Pearl Academy Hosts Mumbaibydesign A Student Led Design Festival

As part of the two-day festival, Pearl Academy curated an interactive panel discussion around the topic of “Creative Journeys in Mumbai’ inviting some of the well-known industry experts and change makers to share their real-life stories and inspire the aspiring young designers. Voices like Shirali Radhakrishna Tyabji, Lead Design and Innovation Specialist - Textiles at Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd; Shreyas Karle, Founder and Co-director of CONA; Shilpa Srivastava, Film writer and Sabbah Sharma, fashion designer and faculty at Pearl Academy  discussed their creative journeys and how Mumbai city impacted their work. The discussion was moderated by Agat Sharma, Associate Dean, Innovation & Design Strategy at Pearl Academy.

The festival also hosted three hands-on workshops for students to give them a brief understanding of the nuances of working in the design, fashion and media sectors and what it entails. Pritam Arts, one of the city’s most prominent screen printing presses held a workshop for students to explore the art of Screen Printing. During the session, students learnt how to experiment with the craft of screen printing and effectively incorporate it into the modern design process. The media workshop highlighted the basics of Mobile Journalism or MoJo where students learnt about the intricacies of creating convergent content – from reporting to editing and producing with the help of mobile devices.

Beyond workshops and interactive sessions with industry leaders, the #MumbaiByDesign festival also invited students to participate in three on-ground inter-college competitions inviting practical solutions to address some of Mumbai’s problems. The competition titled ‘Design Intervention’ invited design-led innovation to solve daily issues like traffic management and rail efficiency. Students of various institutes came up with innovative measures and futuristic ideas that could reduce the traffic woes plaguing the city. The design competition received 15 entries in total from various educational institutes in Mumbai. In the traffic management category, first prize was bagged by Naba Usmani, an Interior and Spatial Design student at Pearl Academy Mumbai who suggested basic modifications in the existing infrastructure and monitoring systems such as digital speed limit boards and thermal and pressure recognition belts for management of people and traffic. Second prize was awarded to Rajat Kushwaha, a student of IIT Bombay. Kushwaha suggested installing electromagnetic induced charging (that takes 6-10 seconds) on roads and the vehicle.

Another competition titled ‘From Scrap to Red Carpet’, aimed to generate awareness amongst youth for contemporizing and recycling the unwanted, unused garments to create fashionable, sustainable and functional designs. It invited students with an interest in fashion design to create a garment from discarded clothing. Outfits created were also showcased via a fashion walk and then available for sale at a pop-up storefront created during the event. This competition saw participation of approximately 100 students from various institutes across all disciplines and levels. The participants were judged on the parameters of optimum utilization of materials, aesthetic and presentation skills. First prize was bagged by Ikat group that had a combination of students from Pearl Academy and SNDT College. 

‘The Bird in Mumbai’, a video created by Priyashi Jayaswal and Shubhankar Naik from Pearl Academy won the first prize for competition in the media section. The contest invited young citizen journalists and filmmakers to show their talent the best #MyMumbaistory to create convergent content on any of the three formats – print video and audio. All competitions were judged by an external jury comprising of industry experts and veterans like – Lavanya Subramanian, Head, Fusion & Evening Ethnic Wear, Project Eve; Prashant Prabhu, Architect; Manisha Lakhe, Freelance Film Critic; Chhavi Sachdev, Freelance Journalist.

Nidhip Mehta, Dean, School of Design, Pearl Academy said “Mumbai is a city of intense vibrancy. But it can also be a city of chaos and disorder. Good design has the potential to bring a sense of order to the lives of Mumbaikars through systems thinking while still keeping true to the city’s passion and energy. Mumbai by Design can offer a glimpse of a city that can be systematic, efficient, and full of life and energy.”

Inter college competition

Students were invited to apply to participate in competitions on the below topics

Design Intervention Competition

Mumbai, the city of dreams, works seamlessly despite its umpteen flaws. We open the floor for you to show us solutions that would help us maximize this city in ways that have never been thought before. The solutions can be simple or elaborate, we want you to look deeply and keenly; show us what good design can do. Can design change the way we live? Yes, it can. It is a call for you to answer that.

Traffic Solutions in Mumbai

- for easier movement of people within the city

- to improve health and well-being of Mumbaikars

Making stations and trains in Mumbai more efficient for the daily travelers

- to improve the travel comfort

- to cater to all demographics in Mumbai (including less-abled population)

Fashion Forward

Most recently at a popular award ceremony, an actress walked the red carpet in a up cycled gown that was designed impeccably out of pre stitched and used clothes. Design contests like Project Runway too have tasks for their contestants that make them upcycle, recycle and use alternative materials to create fabulous ensembles. Why don’t we? The plan here is to make red carpet worthy outfits from scrap, we give you 4 garments and you have to make an awe-inspiring garment from it. The garments will be auctioned and the garment which generates the most money wins. The money collected will go to charity. Mentorship and guidance will be provided including assistance to fabricate the garment.

Media - Convergence

Mumbai, the city, has its way a creating an impact on you. Whether you are born and brought up in Mumbai, or are from outside, just experiences the delights that the city brings with it. We was to see how you perceive this city. How it has made a difference to you. Show us what you think by the means of creating content about the city, maybe a particular experience, a community, the travel or the life that it offers.

The participants had to create convergence content on the given them in three formats – print, video and audio (podcast).