First year Interior Design students Shamna Rasheed and Prateek Sabharwal have organised their own art and photography exhibition which is currently showing in Bangalore.

After a successful opening night on Saturday, they will be showcasing their latest artworks to the public at the Renaissance Gallerie, Cunningham Road, from the 2nd to the 4th of May 2012. Some works are for sale.

Check out the Facebook Event for more details.

If you are between 17 and 21, have a creative spark, and you’re interested in knowing more about studying for a career in Design, then join our our Design Summer Camp in April.

Led by our experienced, international faculty, these hands-on workshops will introduce you to the creative process in general, as well as giving you a flavour of our Fashion Design, Product Design, Interior Design, Graphic Design and Multimedia Design degree and diploma programmes.

The Summer Camp includes 4 workshops:

• The Dream City — Design your own house, airport, skyscraper, or whatever you can dream up.  Build it and add it to the Dream Cityscape.  Led by Interior Design faculty.
• Make and Wear — Create your own T-shirt design to take away and wear.  Organised by our Fashion Design department.
• The Ultimate Chair – Our Product Design faculty will help you to create your own, completely unique chair.
• Make your own Comic — Graphic Design and Multimedia Design lecturers will guide you through visual storytelling and page layout techniques to design and produce a professional-looking comic of your own to take home.

Each workshop will also include a discussion of the relevant Bachelors and Advanced Diploma programmes, along with a chance to talk to current students.

Workshops will take place on 11th, 12th and 13th 26th, 27th and 28th April at our state-of-the-art modern campus on Hosur Rd in Koramangala, next to Forum Mall. All materials will be provided. An exhibition of work produced by participants, as well as current Raffles Bangalore students, will take place on Saturday 14th April.

To participate call us at 4341 8888, or email venkatesh@rmiblr.com, and ask for the registration form. Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. A participation fee of Rs 1000/- is payable on registration.

[ Please note new dates: 26-28th April. This is due to Class XII exams being re-scheduled. ]

RMI Bangalore enjoyed a double success recently when Multimedia Design student Govind Sivan and Fashion Design lecturer Vipin Jose were both winners in a national design competition.

The Show Your Designs contest was organised as part of the inaugural India Design Forum, billed as India’s Biggest International Design Event, and which took place in Delhi over the weekend of 9-10 March. As winners, Vipin and Govind each received 2 free tickets for the prestigious event, worth Rs25,000, and so they found themselves heading to Delhi at short notice — in Govind’s case less than 12 hours!

In total 8 winners were chosen in the competition, so for RMI Bangalore to have 2 of those was quite an achievement. The brief for the contest was to “Creatively and effectively use the ‘D’ from the IDF Logo”, across 3 themes: Textiles, Product and Space Design, and Graphic Design.

Govind’s successful entry “DETOUR” is a short Flash animation inspired by the logo, bringing together a red version of the iconic auto-rickshaw with a Tetris theme. Vipin’s winning design uses both machine and hand embroidery techniques, adopts a calligraphic style, and combines Devanagari versions of the first letter of India (इ) and Forum (फ़) with a representation of the year 2012.

Click on images above for more details

Once they’d arrived at the event they found a truly impressive array of big name speakers, with invited guests from overseas including Karim Rashid (USA), world-renowned product designer and Paola Antonelli (Italy), senior curator for Architecture and Design at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Indian design talent was also well represented, including the likes of Sujata Keshavan, founder of Ray+Keshavan, India’s No 1 Brand Consultancy and Design firm; Manish Arora, creative Director at Paco Rabanne; and Aradhana Goel, director of IDEO India.

We asked Govind how he felt when he heard he had won.  “I was shaking — I wasn’t sure if it was a dream or not!  I think I was still in shock until I reached the hotel in Delhi. I never even entered a competition before.” And how about the Design Forum itself?  “It was amazing, really amazing.  So many top designers and lots of new ideas.  Karim Rashid… what a rock star. He’s designed everything from a safety pin to a rocket.  And I never imagined I would see the person who designed the new Ferrari. The talk by Sujata Keshavan was really inspiring — she made me feel like there’s so much potential for design in India. In fact she’s one of my heroes — I met her and got her autograph!  Overall it was so much inspiration.  I’m feeling really fired up now.”

Vipin added “The event was huge, with 55 talks overall, but it was great to hear such a range of views from well known designers, and to listen to them talking about how their careers developed — students really need to hear this!”

