Ecole intuit.lab, a French institute of design and communication arts, started a satellite campus in Mumbai in July 2011. Though its early to talk about the institute’s success, edex caught up with Pallavi Lala, marketing and administration, ecole intuit.lab, about the design school’s plans for aspiring artists and designers.
What can you study?
ecole is presently offering a three-year viscom arts diploma in graphic design and two-year master’s diploma in viscom arts. Class 12 students and graduates can apply for these courses respectively. “Keeping in mind that these are 16 and 17-year-old kids, we have kept the application process simple. We require a short portfolio of four-five sketches. Again we are not looking for exceptional talent but perhaps just a small spark,” says Lala.
For master’s diploma in viscom arts, it is essential to have had four years of undergraduate study. The final year will be spent at the master campus in Paris. “This is going to be an absolute treat for our students. They will be privy to the best of gadgets, classrooms, library, etc. Paris in general is rich in culture and art, and they (students) can leverage on the same,” beams Lala.
Fly-in faculty at ecole
Faculty, Lala, assures, will be a mix of Indian and international, with the latter flying in mostly for guest lectures; so will the founders, Patrick Felices,
Clement Derock and Frederic Lalande. Though not a regular college, ecole has lessons scheduled between 9am to 4pm for five days of the week with theory and lab sessions. ecole follows the semester/credit system. The institute has self-sufficient infrastructure and since the current students mostly come from Mumbai, no hostel accommodation is provided. Presently, 15 students have enrolled for the viscom arts diploma in graphic design.
Booming sector
“All around the world, the demand for graphic designers is high and the trend is growing. There is a huge gap between what the recruiters want and what they get in the bargain. ecole hopes to address this problem. We not only want our students to do well in fine arts but also train them to commercialise and blend their work,” says Lala.
When quizzed on what makes a good graphic designer, Jamila Varawala, the institute’s principal, opens up, “The person who knows how to explore
global concepts but at the same time succeeds in keeping the desi tang intact is a winner.”
Varawala also throws in a pointer for those interested in gauging artwork. “Take my own class for example. I examine 15 different work. This is not mathematics where there is only one correct answer. What matters is the angle in which the artist has perceived his work/theme,” she says.
Plans for placement
“Placements are top on our agenda and we will capitalise on our contacts to
connect with the industry for the same” explains co-founder of ecole intuit.lab, Ravi Deshpande. At the same time, they also take care to ensure that their students build an excellent portfolio and are trained to be on their job the minute they graduate from ecole, assures Lala. Probably as old as the sayings of Methuselah, are the opportunities available to graphic designers as illustrators, animators, designers in the
media industry, etc.
Students’ take on ecole
Says Kavisha Dharia (19), an import from Chelsea College of Art and Design, UK, who is pursuing her second-year arts diploma, “After I decided to head back to India, I was worried if I would find a design school similar to my alma mater. When I look at my professors, our informal interactions, the approach to design education, etc, I know I have made no mistake.”
Thinking along the same lines is her classmate Monaz Katila (20). She holds a bachelor’s in psychology from Jai Hind College, Mumbai, and naturally, a lot of eyebrows were raised when she decided to make a transition to design studies. “On the contrary, I feel though these disciplines seem diverse to each other, I have been able to apply the concepts I learnt in psychology in my
artwork,” she says.
— shilpa.vasudevan@newindianexpress.com