Mr. Ashish Deshpande Elephant Co-founder & Director
An Industrial Designer from the NID (Ahmedabad, India), Ashish started his design entrepreneurship journey, 33 years ago, by co-founding India’s pioneering design practice, Elephant. Elephant today is present in India as well as in Singapore.
Ashish leads Product & Retail Experience Innovation group and has led projects ranging from consumer appliances related to air, water & energy, medical equipment, wearable electronics, automotive and retail. He & his team at Elephant is recipient of several awards including Spark (USA), Lexus Design Awards India, CII-Design Excellence and 5 products designed by his team have received the India Design Mark. His consulting experience spans start-ups, Corporates, MNCs from India, South-East Asia, Japan and Europe. Ashish has worked with CIIE, Intel and T-Hub Hyderabad to mentor startup incubees through Design Thinking.
Having served on the jury panel of "Power of Ideas" run by CIIE - IIM-A, Ashish mentors several start up initiatives incubated by CIIE, MIT ID and Intel – Innovate for Digital India. Ashish was invited to mentor start-ups during Smart India Hackathon 2018 promoted by the Prime Minister of India.
Ashish conducts workshops on Growth by Design & Product Innovation. Invited to speak at the International Design Congress, Gwangju, he also delivered keynote at International Symposium, Naju Innovation City, Korea, World Eco-friendly Design Expo and spoke at A+ Design Symposium, Taiwan. Recently, he has delivered a product innovation workshop for Design students at Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan. Ashish has been on the Product Design Jury at Cannes Lions in France as well as Taiwan International Student Design Competition.
Ashish is President, Association of Designers of India and an active member of the Design Alliance Asia. He has served as an appointed member of India Design Council, has been on the jury of India Design Mark and was invited to attend Good Design Mark Jury, Japan.
Ms. Ashwini Deshpande
A 1989 graduate of NID (Ahmedabad, India) Ashwini is the co-founder of Elephant, India's largest independent integrated design consultancy with offices in India & Singapore.
Ashwini is part of the core group that steers the Design Alliance Asia consortium. She is also an active founding member of the Association of Designers of India.
She has done award-winning work for global brands in automobile, engineering, FMCG, food service, healthcare & personal care segments. Some of the awards include Global ReBrand 100 (USA), Asiastar for Packaging Excellence (Singapore), A’Design Awards (Italy), Best of the Best at CII Design Excellence, Designomics, The India Story award etc
Ashwini was invited by Rockefeller Foundation to participate in a global Social Impact summit and by Danish Design Foundation to partner with Copenhagen Co-creation Agenda. She has lectured across more than 20 countries including icograda Design week in Vancouver & Istanbul, Business of Design week in Hong Kong and International Design Congress at Mexico as well as in South Korea more recently.
She has been a jury member on Cannes Lions (France), Global ReBrand 100 (USA), Spikes Asia (Singapore), Design for Asia (HK), International A’Design Awards (Italy), Kyiv International Advertising Festival (Ukraine) & Design for Change (India) Awards and was part of The One Club – Young Guns 16 (USA) jury this year.
As a key member of The Design Alliance Asia consortium, she has edited the Colors of Asia book that was published in Hong Kong. This project was awarded the Design for Asia Special Culture Award by the Hong Kong government.
Most recently, Ashwini was awarded a place among 50 Most Influential Women in Media in India by Impact magazine in 2019 for the fifth consecutive year. She also received Amrutwel Foundation’s SuperWoman 2017 Award at the hands of Mayor of Pune city and Leader of the Decade Award by All Ladies League at the Women Economic Forum in Delhi.
She mentors start-up teams as Charter Member of TiE Pune and from The Advisory Board of Indian Institute of Management CIIE programme. She is also a mentor to the Creanara community & Vedica Scholars Programme. She has been on the Advisory Board of School of Design, Pearl Academy since 2017.
Mr. Jitendra Chauhan CMD of JadeBlue
The company is led by Jitendra Chauhan as CMD; Bipin Chauhan as the Managing Director, and Shambhav Chauhan and Siddhesh Chauhan as Executive Directors. Khushali Chauhan plays a major role in the e-Commerce Vertical launched by the company.
JADEBLUE LIFESTYLE INDIA LTD today is one of Gujarat’s prominent enterprises. Over the few decades India’s entrepreneurial spirit has been phenomenal and remains synonymous with pioneers of business. The group is formed of two brands, namely: JadeBlue, Greenfibre.
