India has two of the best design schools in the world!
That India is doing well when it comes to design education has been revealed by a survey of Design schools worldwide by Business Week. Both the National Institute of Design (NID) in Ahmedabad and the Industrial Design Centre at the Indian Institute of Technology, (IIT, Mumbai) are on the list.
Business Week has listed a total of 60 D-schools which it considers the best in the world and this was done by a panel of innovation consultants, academics, and executives:
To compile this list, BusinessWeek turned to an international panel of 22 expert design and brand consultants and academics from both business and design schools. We also tapped six forward-thinking companies with expertise in design or innovation strategy. We asked all to recommend interdisciplinary design and business programs with curricula they respect and graduates they prefer to hire. Then we conducted interviews with professors, students, and alumni from the recommended colleges, looking for design programs that incorporate business strategy—and business programs that teach design as a tool for strategic advantage.
This is the map which shows the top 30 institutes:
Detailed information on all of the 60 institutes (not all of them are Art and Design but also Industrial and Engineering Design) are given here, but the institutes are ranked in alphabetical order only. Ranking of the various institutes isn’t clear, and this is probably deliberate.
NID (Ahmedabad), is a government institution and is the top design institute in India and in the top 30 in the world. It has 650 students, both graduate and undergraduate. The Institute partners are the ENSCI (France), RCA (London), Shenkar (Israel) (academic partnerships) and the Institute has also also worked with Fiat, Autodesk, GM, and Whirlpool for business. Suzuki, Whirpool and Infosys are the top employers. NID has some famous alumni like Satish Gokhale, who runs a consultancy and studio (Design Directions) and has won several Design awards.
NID is strongly linked to Indian Industry and students get opportunities to work on company projects during their course. And the latest news is that NID will soon start a Master’s programme in design entrepreneurship in collaboration with Stanford University, US.
NID was set up as far back as 1961. It was not long after Independence and one has to thank the policy makers of the time because they had the vision to do it.
The design course at IIT (Mumbai) has 62 graduate students. IIT is basically an engineering institute but now has a product design course. It has a business partnership with the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design. Companies like Ashok Leyland, Honeywell, Tata Motors, Ford, Motorola and
Microsoft have employed students from here.
This design programme has made it to the top 60 as it’s considered to take “a broad and holistic approach, combining mandatory art and marketing components into an industrial design course.” Consultancy work and sponsored projects are done by students and professors of this institute the Mumbai industry. Conferences on innovation are held for business leaders from around the world.
It is important to remember that business partnerships with industry and academic partnerships with other global institutes is what gives these institutes the place on the map.
Retail design is becoming big in India and here are some of the quality courses available in India (NIFT and NICC are not in the global list given above but are said to be good courses):
1. At NID, those specialising in Exhibition Design gain retail designing skills. The Institute (NID) has also introduced a special course in “Design for Retail Experiences” – the first specialised course tailored exclusively for retail design at their R&D campus in Bangalore.
2. Delhi’s National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) offers a master’s course in Design Space.
3. Bangalore’s National Institute for Creative Communication (NICC) which offers a postgraduate course in Visual Communication.
Severe faculty shortage
However, the other side of the shiny coin is that design institutes, including NID, don’t have sufficient staff. At NID for example, the number of students have steadily increased from sixty students in the undergraduate batches five years ago to seventy five today and every year new postgraduate courses such as strategic design, automotive design and retail design are being added. But insiders tell me that the number of faculty have not risen in proportion to the number of courses and students. This means a steadily decreasing quality of education, not just in NID, but most of the other institutes. Indeed it seems to be the bane of all higher education today.
(The first photograph is from NID and the second from IIT Mumbai)
Related Reading: Designers wanted in India
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Nita,
Thanks for a very informative post. NID is the rare Indian institution which, in addition to tie-ups with industry and globally renowned institutions, has had some of the finest practitioners, thinkers and teachers in design involved in conceptualising and developing its programmes. A lot of this has been due to the visionaries who were associated with its founding and steering who, despite government funding and the usual restrictions that go with it, were able to forcefully set the direction that the institution has taken.
Thanks Vivek. Yes, NID is one of the best achievements of our government in the educational sector.
Nita:
// NID is one of the best achievements of our government in the educational sector. //
I don’t know about “government achievement”. Government has funded many institutions over the years. How well they do depends a lot on the individuals who receive and spend the money with imagination, integrity and vision.
@Vivek Khadpekar:
yes ofcourse, but finally the fact that they didn’t stand in the way is also to their credit! today a lot of money goes down the drain as it’s not spent or goes into the pockets of politicians.
I somehow don’t share your optimism on this topic, Nita. Probably because I am still very much a part of the academic circus. We might have a few really good universities, but that does not change the fact that the rest are far below par.
I somehow see this celebration of “excellence” as neglect of the real issue. Whether IIT is the best university on earth or not, does not affect me. What does, is, how good is the average? And trust me, the gap is so wide that I doubt I will see it bridged in my lifetime.
Lastly, I think IIT’s get too much credit for guiding the “sharpest minds” in India. They are by far an elitist university. When was the last time you saw an IITian win a Nobel prize, invent something, or have his name next to a patent that, well, changed everything?
@The Depressed Doormat:
I have written detailed posts on the other side of the coin on this very blog, fairly depressing posts, as you are probably aware, but I see no reason not to celebrate the positive. Sure even the positive has it’s downside, it’s the way one looks at it.
