1840's
The first Art Schools in the country came up in the 1800's - Bombay Art School (1857)(now known as Sir J J School of Arts); M S U, School of Arts, Baroda(1887); College of Arts, Kolkatta (1884), etc. The schools in addition to academic programs in fine art, included courses in pottery, tile making, metal crafts, etc.
Later on in the 1950's, these institutes started the program in Graphic Design (named Commercial/Applied Arts) catering to the media and publishing industry in the country.

Tagore drawn by Satyajit Ray

1913
Kala Bhavana, the Art College was conceived as part of Shantiniketan - an university set up by the Tagore family. The school also has Silpa Sadana - a centre for Rural Craft, Technology and Design.

1922
Rabindranath Tagore visits Bauhaus school at Weimar, Germany in 1921. Meets with Paul Klee, Walter Gropious and others. Invites them to send an exhibition to India.

In 1922 the Bauhaus exhibition was brought to Calcutta and exhibited at the Indian Society for Oriental Arts in Kolkata - works by Klee Itten, Kandinsky and their students were exhibited. Rabindranath Tagore knew the significance of Bauhaus.

Ray and Charles Eames

1958
Charles and Ray Eames invited by the government of India to make recommendations for a training programme to support small industries. They went around the country talking to experts and observing centres of crafts and studying the local industry. Their recommendations resulted in the 'India Design Report'(pdf version)(from NID Wesite).

1960
Based on the report by Charles and Ray Eames the government of India set up 'The National Institute of Design' in Ahmedabad.
The school started with programs in basic Design and a few years later with programmes in Industrial Design and Visual Communication.



1962-70
NID invited many well known designers to its campus. Many of them spent significant time at the school teaching and designing - Adrian Fruitiger (Typeface and typography), .

1969
Industrial Design was set up by the Government of India under the auspices of the Indian institute of technology Bombay.
IDC at IIT Bombay initiated the post graduate programme in Industrial Design.



1982-85
Under the United Nations Development Programme, Industrial Design Centre invited Design Educators such as - Gui Bonsippe, Kohie Sugiura (teachers at the Ulm School in Germany), Arthur Pulos and (from USA), Ettore Sotsass (From Itlay) and others. They spent 1 to 6 months interacting, teaching and doing design projects at IDC, IIT Bombay. Under the program, the faculty at IDC traveled internationally interacting with other educators and practitioners.
These interactions and experiences led to a very strong methodology based, user centered and context oriented design philosophy at this school that the industry was able to appreciate.

1985
The model of education at IDC, IIT Bombay was adopted by other IIT's and the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. These institutes started offering post graduate studies in Product Design - IIT Delhi (1985), IISc Bangalore (1990), IIT Kanpur (2004).

1987
The Ministry of Textiles set up the National Institute of Fashion Technology in Delhi. The school started programs in Fashion, Accessories and Lifestyle products catering to the needs of the fashion industry in India.
In the 90's NIFT opened centres in other parts of the country - Ahmedabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Banglaore, Hyderabad, Kanpur, etc.

1997
The newly formed Indian Institute of Technology at IIT Gawahati with the support of the Industrial Design Centre at IIT Bombay introduced a full fledged Department of Design (DoD) with B Des, M Des and Doctoral Degrees.



1998
The Ministry of Crafts initiated the 'Craft Institute of India' at Jaipur with assistance from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. The institute offers a program in Craft and Design.



1999
Late nineties (coinciding with the market reforms and opening up of the Indian economy) saw the start of the private design schools in India:

  Sristi Design School in Bangalore (1999)
  Symbiosis Design School, in Pune (2004)
  IILM School of Design, Gurgoan (2004)
  Maeer's MIT Institute of Design, Pune (2005)
  Raffles School of Design, Mumbai (2005)
  DJ Academy of Design, Coimbature (2005)
  Design Institute of India, Indore (2008)
  DSK International Institute of Design, Pune (2008)

Seminars and Roundtables on 'Design Education in India':

1979
UNIDO-ICSID-INDIA meet on 'Design for Development' at NID, Ahmedabad and at IIT Bombay

1994
Seminar 'Design Education: Ulm and After' conducted by the Industrial Design Centre at IIT Bombay

2002
Seminar 'Design Education: Tradition and Modernity - DETM' conducted by the National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad

2006
Industry-Academia Roundtables and Feedback on 'Interaction Design and Animation Design' curriculum development held at the Industrial Design Centre, IIT Bombay.

2007
'National Graphic Design Educational Meet' held during the event 'Icograda Design Week in India' at IDC, IIT Bombay to formulate recommendations for the future of Graphic and Communication Design Education in the country.

Publications concerned with 'Design Education in India':

'India Design Report', written by Charles Eames, Published by the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, 1958 (available for reference in libraries at IDC, IIT Bombay and NID, Ahmedabad) (pdf version).

'A Decade of Design Experience', Published by Industrial Design Centre at IIT Bombay, 1979 (available for reference in libraries at IDC, IIT Bombay and NID, Ahmedabad).

'Design as a Strategy for a Developing Economy', Working papers prepared for the Department of Education, Ministry of Human Resources, written by Industrial Design Centre at IIT Bombay, 1989 (available for reference in library at IDC, IIT Bombay).

Seminar Proceedings of 'Ulm and After', Published by Industrial Design Centre at IIT Bombay, 1991 (Available for reference in libraries at IDC, IIT Bombay and NID, Ahmedabad).

Seminar Proceedings of 'Design Education: Tradition and Modernity - DETM', Published by the National Institute of Design, 2008 (Available for reference in libraries at IDC, IIT Bombay and NID, Ahmedabad).

'National Graphic Design Educational Meet' was held during the event 'Icograda Design Week in India' at IDC, IIT Bombay to formulate recommendations for the future of Graphic Design Education in the country. (Available for reference in library at IDC, IIT Bombay).

Link to Design Institutes in India:

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