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Dear Christopher Kueh I presented a paper last May at a workshop on Design Support that was organised by the Design Council Wales at Cardiff (May 2004). The paper examines the nature of the design industry in India and offers a status check. You can download the file from my web archive at <http://homepage.mac.com/ranjanmp/FileSharing1.htm> The filename for the paper in MS Word format is "Design Infrastructure_India.doc" and the related presentation, a PDF file also online, is "Design Support_2004_pics.pdf" which is located inside the "MPR Papers on Design" folder. With warm regards M P Ranjan from my office at NID 20 December 2004 at 6.35 pm IST ___________________________________________________________________ Prof M P Ranjan Faculty of Design Head, NID Centre for Bamboo Initiatives Faculty Member on NID Governing Council (2003 -2004) National Institute of Design Paldi Ahmedabad 380 007 INDIA Tel: 91+79+26610054 (Res) Tel: 91+79+26639692 ext 1090 (Off) Tel: 91+79+26639692 ext 4095 (Off) Fax: 91+79+26605242 email: <[log in to unmask] web archive: <http://homepage.mac.com/ranjanmp/> ___________________________________________________________________ Christopher Kueh wrote: > Dear all, > > This is Chris Kueh, a Malaysian pursuing PhD in Design at Curtin > University, Western Australia. Am now back in Kuching (East Malaysia) > for Christmas and New Year break. Just happened that I was helping up > in a pre-departure briefing session yesterday, for new students who > are going over to Australia for further studies. My role was to share > some of my experiences I gained overseas. > > Out of the many conversations, there was a student asking about the > future and working opportunities in Visual Communication Design > (Graphic and Multimedia Design). As I was explaining to him, I found > myself started to categorise (Malaysian local) Design Industry into > different levels according to designers' educational qualification. I > was able to afterwards reflect on these and found some issues, based > to my own observation and previous experiences in the local design > industry: > > 1) Designers with Diploma in Design: This category of designers > (majority) tends to work as a 'technician' in the industry. They work > as main Desk Top Publishers (DTP) in which involves minimum conceptual > thinking. These designers compete with self-taught designers who work > mostly as free-lancers and charging way below levels, in which > lowering prices is their main selling point to grab clients' attentions. > > 2) Designers with BA Degree/Honours/Masters: These designers treasure > and (try to) practice conceptual visual communication through > different medias. Small numbers of them have successfully strived to > work as Art/Creative Directors in local and international > design/advertising firms. Some of these designers, especially those > who have earlier exposure to overseas design industry and market, have > also succeeded in owning their own design firms, dealing mostly with > overseas clients. Unfortunately, there are also quite a handful of > them who can't set foot in the working environment that they desire > and ended up working overseas. Some were found even struggling for > businesses in competition with designers from the 1st category. > > 3) Designers with PhD: It is very rare, in Malaysian Design Industry, > to have designers with PhD to work as design consultants. Among the > small numbers, most of them are academics in local universities (in > which design research and its application is not yet evident). Many > are working overseas. > > Malaysian society, from what I see, is a growing society in which a > well-shaped Design Industry (as in Design of all kind) will definitely > be of the country's benefit. I therefore put forth the above > reflections, and search of your opinions in the questions below: > > 1) Do these categories of designers also exist in design industry else > where? > 2) Is design education the only way to overcome the issues I mentioned > above? > 3) Who should we educate? Designers or the society? > > Happy Christmas everyone! > > regards, > Chris > > _________________________________________________________________ > Find love online with MSN Personals. > http://match.msn.com.my/match/mt.cfm?pg=channel >