It is perhaps a sign of economic recovery when design becomes a focal point around which industry activity is rallied. For the organisers of Design ID, a brand new platform for the celebration of design in all walks of life, this is more apparent than usual. Even though Ogaan Publications launched the idea in 2008, it is only now, five years later, that this bore fruition.
Slated to be held between 15 –17 February at the NSIC Grounds, Okhla, Design ID 2013 aims to be the definitive platform for showcasing the country’s aesthetic sensibilities and talent to the world. “A lot has happened in the design space in India and we wanted to put it on the global map, bring it to terms with international design. We wanted to bring forth the entire industry to a single destination where people can showcase their products, get inspired and network for business at the same time,” says founding member Sonia Bajaj.
With increasing urban development, rampant consumption and changing patterns of lifestyle, the organisers felt this to be a timely effort to consolidate the industry of design that spreads far beyond the ranks of high fashion. Established in 1996, Ogaan, the publisher of Elle and Elle Decor in India, has been around long enough to witness first-hand the sea change that India’s design scene has undergone and to spread awareness about it, says Bajaj.
With this aim in mind, they have curated the event around three platforms: Exhibit ID, the 3,000 sq ft area of design wonders on display in the NSIC grounds; ID Symposium, a stage for triggering the imagination with a range of scintillating speakers; and, the most exciting of all, ID Satellite – Style and the City, which takes the event outside of the grounds and engages with the city as they set up some interesting collaborations around the city.
While the participants include such established names such as Susanne Roshan’s The Charcoal Project, Sarita Handa, Lladro, Apartment 9, Atmosphere and Pinakin, among others, expect to hear some wise words of experience by architects Abhimanyu Dalal, Sandeep Khosla, Michele de Lucchi and Sanjay Puri, Anita Lal of Good Earth, artist Dominic Dube, interior designers Fabio Novembre and Sunita Kohli, and more.
“The design fraternity and scene has been bursting with possibilities for a while but has become accumulative only now,” says Bajaj, indicating to the sudden rise in number of such consolidated platforms around design. “It is important that people have respect for it, and that people see it as a viable vocation and a profitable venture,” she stresses. Clearly, design is finding newer vistas to be re-imagined and this is a good time for this to start.