Singanapalli Balaram | Product Design • Indian Design Education & History

Balaram is a veteran industrial designer and educator. He was among the first batch of trainees at the National Institute of design. Later he served as a senior faculty and Chairman of Education at the NID. After retiring from NID, he served as a Dean at DJ Academy of Design, Coimbatore. He also helped in the formation of the Craft Development Institute in J&K. Currently, he is the Director of SASI Creative Colleges, Coimbatore. Apart from his contribution to design education in India, he has practiced industrial design for objects/products critical to Indian masses - like a Bicycle, Bullock Cart, Stone-top, Bamboo Duster, Tongue Cleaner etc. He has also published a book compiling his thoughts and academic papers named ‘Thinking Design’. On this episode, we talk about his surreal childhood, the history of Design in India and his love for designing critical ordinary objects that affect the masses. RELEVANT LINKS & INFO S. Balaram’s blog - balaram43.blogspot.com NID - nid.edu DJAD - djad.in J&K Craft Development Institute - cdisgr.org Sasi Creative Inst. of Design - scid.ac.in Kashayam - Crushed Mixture in Ayurveda Gunnathotavalasa & Bobili - https://goo.gl/maps/NfVR58STgyqFcTUi8 Visakhapatnam - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visakhapatnam Kolam - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolam Datun (Balaram used it to make brush) - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teeth-cleaning_twig Tholu bommalata - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tholu_bommalata Sari - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sari Telugu - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telugu Projector Slides - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slide_projector Bapu - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bapu_(director) Rabindranath Tagore - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabindranath_Tagore Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarat_Chandra_Chattopadhyay Premchand - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premchand Sardarji (Sikh Man) - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikhism Shantiniketan - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shantiniketan Kumar Vyas - indianexpress.com/article/india/design-fraternity-mourns-demise-of-nid-faculty-h-kumar-vyas-4585703/ Dashrat Patel - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashrath_Patel Jawaharlal Nehru - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jawaharlal_Nehru Sarabhai family - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarabhai_family Charles Eames - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Eames Pupul Jayakar - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pupul_Jayakar The India Report - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_India_Report Lota (vessel) - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lota_(vessel) Calico Mills - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calico_Mills Le Corbusier - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Corbusier Bob Gill - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Gill_(artist) Mahendra Patel - designedthisway.com (3rd episode) George Nakashima - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Nakashima Soul of a Tree - nakashimawoodworkers.com/accessory/the-soul-of-a-tree/ Henri Matisse - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Matisse Bruce Archer - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Bruce_Archer Shiva Nallaperumal - shiva-n.com Kalamkari - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalamkari Narasimha - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narasimha Laurie Baker - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurie_Baker Padmanabhapuram Palace - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padmanabhapuram_Palace Indian Oil Corporation - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Oil_Corporation Vimana - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vimana Oxygenator - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygenator Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute - sctimst.ac.in Dhimant Panchal - www.mitid.edu.in/Dhimant-Panchal.html V. S. Naipaul - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V._S._Naipaul Arundhati Roy - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arundhati_Roy Parimal Parmar - parimalparmar.in Langar - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langar_(Sikhism) Thinking Design (there’s another edition with NID)- www.amazon.com/Thinking-Design-S-Balaram-ebook/dp/B01L1UX5FE Irma Boom - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irma_Boom Barefoot doctor - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barefoot_doctor