The Group’s philosophy is based on two principles:
Long-term objectives through innovation and design
A healthy ethical commitment preserved in a rigorous corporate governance system
Mr. Jwalant Mahadevwala Andblack story
Andblack design studio is led by Kanika and Jwalant Mahadevwala. They did their post graduation from Architectural Association, London. Following which Jwalant worked with Zaha Hadid Architects and Kanika with Michael Hopkins in London for about 4 years before moving to Ahmedabad.
The philosophy of andblack design studio lies in designing the process that leads to the ‘solution’. His background in design research and generative processes combined with Kanika’s knowledge in sustainable architecture has given the firm its main ideology.
They draw inspiration from complex interactions present in nature. The use of parametric tools and physical modeling are the primary ways they evolve designs. We tend to use materials like metal, wood, bamboo, paper etc in ways they haven’t been explored generally in the larger context of design in India. They strongly believe in collaborative work and for every project they try and bring in individuals having relevant expertise in specific aspects of design and construction. They take pride in conceiving and delivering projects that can be both iconic and meaningful.
Mr. Manoj Kothari Turian labs - Design thinking & Business innovation
Called a DESIGN & INNOVATION strategist with over 2 decades of experience across industries and global brands with a special interest in Futures studies. He is a mechanical engineering graduate of IIT, Bombay (1992), and PG from NID, Ahmedabad in Industrial Design. He leads Turian Labs, a Design Thinking and Business Innovation company, which he co-founded in 2015. Prior to this, he co-founded and led a design company Onio Design and a digital branding company ITERNIA. He is also the founder of annual insights & megatrends conference INDIANXT and Pune Design Festival.
He has led the innovation engagements with global brands and organizations like Google, Microsoft, Philips, Infosys, Volkswagen, Samsung, LG, Hyundai, Kohler, Saint Gobain, Suzuki, Wipro, Godrej, Titan and Govt. of Finland, apart from several startups and SMEs.
He has delivered lectures/course at Aalto University-Helsinki, Korea Institute of Technology-Seoul, IIT (Mumbai, Kanpur), NIFT (Delhi, Mumbai), WeSchool-Mumbai and Symbiosis Institutes (Design, Management), ISB (Hyderabad) and NID (Ahmedabad).
His other interests stretch across astronomy, philosophy, anthropology,Urdu & Hindi poetry, linguistics, Zen and sufism. He has authored a non-fiction book ‘Skyway Interpreter’, a book of Hindi poems ‘Madhurimayan’ and he tweets @lookinbard.
Ms. Karishma Sahani Khan Owner & Creative Director at Ka-Sha
The creative director of Pune-based label Ka-Sha, Karishma Shahani Khan is a refreshing fashion designer & a beautiful mother who celebrates design and handcraft with varying techniques and materials that come together beautifully.
She graduated from the London College of Fashion, winning the Best Surface Textiles Collection award in 2010, and was also credited as the Fashion Graduate of the Year. She launched her brand Ka-Sha in 2012. Her works have been showcased on prominent shows such as Lakme Fashion Week, Wills India Fashion Week, Tranoi exhibition, London fashion week, South Africa fashion week and Kuala Lumpur fashion and Pune Fashion Week.
Her philosophy while working is to follow a completely organic method of design that practices and promotes sustainable clothing. She has been able to utilize the waste generated from one line by upcycling them and reinventing them in the form of patchwork jackets, footwear and rugs. These pieces are displayed as a part of her ‘Heart to Haat’ initiative as well as accessories for her collection.
Ms. Karishma is listed in the Forbes 30 under 30.
Mr. Anthony Lopez Founder of Lopez Design
He is founder of Lopez Design and is a cross-disciplinary visualizer and thinker. His philosophy speaks to the core of humanity, ultimately for Anthony, designing is by, for and about people and they matter the most.
At Lopez Design, established in 1997, he advocates a multidisciplinary approach bridging architecture, graphics, technology and storytelling. His was one of the first firms to offer branding across print, product, environment and web interfaces.
He juggles three Cs – communication, context and collaboration with a passion for quality solutions, time-bound delivery and unique ideation.
With his interest in merging humanitarian concerns with design, he conceptualized The Big Shit Project to end open defecation in India in 2013. A valued mentor to NIFT and NID students, Anthony has given talks at the Kyoorius Design Yatra, The Sri Lanka Design Festival, Design X Design Forum and Pecha Kucha’s ID 2014 Symposium. In 2014, he was a Jury member for Kyoorius D&AD awards and later in the same year for the Designomics Design Competition. Amongst his accolades, are the American Design Award and The Business World Excellence Award.
