The Hindu Business Line : 1,600 delegates expected at this year’s Designyatra

Chennai, Aug. 13 In the UK, design accounts for 2 per cent of the GDP; in India, if the profession has to contribute even one per cent, it has to grow by 1,000 per cent, says Mr Rajesh Kejriwal, Managing Director of Transasia Papers, a marketer of speciality paper.

Speaking to Business Line, he said that while there’s a 25,000-people-strong visual communications design community in India, there was no association for professional advancement. The lack of awareness about Indian talent has corporates outsourcing their design requirements, but at the same time, many advertising agencies and design companies are setting up offices here to take advantage of the talent, WPP’s acquisition of Ray + Keshavan being a case in point, he added.

Transasia Papers, which has many clients from this design community, is organising Kyoorius Designyatra – 2007 in Goa from September 6-8. The theme this year is ‘Design Empowers Business’.

Transasia Papers had earlier set up Kyoorius Exchange to serve as a platform for the designers to meet and to host workshops for the members. The first Designyatra last year was held to bring the community together. This is the country’s only design conference, says Mr Kejriwal, adding that it has grown in stature since last year.

This year, Designyatra will discuss corporate branding and identity, design sustainability, intellectual property rights and design laws, integrating traditional channels and new media and multidisciplinary brand design and communication.

Kyoorius Verdict, claimed to be the country’s first design awards, are a new feature of the conference this year. They focus on recognising and awarding design practitioners and corporates that use design as a strategic tool. Awards will also be handed out for excellence in printing. Ms Sujata Keshavan, Managing Director of Ray + Keshavan and Mr Narendra P, CEO and Joint Managing Director of Pragati Offset, will head the juries that decide the design and print awards.

To get the marketing community interested in the benefits of design, Kyoorius is launching what Mr Kejriwal calls “integrated marketing awards” which will focus on effective marketing even if the design doesn’t meet high standards, he explained. KPMG is the process consultant.

Last year, Designyatra attracted 800 delegates including students; this year, the number stands at 1,600. Around 50 international delegates, mostly from South-East Asia, are expected to attend.

The International Council of Graphic Design Associations has endorsed Designyatra as a professional design event, Mr Kejriwal said. This year, 12 experts from across the world, icons in their own countries, will speak at the conference. They include designer of movie title sequences Kyle Cooper, whose work includes Spiderman 2 and Mission Impossible, and Dixonbaxi, the London-based design and direction team noted for its work on MTV and FI broadcasts, to name just two. London Colle ge of Communication, a renowned institute in the visual communications field, and Adobe will also participate.

Patronage for Designyatra has been growing. There are a lot more sponsors, who include the Future Group this year. Corporate participation in the conference from the likes of Infosys, Hindustan Unilever, Satyam Computers and Asian Paints is expected. Transasia Papers is talking to companies such as Google, Yahoo and Xerox as well, Mr Kejriwal said.

For next year, the aim is to host the conference in Singapore. The awards will be extended to South-East Asia in two or three years, he said.