[AltoHoncho]

Originally Posted by roy_libran

I would not think so! The reasons are mostly traceable to our genes rather than anything else:
- We excel at copying and modifying rather than creating.
- Our education system gears individuals to understand and improve upon established lines of thinking, rather than dreaming up new things.

Coming to your reference to IT and components, here's my two cents:
- We have hardly ever seen a quality product arise from R&D labs in India.
- Some of the commercially successful products that we have, to showcase, fail to be scaleable (e.g. Finacle).

I can go on and on, but won't, since it feels kinda bad!

1. Our genes have the basic tenet of creative thinking my friend and not copying/modifying the existing ones, thats what chinese have been doing.
You definitely need to look into tons of material facts available in public domains across the industries you can possibly think.
2. Our education system, now in this decade have gone infested with the quota system rather than merit and thats something alarming for the coming future.
3. Since you've quoted IT and Finacle, the industry as well as the product is commercially successful because they both have been scaleable, you can refer to projections for both anywhere.
4. Its a land of free opinion, so you're most welcome to 'go on', am sure none will feel bad, your opinion on the present education system is acceptable but the rest are kinds baseless.

[crazycardude198]

I must admit I am surprised how much intensity this question is generating.
I'd like to make a point though to those who feel we are not creative and lack dynamic thinking. I think that India's long and illustrious history in the arts is more than enough proof that we are capable of this.

I agree that nurturing this talent needs to be done, but lets give credit where credit is due guys. India hasnt reached to this point for nothing..

[nkotblock]

We are well on our way to become a Design hub in the near future .

For all those naysayers , please remember that you did not start walking immediately after you were born

Design is an umbrella term covering many domains and industries .
What I believe we are discussing here is Automotive Styling , an offshoot of Industrial Design .

Did you know that the final decision on the style , 'looks' of the car/bike/truck is taken largely by the Top management of the company ?

[nkotblock]

Industrial Design as a profession has its roots in Europe and largely Italy.No wonder across the world people turn to Europeans / Italians for design solutions .
Italians were very good at the visual arts , music and sculpture.
India too has a rich history in the very same fields and I doubt if anybody can deny that.
The difference is that the Industrial Revolution happened in Europe , not in India.
Then the Italians took on the task of 'beautifying' the industrial mass produced goods and thus started the profession of an 'Industrial Designer' .
This approach was soon extended to automobiles and the rest is history.
This has evolved and got highly specialised over a period of time and today it's known as 'Automotive Styling'.

Automotive Styling ( Form ) as a R&D function determines the look and feel of an automobile wheres the Autombile Engineering ( Functionality )as a R&D function defines the construction and performance of the very same automobile.
These two functions go hand in hand . How well an autombile looks and performs is a measure of how well Styling and Engineering have been able to work together to deliver a well rounded product to the customer.

The fact that today I am able to speak about all this without any foreign training is a tribute to our education system and I would like to think , indicative of India becoming a design hub .

[theslayer]

Originally Posted by akhilesh

Never because we don't have the sense and sensibilities for making or appreciating good looking things. DC design are absolutely horrendous, the weird and wacky thread absolutely blows subtlety and design out in the weeds, we buy Dzire's by truck loads and think i20 is the bestest looking hatchback.
In one word NO

Buying a supposedly VFM sedan doesn't necessarily mean the entire populace of the country has no love for good looking cars. Akhilesh, I might be wrong, but the i20 when it rolled out, was one of Hyundai's good looking designs wasn't it? I agree though, instead of growing on you, the design simply loses your interest, especially in the midst of cars like the Punto.

Originally Posted by roy_libran

I would not think so! The reasons are mostly traceable to our genes rather than anything else:
- We excel at copying and modifying rather than creating.
- Our education system gears individuals to understand and improve upon established lines of thinking, rather than dreaming up new things.
I can go on and on, but won't, since it feels kinda bad!

I can swallow the 'excel at copying and modifying' bit even though I'd say that's extreme generalization, but blaming it on our genes? Have you given a minute to think about how we've infused creativity into just about everything, including copulation?

Originally Posted by vb-san

This is my take on this topic:

Do we have the capabilities and man-power to be an international design-hub – Yes
Do we have the aptitude and flair – No

Now the second point is not all negative. It is just that our strengths lie elsewhere.
Why we don’t have the necessary aptitude, I guess it is partly cultural and partly the thought process.
These are some of the reasons I can think of:

1. Education system:
2. Eye for perfection:
3. Impartial thinking:

While I agree with your reasoning, I'd like to point out that only part of the population lacks the aptitude for design.

I think it's unfair to blame the education system for the lack of designers in the limelight. The education system is definitely restraining loads of kids from realizing their true potential, but a designer, even in our country, is able to find his way to NID and loads of IITs that offer Product Design and Transporation Design courses.

I think India has awesome potential to be a design hub. It might take some time for us to define our design language, but we'll get there, as long as the pessimists make an effort to see the glass half full.

[srishiva]

I wonder how belittling the country and countrymen is so natural to many people.

The simple fact is that for innovation to happen you need investment in it which is lacking. There is investment in pubic sector but it lacks responsibility and accountability.

[akhilesh]

Originally Posted by srishiva

I wonder how belittling the country and countrymen is so natural to many people.

The simple fact is that for innovation to happen you need investment in it which is lacking. There is investment in pubic sector but it lacks responsibility and accountability.

