The Tribal Design Forum (TDF) has announced an outreach program aimed at increasing tribal community participation in India’s growing design industry. The initiative seeks to address the underrepresentation of tribal youth in the country’s leading design institutes, despite their relatively normal presence in premier medical and engineering institutions.
Highlighting the disparity, TDF noted, “Despite India’s design industry growing at an annual rate of 25% and the nation’s exciting design potential and proud crafts heritage, there remains a need for approximately 62,000 designers in the country. Currently, only about 7,000 qualified designers are available.”
The lack of tribal professionals in the design field is attributed to multiple barriers. “Even today, there is a lack of awareness among tribal youth and their parents regarding design as a subject and an industry,” TDF explained. It emphasized that tribal students often face economic barriers, linguistic or geographical isolation, and the absence of guidance or role models in the field. Additionally, design institutes “fail to establish effective outreach to these communities,” further widening the gap.
Traditional career preferences among parents, who prioritize medicine or engineering over design, also play a significant role in discouraging tribal youth from pursuing careers in this field. “These factors collectively contribute to the minimal representation of tribal communities in India’s design industry,” TDF stated.
To tackle these challenges, TDF is organizing a series of online sessions from November 23 to December 4. The sessions aim to “educate participants about pursuing design as a career and the vast opportunities it offers.”
Former students from the prestigious National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, will lead the sessions, providing guidance on a wide array of topics spanning 10 design disciplines, including Textile, Product, UX/UI, Furniture, Ceramic, Animation, Films & Video Communication, Exhibition, Graphic, and Fashion Design.
Participants will gain insights into essential aspects such as academic preparation, understanding design disciplines, career opportunities, required skills and tools, work environments, personal growth and motivation, and the role of design in industries and society.
Applications for 2025 admissions are now open for India’s top design institutions, including NID, the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), and the Industrial Design Centre (IDC) at IIT Bombay.
TDF is calling on interested youth to register for the sessions through its official website, www.tribaldesignforum.com. The organization, which describes itself as “the only group of tribal designers and creative professionals in India,” is committed to using design as a methodology to address the challenges faced by tribal communities.
