Samarth Bajaj, CEO and Co-Founder, The Designer’s Class talks about the inspiration behind starting Edtech, the importance of quality design education and competing on a global platform. Excerpts:
Design has become a mainstream legitimate career choice. Gone are the days when any profession related to design was seen as too challenging for people to pursue. It is a skill with broad applied potential, however, the design education offered has not developed in decades, while quality business education or science education has grown by leaps and bounds. This is where the idea of starting the “Designer Class” arose. A design-based e-learning platform that delivers courses taught to you by the best in the industry. A platform that can compete on a global level. Samarth Bajaj answers the most pressing questions about this project.
What is the gap you are looking to fill?
- There were a few gaps they identified:
- There are very few institutions in India that offer quality education in design.
- Most good brick and mortar design schools are fairly expensive and not affordable.
- There is very little in the current curriculum that prepares you to invest your design skills.
- Aspirants/Design Enthusiasts in Tier 2 and 3 cities have to travel far from home to actually come to study at a quality institution.
We launched The Designer’s Class with the goal of democratizing design education by making it affordable, accessible, engaging and relevant to any design enthusiast.
How is this platform disrupting the education technology sector?
While I am quite amazed and very impressed with the growth of education technology in India, I find the structure to be a little understaffed, which should take into account the areas in which they offer courses. At The Designer’s Class, we really make learning fun. We want you to immerse yourself in a world where you enjoy your time learning a particular skill. We are working on many gamification ideas, virtual reality ideas and Metaverse ideas. We are creating a global community of design enthusiasts immersed in a world, where they learn design in the most practical, yet almost entirely delivered way. A community in which geographical boundaries become irrelevant and design ties them together in more than one way. Digital education as a concept offers us many possibilities beyond what we are traditionally accustomed to, and at The Designer’s Class we are working to take full advantage of these opportunities.
Another important element that we offer is to add benefits to our subscribers comprehensively. We aim to add to their skill set and CV. When they complete our courses they receive certificates of completion signed by the designers themselves. They also get a chance to win training programs with these outstanding individuals and companies. We are also in talks with several design-based conglomerates to accommodate interns from our platform and also encourage them to consider job placements through our platform. We are also working on dubbing our content in seven different languages, some languages are already available on the platform. This allows our subscription complete freedom to learn within their comfort zone, but think outside the box.
How do you see this growing?
Design is the need of the hour. It is a viable skill and is increasingly being applied to almost all industries out there. Our courses are currently structured in a way that caters to any design enthusiast, whether it’s a 6th grader in school, a design student, a design professional, an entrepreneur, a housewife, or someone who just wants a glimpse of what the world of design will look like. TAM noticeably large. We are also a supplemental course, which gives an added advantage to people already studying design. We have actively worked to connect K-12 schools and design institutions that were excited to collaborate with us and offer the course to their students. Today also Indian design and designers are celebrated globally. There is a large Indian community living outside India, which is very keen to be a part of the Indian design industry.
In fact, we have seen quite a bit of traction from the UK, US, Australia, UAE and a few other countries without even direct marketing in these markets. Indian design is increasingly revered by people outside the Indian diaspora as well. What happened to Japanese design 30 years ago is now happening with Indian Design. The world will want to know how to be a part of it and we have the best names that teach you how to be a part of it.
How can we encourage creativity through an online medium?
The simplest and most effective way that people can be encouraged is by having the most successful people pass on knowledge about the field of study and tell their journey on how they have succeeded. We have names like Abu Sandeep, Masaba Gupta, Kunal Rawal, Rhea Kapoor, Tanya Gavri, Arpita Mehta, Jayanti Reddy, Payal Senegal Fashion Education. The courses we will be launching soon are courses like:
- Gauri Khan teaches interior design
- Rohan Shreshta and Joseph Radek teach you photography
- A comprehensive jewelry course by the best of the best.
- A makeup course by an industry leader, and so forth.
All of their journeys and accomplishments are very exciting and inspiring. Hearing them speak and having a chance to learn from them, will encourage many people to indulge in pursuing their creative ambitions.
How has the determination of the pandemic changed?
The fashion design element has changed over the course of the pandemic but there has been a major change in the way the fashion business is run. The possibilities of the virtual world have been greatly realized by the pandemic, and the fashion industry has been moving rapidly in this direction. A large presence in e-commerce, even if you are a luxury brand, has become the need of the hour. Social media has now become the primary form of advertising. More innovative ways like creating fashion NFTs and the like have become mainstream marketing ideas. There are many concepts related to technology that the fashion industry will increasingly seek. It’s exciting.
What are some misconceptions people have about practicing a design profession?
The biggest misconception is the instability of income if you choose to adopt design as a career option. While this may have been the case a decade ago, that is not at all the case today.
Yes, traditional design education is a bit expensive, but today the need for design professionals and their salaries is increasing rapidly. IIID gave a statement saying that there are about 3 lakh interior design jobs being created in India. Today, the newest graphic designer gets a salary starting from 35K to 50K. Graphic design alone is required as a skill set in nearly every consumer industry we can think of. There are many professions based on design and the like is the need of the hour. Design-based functionality will increase rapidly. When a country progresses, everyone wants to live better, and determination is the number one way to make that happen.
Who are these courses for and how has the response been so far?
The courses at The Designer’s Class are organized in a way that caters to all design enthusiasts. Whether you are a 6th grader, design student, design professional, design entrepreneur, just a housewife or a young person looking to explore the world of design. We have something for everyone. The response so far has been very encouraging. Reviews of our content by businesses and direct consumers have been overwhelmingly positive. People really enjoy the courses, and people learn at the same time. We have seen a steady increase in our subscriber base.
What are your future plans for the scale?
To start with each sector we add adds a large number of potential subscribers. By the same April we will have courses in Fashion Design, Interior Design, Jewelry Design, Photography, Make-up and Wedding Décor. The fashion is already there, and the other one will be released on a monthly basis until April. By the end of 2022, we will have courses offered in 20 different areas of design such as UI/UX, Animation, Graphic Design, VFX, Sound Design, Product Design, Architecture, Floral Design, Food Design, etc. We are also ready to enter international markets within 4 weeks from now. We have plans to enter the US, UK, Australia, UAE, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Singapore markets, and we will quickly explore new developing markets as well. We are also in talks with several western designers to bring them as talents on our platform. This greatly increases our reach beyond the Indian diaspora in international markets and also helps us bring in a Western perspective that our Indian audience can learn from and adopt to create a very unique fusion in the world of design.
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