Mr. Sunil Parekh Senior Strategy Advisor
Sunil Parekh is currently Senior Strategy Advisor at two Indian MNCs - Zydus Cadila Healthcare Group & Jubilant Bhartia Group. He is also on the Board of Government GNFC Ltd, GVFL Ltd & Member of Indian Angel Network, Involved with AI, IoT development.
He has 42 years of working experience with corporates in India, Africa & the US. He is an empanelled Arbitrator and a Fellow of the Indian Council of Arbitration ICA. He is Co-Chair at Ficci in Gujarat and National Council Member of FICCI. He is India Co-Chair of the techXchange initiative under the Indo-UK Partnership Program for exchange of Start-ups. He is deeply involved with Gujarat’s StartUp ecosystem. He has actively supported the DST Program ‘Inspire’.
He is on the board/Senate of several Universities including IIT G’nagar, IIT RAM; Industry Bodies including FICCI National Executive, Gujarat Chambers of Commerce. He is Associated with global organizations like World Economic Forum Geneva’s Global Shapers Initiative & the Value Web Geneva. He is on the board of some leading NGOs.
He has received the following Awards:
‘ET ICON Entrepreneur 2018’ for Excellence in Corporate Advisory & Support to Start Ups.
National Award for Outstanding Contribution for National Development
OCND at IIT Delhi
Power 100 Eminent Personalities of Gujarat in 2011 & again in 2014.
Prof. Ashoke Chatterjee Ex-president of CCI and Former Director, NID
Prof. Ashoke Chatterjee received his education at Woodstock School (Mussoorie), St Stephen’s College and Miami University (Ohio). He has a background in the engineering industry, international civil service, India Tourism Development Corporation, and 25 years in the service of the NID (Ahmedabad) where he was Executive Director, Senior Faculty, Distinguished Fellow and Professor of communication and management. He has served a range of development institutions in India and overseas, particularly in the sectors of drinking water, sanitation, disability, livelihoods and education as well as working with artisans in many parts of the country.
He was Hon. President of the Crafts Council of India for over twenty years and continues to serve CCI. An author and writer, his books include “Dances of the Golden Hall” on the art of Shanta Rao and “Rising” on empowerment efforts among deprived communities in rural Gujarat. Professor Chatterjee continues to assist design education in India and Pakistan.
Mr. Om Prakash Galav Artisan
Om Prakash Galav of Ramgarh Clay Pottery inherited the art of pottery from his ancestors as a part of his family business. He is a Fifteenth generation pottery, having grown up playing with clay. Om was taught the basics of pottery by his father, a master craftsperson from Ramgarh, Alwar Rajasthan.
The wide range of products Om produces includes Kagzi pottery T-Lights, Lamps, decorative pots with fine cutwork, traditional and contemporary furniture, miniature pottery and cooking vessels. He loves to make miniature and burnished pottery without glazes and is proficient and assiduous in crafting out every feature.
Om has received many awards and Recognition for his contribution to terracotta Craft, including the International Craft Awards, Nantong Contemporary Craft Biennale China 2014; UNESCO Award of Excellence for Handicrafts 2102 & 2014 and the National Award 2010.
Mr. Alok Ghonsikar Green design
24 years experience in LED lighting and consumer appliances : Product Design, Marketing+Sales
Specialities:
Growing business at rapid pace thru Innovative Marketing and Design approach
Evolving and implementing Innovative strategies to win business
Expertise : Marketing, Sales, Innovation, New markets, New applications, Product Design
Synchronized working with global teams to win new business
Design and launch winner products
LED Lighting, Modern workspace, retail, industrial and urban lighting
Industrial design
Managing complete product design cycle : concept to launch
Working with international designers
Green Product Design
Mr. Ramkrishna Puranam WIPRO
Senior .General Manager-Smart and Connected Systems and Iot @ Wipro Limited
Senior .General Manager and Head - Smart and Connected Lighting and Systems @ Wipro Lighting
Senior General Manager - Smart +Connected Lighting and Iot @ Wipro Lighting
Head - Led Lighting @ Wipro Limited
Business Manager - Electronic Security Systems @ Wipro Limited
Marketing Manager - C and I Lighting @ Wipro Limited
Management Trainee @ Usha Shriram Group
Mr. Prantik Dutta Cheil group
Executive Vice President
Cheil India
Gurgaon, India
Vice President Production
JWT
Gurgaon
Production Manager
Lenovo Worldwide Marketing Hub
Bangalore
Sr. Production Director
Leo Burnett
Delhi Area, India
Mr. Jay Dutta
A graduate of the National Institute of Design, JD has a MSc in Design Management from the UK. He spent over a decade in Europe, in the formative years of the interaction design, and co-founded IdeasFoundry, his Design Consultancy in Manchester, UK.
