The co-founder of Mumbai-based studio November discusses how perceptions of design in his home country have shifted dramatically over the last decade
“There’s a long-running joke in India, that you do four years of engineering and then figure out what you want to do,” says Shiva Nallaperumal. “Almost everyone, filmmakers, musicians, all kinds of random people, would have done engineering for four years as undergrads because it was a safe thing, and while doing that you figured out what you wanted to do. I think that’s being replaced by design now.”
Nallaperumal notes the stark differences between when he was starting out 15 years ago – when there was a grand total of four design schools to choose from – and the hundreds of institutions that exist across the country now. Recent studies suggest that there’s been a 40% increase in demand for art and design courses in India over the past decade, while the number of design graduates joining the workforce has risen by approximately 30% over the past five years.
The designer has mixed feelings about the sheer number of young people opting to pursue a career in design now (more on that later), but admits it’s provided an interesting backdrop to building up his own design practice, November, which he co-founded with his partner Juhi Vishnani. Since launching in 2018, the studio has worked with global brands such as Apple Music and Uber, major agencies including Pentagram and Wolff Olins, and a huge range of India-based businesses.
