Japan. It is a design standard, a seal of excellence
and good design, which is given after careful scrutiny of the product’s
usability, durability, aesthetics and social responsibility. It is India’s
premier design exhibition.
This year the jury process for the India Design Mark took place at the JN
Tata Auditorium, Bangalore, on 3rd and 4th March, while the exhibition was
open on 5th and 6th March. The exhibition also included exhibits from
Japan as well as a student design showcase from Taiwan International
Student Design Competition 2015.
An eminent jury comprising of Prof. Pradyumna Vyas, (Director, The
National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad), Mr. Hrridaysh Deshpande
(Consultant Advisor, India Design Council), Mr. Satish Gokhale (Design
Directions), Dr. Amaresh Chakrabarti (Chairman, CPDM, IISC), Mr. Suresh
Sethi (Vice President, Whirlpool Design Asia), Dr. Gabriela Christen (Dean
Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts), Mr. Takuya Kawagoi
(Head, Sony Design Centre Asia), Mr. Abhijit Bansod (Co-founder Studio
ABD, Bangalore), Dr. Bibhudutta Baral (Centre Head, R&D Campus, NID
Bangalore), Ms. Sonia Manchanda (Founding Partner, SPREAD Design
and Learning, Bangalore), Ms. Makiko Tsumura (Manager,International
relations, Japan Institute of Design Promotion), Mr. Ranjan Malik
(Co-founder and Managing Partner, Storm the Norm Ventures,
Bangalore), Mr. Ravi Gururaj (Serial Entrepreneur, Bangalore),
Mr. Ashish Deshpande (Cofounder, Elephant), and Mr. Ravi Shankar
(Head, Universal Design) selected the winning entries after a day and
a half of examination of the products, discussions with the designers
and deliberations amongst themselves.
A DAY AND A HALF OF
EXAMINATION OF THE
PRODUCTS, DISCUSSIONS
WITH THE DESIGNERS AND
DELIBERATIONS AMONGST
THE JURY MEMBERS

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3rd march started with the India Design Mark jury coming to judge
the of India Design Mark Product Showcase. On the 4th March,
the exhibition culminated into the Good Design Seminar. The I-Mark
recipients were announced and the Good Design Exhibition was
declared open to the public.
The Taiwan International Student Design Competition 2015 exhibit
was promoted through all the collaterals for India Design Mark such as
invitation cards, posters, banners and displays at the venue.The event
was explicitly advertised with the mention of the TISDC exhibit in the
web and print advertisements on various mediums including the Times
of India that has the highest circulation in the country. There was an
excellent interest amongst students about the TISDC and many of them
were enquiring about how to enter this competition, etc. This exhibition
will surely help to receive more participation from India to TISDC 2016.
All the visitors appreciated the exhibits.
7,500+ PEOPLE VISITED
THE INDIA DESIGN MARK
EXHIBITION AT JN TATA
AUDITORIUM, BANGALORE.

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Day 2 of India Design Mark concluded with the Good Design Seminar,
a seminar with talks on the attributes of good design by Design
Experts on the attributes of Good Design and the award ceremony for
India Design Mark, by invite-only. This was followed by a dinner kept
in honour of the I-Mark Jury, organised by the India Design Council at
The Gold Finch Hotels, Bangalore.
Design Open 2016 was indeed a thrilling journey that explored the
potential of Design as a game changer, a creative catalyst. It opened
up how the next generation will learn, create and consume, what are
the emerging behaviours,cultures, and paradigms, and how we can
open up new possibilities with Design.
With over 2500+ participants and 40+ Speakers, Panelists and
Workshop facilitators it was a gala affair that ended in joyous cheer
celebrating the spirit and role of Design in today’s context.
We at SPREAD look forward to Design Open 2017.
A THRILLING JOURNEY THAT
EXPLORED THE POTENTIAL
OF DESIGN AS A GAME
CHANGER AND A CREATIVE
CATALYST.
www.designopen.in