Incredible how admitting something we aren't good at, is equated to belittling. Hypocrisy?

[drkakkilaya]

Yes we have potential, but i dont think we are living upto it.
Cant help see that chunk of our designs can be traced back to some vintage cars abroad. How many cars do we see that are 100% desi design ?? Especially a country with rich heritage of Architecture and asthetics we should do more justice to the already inherited talent. We are moving forward and quite fast probably the direction needs tweaking and support.

[sjd]

Of course India will become a design hub in future. Although I agree with most of the previous posts that we currently lack in infrastructure and awareness for such an industry. However, there have been many significant developments recently giving a clear indication of progress or else we wouldn't have witnessed MNC's like GM & Renault deciding to have their own design studios in India.Education sector was quick to respond with many private institutes shifting gears to automotive design. So stands with the traditional design studios in India who are shifting focus from Product design to automotive design. Of course change doesn't happen overnight but often takes generations to achieve perfection.With the fast paced IT industry, a generation change doesn't even have to wait until a decade or so and are we not already one of the world IT hubs!!!

[rajess_in]

Let me put in my views based on my experience as a automotive R & D guy!

1. Creativity - India is very good in the creativity department, no doubt. That said, we lack very much in infrastructure (market research, portfolios, branding, future mapping, R & D towards future technologies, etc.), commitment (towards quality even in design, ingenuity, etc) and worst of all time discipline (no designer had adhered to the given time commitment of his own - I am not speculative / harsh towards them, but it is the way the system works). We totally lack the universal appeal (at best copy) that others are able to bring through their work.

2. System - A system that is supportive of creativity (look at how IT / BPO industries have progressed through the years by doing repetitive tasks rather than creative tasks - although the industry does most of the programming work, we don't have a OS, PS or any language that is credited to our companies / people). We are encouraged to mug up subjects rather than understand the core of the contents and improve on them.

3. Market maturity - Europe, US , etc. in the west have very fine acumen towards build quality, finesse & craftmanship, Japan, Korea in the east are focussed towards reliability, quality & robustness. We indians in the middle are focussed on mileage, maximum space & spares. As the Indian car buyer evolves (change in mindset for his requirements in a car), the emphasise will be on design attributes rather than the current ones.

To elaborate on 3, the life cycle of an car model in developed countries is less than a decade (< 8 years some are even less), after which a new generation is launched. In India, we could still see Ambassadors, M800, Indicas, safaris, Boleros, etc. still being sold in good numbers. So the market encourages performance as a whole rather than the styling cues (they still buy it not because of its looks).

In these aspects, India will / has emerged as the principal KPO (Knowledge Process Outsourcing) market. We are good at engineering things in terms of cost / weight / quality, but are a long way to go in Design.

[srishiva]

Originally Posted by akhilesh

Incredible how admitting something we aren't good at, is equated to belittling. Hypocrisy?

We aren't good at it because we haven't tried. Its not because we cant. How much effort do you think we have put into this to judge on the result? Nothing compared to what others would have before excelling at it.

[roy_libran]

- My idea of Patriotism is not in keeping my eyes blindfolded to our faults or shortcomings, but accepting them, as willingly, as we would our capabilities.
- No one race, can be perfect (Apologies, Mr. Hitler, you were so wrong there...), so we are bound to have failures, and some of them will be permanent.
- We have a number of strengths. Creativity in Fine arts & Procreation Actions (Alas!)is DEFINITELY one of them. Creativity in Engineering is NOT!

Moreover,
- My opinions were based on generic historical traits and behaviors of the Indian Populace, and are bound to have exceptions. But, whether those exceptions start becoming a rule, or not, would need to be a matter of Mutation!
- Historically, presently, and foreseeably in the future, the leadership that this mass of population has had, has done nothing to stimulate original thinking, and has never focussed on really long-term strategies. We are a tactical race, who live for tactical gains! Creativity requires patience, nurture and an appetite for numerous failures, that we do not have.
- Changing the education system, or creating the right ecosystem for R&D might make us second or third rate designers, at best, in the foreseeable future. But, whether we are able to design world class products, is something that may take generations to achieve, and I'm sure none of this lot of BHP-ians would be alive to see that day!

My sincere apologies, that my views, on the shortcomings of our people, hurt my fellow country mates, but I'd stick to them, the way I see & interpret them!

[akhilesh]

Originally Posted by srishiva

We aren't good at it because we haven't tried. Its not because we cant. How much effort do you think we have put into this to judge on the result? Nothing compared to what others would have before excelling at it.

Can you 'learn to design'? No In a country of 1.2 billion people do we have single design label with international appeal? Again No. You need to have the genes for it.

[theslayer]

Originally Posted by akhilesh

Can you 'learn to design'? No In a country of 1.2 billion people do we have single design label with international appeal? Again No. You need to have the genes for it.

Being a successful design label has as much to do with a good business model as with having good designs in inventory. I do not agree that this should be taken as a measure of how designer-esque we are.

[rajess_in]

Originally Posted by akhilesh

Can you 'learn to design'? No In a country of 1.2 billion people do we have single design label with international appeal? Again No. You need to have the genes for it.

Not exactly, even arts is taught, the difference is in understanding things, rather than mugging up the book.

When our system makes itself apparent to looking at the quality of the marks rather than the quantity, we will start excelling in departments that are seen as the Forte of others.

Believe me there is enough potential to achieve this, but the system and our mindset are the biggest draw back.