From educators to entrepreneurs: meet the Design Expo exhibitors at Pune Design Festival 2019
There is an emerging design boom in India, as seen with product companies, entrepreneurs and institutes exhibiting at PDF’s third annual Design Expo.
PhotoSparks is a weekly feature from YourStory, with photographs that celebrate the spirit of creativity and innovation. In the earlier 285 posts, we featured an art festival, cartoon gallery, world music festival, telecom expo, millets fair, climate change expo, wildlife conference, startup festival, Diwali rangoli, and jazz festival.
The 13th annual Pune Design Festival (PDF), organised by the Association of Designers of India (ADI), wrapped up with an inspiring conference, two awards competitions, and an expo. “PDF gives a platform for critical exposure to the profession, ecosystem and related communities,” said Ashish Deshpande, ADI President and Co-founder of Elephant Design, in a chat with YourStory.
For the third time, PDF included the annual Design Expo showcasing participants from the ecosystem: firms, education institutes, material vendors, social entrepreneurs, and service providers. There was also a bookstore displaying a wide range of titles, and a programme called Gen-D (Generation Design) with panel discussions targeted at aspiring designers.
The two-day Design Expo aims to encourage greater engagement and dialogue within the fraternity. The target audience includes designers in the industry, media, crafts, furniture, retail, packaging, apparel, automobiles, graphics, and UX. PDF 2019 discussed emerging design agendas as well as entrepreneurship opportunities for designers.
“The umbrella of events and forums under PDF is a huge learning opportunity for all of us, to collaborate, network or simply absorb the inspiring work from fellow designers and industry influencers. It just broadens one's canvas and increases your hunger to do better,” said Balkrishna Mahajan, President of ADI’s Pune Chapter and Co-founder of Ticket Design.
Students and designers need to take the opportunity to participate in such platforms to absorb and contextualise their learning from real world experiences, he added. Student ticket prices for PDF are subsidised by almost 60-70 percent of the normal ticket price.
In this photo essay, we showcase some of the products, entrepreneurs and educational institutes at the Design Expo, such as Commitment to Kashmir, Imaginarium, Charpai Project, Kasha, Cuero, Dhruva Paknikar, IDC, Avantika University, MIT Institute of Design, Pearl Academy, Ecole Intuit, Strate, ADYPU, UID, Lexus Design Awards, and The Word Bookshop.
Now, what have you done today to explore the designer in you, or team up with a designer for your next successful idea?
Got a creative photograph to share? Email us at [email protected]!
See also the YourStory pocketbook ‘Proverbs and Quotes for Entrepreneurs: A World of Inspiration for Startups,’ accessible as apps for Apple and Android devices.