Design November 20, 2008, 5:00PM EST

India's Hopes for its Design Industry

Offshore and domestic customers seek an edge to satisfy India's consumers, who have more money to spend and are demanding better products

By David Rocks

Sondur's Tata Elxsi unit claims Honda, Ford, Toyota, BP, and Unilever as customers

null

The five-story building off one of the hot, dusty boulevards of South Delhi looks little different from others in the quiet residential neighborhood. But descend the steps to the basement apartment, open the heavy oak door, and you'll find a thriving design firm called Desmania. The dozens of employees in the crowded room spend their days designing products, crafting logos, and creating Web sites for clients in India and abroad.

The work is a dramatic change from what Desmania did just a few years ago. After its founding in 1996, the business mostly tweaked the look of imported appliances and packaging so they'd appeal more to Indian consumers. But lately, Desmania has grown some 30% annually as it has picked up global contracts from such household names as Samsung, Nestlé (NSRGY), and Procter & Gamble (PG). And more Indian companies are hiring the shop to come up with new products, both for the domestic market and export. Next March, Desmania expects to move to a new $3 million building in a Delhi suburb, and founder Anuj Prasad is adding teams specializing in cars and toys. "There's tremendous potential for all areas of design in India—products, packaging, automobiles, anything," Prasad says.

Desmania's growth parallels that of India's design industry. As domestic companies start building global brands and multinationals seek to boost sales in India, design firms are thriving. Indian manufacturers realize they need better products if they want to break out of their home market and get more money for their goods abroad. And foreigners are learning that Indian consumers are no longer content with imported, me-too designs. The profession is growing in popularity at Indian universities, and scores of design firms have sprung up across the country.

While this new growth isn't immune to the global slowdown, there's reason to expect this fledgling industry will flourish in India. For decades, with protected markets, there was little reason for Indian companies to bother with good design; most people were happy to buy whatever they could get their hands on. But as the economy has opened and incomes rise, consumers have begun to demand better products. Even if growth slows, companies will be reluctant to skimp on design and risk losing customers. "Corporations are realizing there's an Indian design sensibility, and if they cater to it they'll have a market," says Hari Nair, Whirlpool's (WHR) Asia design chief, based in Delhi.

NO BLOCKBUSTERS YET

A slowdown in the U.S. and Europe might even help India's industry. Many Indian designers say they charge roughly a third what an American, Italian, or Japanese firm might for similar work. Entrepreneurs worldwide look to India for help designing new gadgets, and bigger companies are hiring Indians more often, too. Ticket Design in the city of Pune, for instance, recently crafted a series of house-brand toothbrushes for a European retailer. "Where companies are looking to cut costs, we're getting work that might have gone to Western designers," says Vinay Rao, director of Bang Design in Bangalore, which has worked for Microsoft (MSFT), Dell (DELL), and other tech companies.

Still, he and other Indian designers say they're not going to put big Western design firms out of business anytime soon. While lower-level shops "might lose some work to us," Rao says, "the very top design companies won't have a problem."

Indian firms have another edge: their understanding of what marketers call the bottom of the pyramid. With hundreds of millions of Indians living in poverty, the market for super-affordable products is huge. While Tata Motors (TTM) has perhaps the best-known example, a $2,500 car called the Nano, companies across India are dreaming up goods and services that can be sold at rock-bottom prices. "At every level you find that there's entrepreneurial effort going to service the really poor," says George Mathews, an Indian director of Icarus, a design consultancy in Bangalore.

Reader Discussion

 

BW Mall - Sponsored Links

Buy a link now!