Ep. 297 - Design in India with Chandrashekhar Wyawahare

Tune into this 9th episode of a 10-part series, "Designer’s Digest” with Chandrashekhar Wyawahare. We talk all about Industrial Design, Make in India, and the skills required to become an Industrial Designer.

This series is in partnership with @godrejdesignlab. Designer's Digest series is about Design as a profession, its daily grind, the secrets to climbing the design career ladder, and what edge we’ll need to thrive in the captivating design world.

When you look at Braun or any industrial product designed by Dieter Rams, whether it’s the Braun T4 Radio designed in 1960 or the T2 Table lighter designed in 1968. Undoubtedly, you’ll fall in love with the form factor and the simplicity. Industrial design has always been fascinating.

Chandrashekhar Wyawahare, co-founder of Futuring. Chandrashekhar graduated in architecture with a master’s in industrial design from IDC in IIT Mumbai. Before co-founding Futuring, he worked in Europe with leading design studios. His work in Neumeister Design exposed him to a fine sense of styling and helped him develop a keen eye for perfection. Chandrashekhar has been subsequently responsible for a strikingly wide range of work from appliances to transportation design. He is a keen educator and has been on design juries at many architecture and design schools. Futuring sees Industrial Design as a dynamic, empathetic, and strategic process.

Questions

1. Who is an industrial designer? It has a wide canvas, specializing in multiple sub-disciplines. But what is the core of being an industrial designer? Or being a designer for that matter?
2. How has the landscape of industrial design evolved in India? What were the biggest transitions you’ve witnessed, and how did Futuring adapt?
3. Make in India is now a buzzword. Where are you on that? Should it be designed in India or made in India? Are we ready for it?
4. In an era of mass production and globalization, what does it mean to be an "Indian" industrial designer? What Indian ethos do you think we can bring to the products we design or make?
5. By the very definition of industrial products, it’s safe to say that it’s mass produced. Can mass-manufactured products truly be "high quality"? What compromises are typically made, and how can we advocate for better quality standards in Indian design?
6. Consumerism often drives design trends. How do you balance aesthetics, user-centricity, and sustainability, and yet be cost-sensitive for a market like India?
7. You have a keen interest in education and have been on jury panels in top design schools in India. What’s happening in new-age India and how is the talent gearing towards entering the workforce? From skill to gender diversity to leveling up for actual work.
8. How do you spot talent for Futuring? What gives you the confidence to recruit designers? What do you look for in their work/portfolios?
9. You often speak about Industrial design one needs a good tech background, be it engineering or architecture. What does the Industrial designer’s career ladder look like? From a new entrant to say, being a principal designer?
10. What one piece of advice do you get from your mentor that you still practice? What advice to young designers?
11. What according to you is the future of industrial design in India? Perhaps in the world of automation and meta-verse.

Reference Reading

1. https://futuring.design/Voices
2. https://onlyonceshop.com/
3. https://www.punedesignfestival.com/speaker/chandrashekhar-wyawahare/