In the last decade, through his work at Adobe India, Flipkart, the Venture Capital firm SAIF Partners, and now MakeMyTrip, Jay (abbreviated to JD) has redefined the impact and influence of Design in Tech and Business. Weaving multiple Design competencies to create high-impact teams that super-scale products and businesses is one of Jay’s signature acts.
Jay is the founder of DesignUp Conference, arguably the largest and most influential Design-In-Tech Festivalin SE Asia-listed by quartz.com as one of “the world’s most exciting Design Events”
Jay has shared his journey, insights and learning at TEDx, Adobe Max, Collision and multiple conferences across India, Asia and the US.
Mr. Rajib Ghosh
20+ years of experience in Human Centered Design, Innovation, Experience Strategy and Execution. Core strengths:
Operating at the balanced intersection of Business, Design and Technology.
Design leadership, process and capability building.
Ability to focus on details without losing sight of the big picture.
My work involves solving problems, innovating and crafting experiences using a behavioral understanding of human beings as a key driver. These problems are typically sector agnostic and lie at the cross-section of business, technology, human needs, and desires. To that end, I sometimes mentor entrepreneurs to bias their businesses towards success. Helping them uncover the underlying cause behind behaviors of their potential customers and then helping them design better experiences. I often lead multidisciplinary teams to work on projects that first identify opportunities and then crafts, pilots, and delivers meaningful, delightful, and impactful experiences that make business sense. I occasionally also teach and train budding young entrepreneurs as well as seasoned professionals in the art, science, rigor, and mindset required for designing a better future using the human-centered approach.
In the journey that led me here, I have crossed path with various aspects of the design discipline starting from graphic design, to film and animation to interaction and experience design, all with the underlying tone of human-centered design. I have played the role of an entrepreneur as well as an employee of multinational companies. A lot of time has also been spent in startups working across multiple geographies and disciplines.
Shri. Sudhir Kuduchkar Founder, Threedot Designs
25+ Years of experience in the field Communication Design
Worked in advertising agencies and corporate
Currently Chief Mentor and founder at Threedot Designs (from last 10 Years)
External jury member at following universities
Nirma University / Institute of Design
Faculty: communication design
Location: Ahmedabad
GLS University / GLS Institute Of Design
Faculty: communication design
Location: Ahmedabad
Indus University / Indus Design School (IDS)
Faculty: communication design
Location: Ahmedabad
Anant National University
Faculty: communication design
Location: Ahmedabad
Visiting faculty at following universities
Nirma University / Institute of Design
GLS University / GLS Institute Of Design
NIFT (National Institute of Fashion Technology) / Gandhinagar
Shri. Lokesh Ghai Textile artist, Researcher and Academician
Based in Ahmedabad, India, LOkesh Ghai is a textile artist, researcher and academician working with traditional craft practice. His work has featured at the V&A Museum of Childhood, London; Harley Gallery, Nottinghamshire; Gallery of Costume, Manchester; Tramway, Glasgow; NCPA, Mumbai and Ahmedabad International Art Festival. He has been visiting lecturer at numerous institutions both in India and the UK including the National Institute of Fashion Technology, Gandhinagar, Royal College of Art, London and Somaiya Kala Vidya, Kutch, India’s premier design institute for traditional craft communities. LOkesh showcased his work as part of the ‘India Street’ exhibition in Scotland; the show was a runner up for the most sustainable design practice award in the Edinburgh International Art festival. He has been working with the Warli tribes of folk artists since a decade, towards the 70th year of Indian independence as part of Re:imagine India, the project was showcased in art galleries and educational institutes in India and England.
A designer by education (graduate of NID, Ahmedabad) with a passion for the cultural arts and crafts. I have combined my passion and background to create Baaya Design which is an innovative and authentic platform for artisans and designers. My dream is to offer customers across the world an exciting and engaging way to access the best artisanal skills from India.
My social agenda is to help artisans get meaningful livelihoods, respect and recognition for their skills, which have been passed down across many generations.
I love to travel across the world, meet artisan communities and collect curios and memories. I am a voracious reader and like to do everything with commitment and integrity.
Mr. Vinay Thakker Founder & CEO, Oddinary. CoFounder, Oddacity
Entrepreneur by blood, storyteller by heart, design thinking brains & a creative soul. I started my first successful venture when I was 16 and learnt immensely from the last one that failed in 2019.