In addition to all the designers who were presenting, Minister of Urban Development Kamal Nath also spoke about the need to highlight and promote quality of design in India, rather than focusing only on development and infrastructure, and that the central government would be supporting this.  As with the Design Yatra conference which we attended in 2011, one of the reasons for having an event like this is to contribute to the debate about what Indian design is and what it could become, and it’s very important for our students and faculty to be part of this discussion.

For more information and discussion on the event (including videos of the talks, eventually) see the official website, the IDF facebook page, or follow the #IDFDelhi hashtag on Twitter.

We were all very excited when Graphic Design student Bhushan Raj was contacted recently by Warner Bros, one of the world’s biggest entertainment companies, about the possibility of promoting their new film “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” using 3D anamorphic street art.

Anamorphic art, which appears to be 3D when viewed from a specific vantage point, is becoming increasingly popular world-wide, with street artists like Edgar Müller and Julian Beaver gaining particular attention for the incredible illusions and effects they create.

Since Bhushan is a member of Studio Quad — a multidisciplinary design studio set up by students currently studying on our Fashion, Graphics, Interiors and Multimedia Design programmes — he brought the project “in house” to enlist the help of his colleagues Aaron, Bhanu, Madhumita, Fanechka, Sushmita and Shamees.

Along with fellow students Ujala and Nithin, the Studio Quad team worked under Bhushan’s direction for over 12 hours on 28th January. The final result was a specially created anamorphic piece outside the prestigious Forum Mall, which is a 5 minute walk from our campus and home to a large PVR multiplex cinema showing all the latest releases.

They also made a movie to document the process.

We asked Bhushan to tell us more about the project.

Founded by students in 2011, Studio Quad have already completed a number of commercial projects ranging across graphic, digital, interior and interactive design. At Raffles Millennium International our motto is “Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Empowerment”, and we’re delighted to support students setting up in practice in this way, even before they’ve graduated.

On the 7^th/8^th November 3 members of Aksharaya gave a two day calligraphy workshop at our campus. Aksharaya is a non-for-profit organisation that aims to promote understanding of Indian lettering. As part of this mission, they are committed to keeping the art of traditional Indian calligraphy alive and oraganise a variety of events to pass on knowledge of this important skill.

On the first day Santosh Kshirsagar (a faculty at Sir J J Institute of Applied Art in Mumbai) introduced the art-form before encouraging participants to start making marks with the wide selection of tools in front of them. After lunch everyone started developing an alphabet of their own, trying to keep consistent style between each letter. Participants used all sorts of scripts including Devanagari, Kannada, Malayalam, English and Arabic.

The next day Santosh encouraged students to be more expressive with their strokes, exploring the wide variety of shapes that are achievable with one tool. To help with this Santosh (along with Sarang Kulkarni and Pallavi Apte) demonstrated some techniques whilst creating some amazing pieces which impressed the onlookers.

Sarang also runs WhiteCrow Design Management which specialises in typographic design. To finish the second day he gave a presentation on the work his firm undertakes, for example developing custom typefaces for Vodafone in a wide variety of Indian scripts. He also showed some impressive calligraphic work commissioned by advertising agencies that illustrated the ongoing relevance of calligraphy in modern design.

It was an intensive 2 days but some important lessons and skills were learnt. For example, how easy it is to make unique looking lettering (whether it be beautiful flowing script or bold ‘grunge’ typography). Creating letters by hand should also lead to a  deeper understanding of type design and why letters are shaped the way they are.

On the 6th/7th/8th November we are hosting two calligraphy workshops.

They will be run by Aksharaya, a non-for-profit organisation based in Mumbai that aims to promote understanding of Indian lettering. As part of this mission, they are committed to keeping the art of traditional Indian calligraphy alive. Three members of the group all teach at Sir J J Institute Applied of Art and are renowned experts in their field. They will guide attendees through the basics before trying much larger pieces in the afternoon.

Visit their website or Facebook page for more information.

The first workshop on Sunday 6th is for school or college students between the ages of 14 and 18. It will act as a basic introduction to Indian calligraphy, so no prior experience is necessary. Cost: Rs250.

The second workshop is aimed at students already in higher education and young professionals. It will be a more in-depth course lasting 2 days and participants are expected to have basic drawing and typography skills already. Cost: Rs500 for both days.

Please note: places are strictly limited. To register email kirtivarma@rmiblr.com and mention your name, age and school/college/company.

Workshops start at 9.30am and will last until approximately 3pm. All materials and a snack lunch will be provided. Please wear old clothes in case you spill some ink.

Our college is on the 4th Floor above Star Bazaar, right next to the Forum Mall in Koramangala.

More more information phone Kirtivarma on 9686445562.