I agree with Nita, thing change gradually and change takes time. We cant expect to change things overnite. So instead of sitting and complaining about the sorry state of the Indian Education system, why not look at the positive side and try and improve the other side.
Hi,
I was wondering if i could get information regarding a very specific design stream. I want to pursue a post graduate design course in Game design. NID and Shristi both have this course, but I was wondering if there were any other D-colleges which offer something similiar?
i was wondering if there were ant other colleges which promotes automobile design in india….it would be a lot of help if you guys could help me out here..
i am in 12 th std. idont know much abt desgning carriers pls tell abt the institutes for which i should prepare to have bright future and which desgning courses should i go for…
it would be of great help if u will let me know
thanx
Swati, Each city has several designing institutes but NID is the best. You should consult a career guidance institute. – Nita.
Nita,
To your response to Swati Chawla, I would add the Srishti School of Design, Bangalore and the Industrial Design Centre (IDC), IIT-Powai.
Nita,
I read what The Depressed Doormat had to say about IITs. There is no doubt that IITs produce bright graduates, but a lot of that has to do with the intake. Until now IIT has been one of the very few institutions which have admitted students only on the basis of a competitive examination. IITs have been largely insulated from the baneful influence of politicians and others. IITs are unique because not even the Ivy League colleges or Oxford and Cambridge are free of influence because of ‘legacy’ admissions.
It is just not right to criticize IITs for not producing a Nobel Prize winner. These are institutions of technology and not of pure science. They don’t teach Quantum Mechanics and Molecular Chemistry or Biology in IITs. what we learn is technology which by definition is the application of basic scientific principles to practical everyday things. In the past three decades, the most practical innovation has been the scope and breadth of Information Technology in which the IIT graduates have excelled beyond anybody’s expectations.
However, I do agree that most Indian Universities are of very low standard when compared to even the second rate universities in advanced countries.
hey guys, well talkin about design educatin,
what do you al think about raffles design international,mumbai,u think its worth doing a design degree frm that institute..,considering NID,and IIT,out of the list….,
well i have completed 2 years of my engineering,and have quit the course..due to certain acadamic reasons.,
so please tell me what wud be the best option for me if i want to persue,product DESIGN.
and keeping time as a constraint.
Just One question……..where should i do a Game Designing Course in India, so as to jump start my career in Gaming. Am rightnow working in world’s largest financial service company since 2.6 years. So, what do u have to suggest.
Hey people,
I have been selected fo GDPD in NID ahmedabad for session 2009-10.
kindly enlighten me about the carrier perpectives for establishing a corp.(as I dont want job or freelancing work), study or education system at NID as I hv not studied much about NID.
lastly please tell me about the faculty scarcity as mentioned in the artical.
your contribution will surely prove valuable.
Prayas,
As an old-fashioned person who worked his way up in his career, I do not know if you really need to get a design qualification to establish a “corp.” without getting some experience on a job or doing freelance work.
If you have a few tens of lakhs (maybe crores) floating around in loose change, high-profile contacts and a gift for convincing people, you don’t need to waste your time slogging at NID.
You can always hire talented designers to do the work, while you sit in the room in the corner with a vista of Backbay (or Purana Qila), meet high-powered clients at high-powered lunches at the Oberoi Towers or at Le Meridien, do business deals over nine holes at the golf club, and party away late into the night at the most exclusive joints.
Of course you could spend three months a year cruising in a luxury liner (unless you decide to acquire your own yacht), or unwinding at Kamalame Cay or Soneva Fushi. With satellite phones and laptops these days you can run your office from anywhere on earth.
All the best!
Hi . I will be answering my 12th class in march. Planning to appear for NID entrance. could you please tell me how to prepare for the same and are there any specific books available?kindly mail me
I would like to know how NICC Banglore is in comparisson to Symbiosis Pune. For communication design. Im very confused and am looking for the august intake or the earliest .i just gave my 12th and im very confused!
Neha, I wish I could help you here but I do not know. You need to check how many years the institutes have been running, what their entrance tests are like, their results and most important their infrastructure. You can do this by actually visiting these places. Or by talking to ex-students. I don’t see any other way. Best of luck. – Nita.
Great post Nita!
It’s a good thing that India has 2 such great institutes. But as other have pointed out there is a huge gap today in terms of quality design education. Largely due to shortage of faculty and expertise.
Another point that I have noticed is in India people don’t really see design as a serious career option. Its either engi / med / mba. Design is unexplored, untapped in India.
If you see Europe it has so much respect, education and business for design. In India design still a fancy thing. If taken seriously I think many rural and urban socio-economic issues can be addressed using useful design & implementation.
Slowly but surely I can sense the young India tending towards design. Animation, Digital Art, Architecture, Product Design are all on the rising.
Hope to see more soon in India!
thanks nita….
can u please suggest me that which course is having highest rating in nid b’coz m doing preparation for my entrance exams……….i myself is very confused !your contrbution soon be valuable
My daughter will be appearing for her 10th exams in 2010. She has great aptitude and interest in art, design,photography,fashion and sports. What subjects should she take up in 11th and how can she prepare to get into a good design school.
can u please tell me is it necessary to do 11th n 12th from c.b.s.e to get admission in product designing at NID???
You just need to do your 12th from any recognized course, even IB is allowed. What is important is passing the NID exam and interview. – Nita