Since 2009, I have been leading 'Oddinary' - an award winning independent global design & marketing agency with a work footprint in 20+ countries. Some of the most iconic brands in the world like Kellogg's, Pringles, Hershey's, Flipkart, Marico, Henkel, Unilever, Burger King, ebay, Abbott, Tata, Godrej, etc. trust us with their big impact projects.
We arm brands with our ‘ODDINARY’ approach to help them win consumer hearts and market wars.
Sandeep Sangaru is a multidisciplinary designer, educator, entrepreneur and a nomad by nature. He studied Industrial design and has specialized in Furniture design from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad with a background in Mechanical Engineering. He owns Sangaru Design Studio, a multidisciplinary design consultancy firm and founded Sangaru Design Objects Pvt. Ltd, a design-led manufacturing company based in Bangalore, India.
Being multidisciplinary, Sandeep explores different Mediums and Materials. Since inception his studio has been actively involved with the Craft Sector working with local people with local material to create global products as this is exciting and creatively satisfying. Craft has always been a need-based process from ages and using design to interface the skills of the artisans is something he wants to work towards.
Sangaru Design Objects Pvt. Ltd. designs, manufactures and markets furniture, products and accessories for contemporary urban Home, Work and Play, which will “bring together traditional knowledge & skills in crafts with design and technology to make objects of daily use invaluable, accessible and enjoyable”.
Teaching always is a refresher and he enjoys it. Photography and Filmmaking are his passion and he tries to create an opportunity to explore these mediums to document the fascinating “Way of Life” in different regions
Specialties: Photography, Craft development, Field work & Research, Prototype making, Teaching, Cinematography, Production Design, Film making, Furniture design, Industrial Design
Shri. Satish Gokhale Founder Director, Design Directions Pvt. Ltd. Head of Product Design
Alumnus of National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. More than twenty five years of design experience in product design.
Past member of the India Design Council established by the Government of India, functioning under the aegis of Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
Founding member of the Association of Designers of India (ADI)
Education council member of MIT School of Design and School of Fashion Technology, Pune.
Invited to various seminars, conferences all over the world – importantly by Industrial Designers Society of America at Palo Alto – USA, as one of the six global thought leaders to talk on the subject, 'Design for the other Six Billion'.
A jury member for various Design Awards in India and overseas – IDSA (USA), South African Design Council, Singapore Design Council, ‘I’ Mark etc.
Have conducted several master programmes as a visiting faculty at NID (National Institute of Design), Industrial Design Centre – IIT (Mumbai and Kanpur), Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers Association, IMTMA, Indian Institute of Sciences, IISC, (Bangalore), DSK ISD Pune.
Holds several patents and design registrations
Ms. Rikke Hansen Graphic Designer & Educator from Denmark, and Owner & Creative Director of Wheels and Waves Studio
Born in Denmark in 1975. Graphic Designer and Educator. Works and teaches in a field in the intersection between language, culture and space. For several years she has been working with product development, branding and consulting for companies and organizations. She works on and researches design development projects and has her own design studio doing print and digital design. She is the owner of a letterpress workshop. Vice Chairman at the Danish Association for Book Crafting. Member of C-IDEA, China. Appointed External Examiner at The higher artistic educational programmes by the Ministry of Higher Education and Science. Juror at the 14th BICM, International Poster Biennial Mexico. Cyprus Poster Triennial. Graphis Talent Award. Ukrainian Design: The Very Best Of. International Poster Biennale Lublin. India’s Best Design Award, BICeBé International Poster Biennial Bolivia 2020. COFOD excellence Award winner. Graphis Silver, Gold and Platin Award. China International Poster Biennial Silver Award. She has been exhibiting, giving lectures & workshops internationally in Chile, South Korea, Mexico, Jordan, Israel, Syria, Thailand, Gambia, Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka, Netherlands, Portugal, Czech republic, US & China.
Mr. Amardeep Behl Founder of Design Habitat
AS A DESIGNER, Amardeep Behl has been passionately involved in finding expression, a deeper meaning in working with space, to cohere various media, like architecture, graphic design, industrial design, photography, and audio-visual, into a common language tied together in space.
His work is a journey towards finding and creating an Indian expression of design - an expression strongly rooted in its culture and traditions, and is applicable in the contemporary times.
Having specialized in Exhibition Design at the Department Of Visual Communication of the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad, India, he founded the design firms, Oriole Design and later, his present firm, Design Habit. His area of professional practice over 23 years has been in varied design domains - from museums to exhibitions, events to production design for films, envisioning real estate development to the reuse of existing heritage sites. He and his team are constantly endeavoring towards finding newer domains for creating expressions in space.