While most of our students were enjoying term break recently, five Interior Design students along with their lecturer Sonia Nicolson took part in the UDBHAVA forum design walk. This is a walk organized every few months where design students in and around Bangalore get the opportunity to visit a completed project and meet the architect.

The project visited was the residence and office of architects Vagish Naganur and Meeta Jain. Meeta took the students on a tour of her home and the different spaces currently being used for either living or working. She explained the design brief, its conversion into concepts, the design process and the final product as a notable work of architecture.

The building is designed in section with an open ground floor so as to allow movement and a feeling of space as the site is small. This floor is open to the courtyard below and has a classroom for creative writing as well as a space for gathering and discussions. The basement offers an open plan design space facing the courtyard, currently rented out to two Architects. The first floor is the main living space which has a feature wall clad in metal sheets, which continue through the building to wrap up and over forming the roof. The top floor is where the couple’s studio is located and will in future be turned into a bedroom. It opens onto a roof terrace and overlooks the street and neighbouring temple.

Afterwards the students gathered on the roof terrace to discuss the project and ask questions. This was a great opportunity for our young designers to see first-hand the drawings, models and completed project, and to meet one of the architects.

This past weekend our Product Design department exhibited at the Bangalore leg of Auto Mall 2011, India’s biggest multi-city automobile exhibition. Four of our PD students were selected to exhibit their work in the show, which attracted thousands of auto enthusiasts to the famous Palace Grounds.

Alongside the displays of “Style Biking”, green motoring and premium cars and bikes, students Nisarg Bhatt, Shariq Rahman, Nithin Anthony and Vasishta Rajaram presented their latest car designs which had just been completed as part of the Product Design programme.

During the 3 days of the event, our stand was one of the best attended by visitors, who spoke with our students about the experience of studying with RMI and about the project models they were exhibiting, which drew lots of attention.

RMI Bangalore tutor Erick Martinez and student Vasishta also ran the very popular “Live Design Show”, which featured workshops for sketching both on paper and on the computer. The weekend went very well, with Sunday being the busiest day and our stand having the biggest crowds of the event.

20 students and 7 lecturers travelled to Goa at the weekend, to join 1300 fellow designers, educators and students from all over India — and beyond — for the annual Kyoorius Designyatra conference at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Bambolim.

Now in its sixth year, this international conference aims to “celebrate design excellence [and] provide insights into the future of brand and visual communications while simultaneously bringing together the design and corporate community in India”.

Although renowned graphic designer David Carson failed to show up for his headline slot (apparently not surprising to those who know him), the audience were treated to a constant stream of inspiring and thought-provoking talks and discussions over 2 days.  Some highlights included Adrian Shaughnessy, author of the best-selling “How to be a Graphic Designer without losing your Soul”, and Amsterdam-based designer Irma Boom, renowned for her book designs which she somehow managed to discuss with the packed auditorium in a very intimate and honest way.

The conference’s moderator, Michael Banks of UK design firm Johnson Banks, has written up a brief summary on their Thought for the Week Blog, and some videos are gradually appearing on the KyooriusTV youtube channel.

Apart from the talks there were workshops to attend, some great food to eat, lots of networking opportunities and a huge party on the last night.

This was the first ever conference experience for most of our students, and all have returned with lots of ideas, better knowledge of practices and practitioners, and a new perspective on the design industry.

Last weekend was a busy one here on our campus, with the finals and judging of our Silky Way fashion design competition. We had entries from colleges all over Bangalore, of which 13 were selected to compete in the second round.

On Saturday the selected entrants participated in a busy 1-day realisation of the designs they had submitted, working in the RMI Bangalore Fashion Design labs. This was an interesting chance for entrants to meet — as well as weigh up! — their opponents.

Sunday morning saw judging by our guest jury – Qubra Khan, Regional Director of HiDesign, and Shobha Lund, a designer with 30 years experience who has taken part in over 100 fashion shows.  After some serious deliberation by the judges, a decision was finally reached, and in the afternoon came the awards ceremony which was attended by competitors plus their friends and families.

The 3 winners were:

First Prize Winner Risharani Dutta, from Baldwin College, thought that competition was tough. “The concepts that the other students worked with were amazing — their designs were very creative”, she said.  And what does she think about RMI Bangalore?  “The Institute is full of creativity.  It gives a platform to their students and also students from other colleges as well.  I have learned many things about designing through the competition”.

Well done to the prize-winners, and thanks to all the other entrants, who received a certificate of participation from RMI Bangalore, as well as a consolation prize from Pony Needles.

Many thanks to our sponsors Pony Needles and Page 3 Design Bookshop, and a very special thank you to our guest jury for their expertise and professional judgement.