The Hindu Business Line : How design can drive the market

It is the design features that make or break a product. Unfortunately, in India, the potential of design is yet to be fully utilised. It is in this scenario that the launch of a permanent display centre for design in New Delhi gains significance.

When V & V Design's client wanted to present a breakthrough new product at the Hong Kong International Electronic Show and there were only 15 days for its approval and execution, what did they do? They contacted young Indian designers who evolved the concept and style for the MP3 CD Player and relayed it over e-mail.

The mock-ups were made in China with on-the-spot modifications to form. Extensive sketching helped transcend language barriers with the Chinese model-maker. Later, solid modelling was done in India and rapid prototyping in Hong Kong. Moulds were made in China and the product was launched on time in Hong Kong. Not only was the CD player well received by consumers, but it also won first place for Best Aesthetics at Parametric Technology Corporation's product design competition 2000.

And the Hawkins Design Team performed the same design-magic, when its Futura pressure cooker became the only one to be displayed in the Museum of Modern Art, New York. However, far from being only a work of art, the product has been granted 12 patents and 35 design registrations internationally.

In fact, designing Futura would have been quite a challenging task considering that pressure cookers were viewed as old-fashioned in the overseas market. To make it a space-age product, it needed a very streamlined look and many more convenience features.

In the new design, the heavy vent weight was done away with, the handles were made modern and comfortable and the problem of aluminium tarnishing was resolved. In fact, its fingertip control and hard anodised finish have made it a unique product in the market.

It is particular design features that make or break a product. For instance, the Stylite Eveready Flashlight that has sold 25 lakh pieces in India alone (more in the export market) has become so popular primarily due to its glowing switch feature, which helps a user locate where it is lying even in the dark.

Designed several years ago by Pradyumna Vyas of the National Institute of Design, the glowing switch was achieved using phosphorescent pigments in the plastic. "To be targeted at the urban mid-segment, it had to be top loading, using two D-size battery cells, in a combination of aluminium and plastic. Initially, the plan was to sell it at Rs 45 each, but the glowing switch allowed made it a hit product even at Rs 65 each," explained Pradyumna Vyas, who heads Industry Programmes and Projects at NID, as he spoke at length about the importance of design and the impact it can have on national growth.

In fact, all the above products and many more including the slimmest watch ever designed (launched very recently by Titan) are all showcased at the first ever permanent display centre for Good Design at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.

When the National Institute of Design (NID) and the Indian Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) last month launched `Showcase Design', many market consultants observed that at last design was coming into its own in the country and its importance in economic development had been recognised. They felt that before the exhibition few were aware of India's collective capabilities in design and even those who did, believed that a particular well-designed product was the only good one to have been done in the country. "Showcase Design has proved that Indian designers are not one-trick monkeys. Given the opportunity, they can hold their own in the international arena time and again," says a marketing expert.

While, in other countries, design has always occupied the driver's seat in gaining competitive advantage in industry, social development and technological advancement, in India, its importance has largely taken a backseat.

Indian industry has mostly believed in reverse engineering and any product that it has fancied has been replicated, sometimes in extremely crude ways, and introduced into the Indian market. In comparison, a look at figures from the Design Council, United Kingdom, would show the centre-stage that design occupies in its industrial scenario.

A survey the Design Council conducted among corporates in 1999 showed that UK corporate design-spend that year was £26.7 billion, which was three per cent of the corporate turnover.

And that the number of designers, serving the corporate sector, was as many as 1,003,000. The survey further revealed that 55 per cent of businesses felt that design contributed to high profits and turnover. Forty-six per cent of the respondents felt that design had helped them grow their business share, while 58 per cent of businesses said they'd used design as a strategic business tool to help them stay competitive in the market.

In fact, Showcase Design hopes to build awareness on how crucial design is to the creation of value of a product. NID and ITPIO's aim is to motivate industry and design professionals in the country to come together to innovate and lead. Their motto for the project is "Designed in India ... Made for the World."

The exhibition, thankfully, is not meant to be the usual static one. It is to have a constantly evolving nature. "It will be revamped every six months, more new and innovatively designed products will be displayed. It will also be an interactive spot for both the industry and young designers. We are planning to have discussions and presentations and gatherings so that there can be sufficient cross talk between industry/entreprenuers and designers," explains Vyas.

At the venue, a database of all designers is also being put in place, so that entrepreneurs looking for specialised designers in particular geographical locations get information.

Every month, a well-known designer would also be invited to put up his or her work, so that people could be introduced to more professionals in the field. And, above all, Showcase Design is meant to market young designers, the talented products of NID.

However, Vyas emphasises that the exhibition is not a space for NID alone. They welcome designers from the IITs and other design schools.

In fact, this impetus being given to design seems to be heralded by a common perspective evolved at NID over the years.

The institute's executive director, Dr Darlie O. Koshy, who started heading the institute in the new millennium, sees his role as one to "explore how the institute can achieve thought and design innovation leadership in the new economy and bridge the divide between the two worlds: physical and virtual.''

In fact, since he took over he started activities to forge closer ties with industry and develop a new revenue stream for his organisation. Besides, most people are not aware that the best known corporate logos in Indian industry have been designed by NID.

To involve the corporate world and take design beyond the walls of NID, the institute has been negotiating with various companies to associate themselves through consultancy and industry projects with the Design Satellite Centres that the Industry Programmes and Projects division has set up. The satellite centres concept will help NID reach out to other cities such as Delhi, Hyderabad, Kanpur, Bangalore and Kochi to spread design expertise and awareness.

"Indian industry, till now, has been used to borrowing design from abroad. Very few know the worth of using design as an investment. While people do not mind spending on technology, few understand the importance of the end product. But now with a strict patent regime and the need for building competitive advantage in the globalised scenario industry is slowly recognising the importance of research and development in design," says Vyas.

He gives the example of the Ultra wet grinder that has saved households hours and hours of hard labour.

In great demand in South Indian homes where `idlis' and `dosas' are everyday food items, the Elgi Utra Grind was an effort to make the noisy, floor-standing, tilting, electric wet grinder into a more efficient and quieter table top model. The brief for the designers was to use industrial design to transform the engineering prototype of the grinder from a contraption to a user-friendly appliance. What came of the designing effort was a product that had the blend of traditional materials and modern processes.

Not only was Elgi's Ultra a roaring success, but it spawned an industry of look-alikes. The next development was a more compact model for smaller kitchens with fitted furniture.

This model is so well thought out that it has a lid that may be opened and swivelled to avoid overhead kitchen cabinets. "The product is so useful, it can even be exported for the NRI market,'' points out Vyas.

However, Showcase Design is not where NID's involvement with design ends. Dr Koshy as well as Vyas talk about the pressing need for a National Design Policy, for which the institute has already forwarded an approach paper to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. They also moot the idea of a National Design Council and a Good Design Selection System to give the design movement that has begun more speed and a big boost.

Some of the corporate logos designed by NID.

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