Tribal Design Forum Launches Outreach Program to Increase Tribal Community Participation in the Design Landscape of India.
Despite India's booming design industry and a demand for 62,000 designers, tribal representation in the field remains minimal. This stems from limited awareness among tribal youth and parents about design as a career, a lack of role models, and barriers such as economic constraints, language, and isolation. Design institutes have yet to establish effective outreach to these communities, and traditional education paths like engineering and medicine are often preferred. To address this gap, the Tribal Design Forum (TDF) is hosting online sessions from November 23 to December 4, 2024, aimed at educating tribal youth about design careers. Led by alumni from India’s top design schools, these sessions cover academic preparation, design disciplines, career opportunities, and personal growth.
Staff Editor 
While the presence of tribal youth in India’s premier medical and engineering institutions is relatively normal, why is their representation still low in the country’s leading design institutes? 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.
Despite the immense opportunities, the presence of tribal professionals in the design industry remains relatively low, primarily due to the negligible enrollment of tribal students in design institutes.
Even today, there is a lack of awareness among tribal youth and their parents regarding design as a subject and an industry. They often lack guidance or role models in the field, while economic barriers and linguistic or geographical isolation further hinder their participation. Design institutes also fail to establish effective outreach to these communities. Consequently, parents often prefer traditional education paths like medicine or engineering for their children. These factors collectively contribute to the minimal representation of tribal communities in India’s design industry.
Applications are now open for admission in 2025 to India’s three key design institutes: the National Institute of Design (NID), the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), and the Industrial Design Centre (IDC) at IIT Bombay.
To address these challenges and raise awareness among tribal youth and their parents, Tribal Design Forum (TDF) is organizing a series of online sessions from November 23 to December 4. These sessions aim to educate participants about pursuing design as a career and the vast opportunities it offers.
Former students from India’s premier design institute, the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, will guide participants on topics across 10 design disciplines—Textile, Product, UX/UI, Furniture, Ceramic, Animation, Films & Video Communication, Exhibition, Graphic, and Fashion Design. They will provide insights into:
- Academic Preparation
- Understanding Design Disciplines
- Career opportunities
- Skills and tools
- Work environments
- Personal growth and motivation
- Design and industries
- Design and society
Interested youth can register online at the forum’s official website: www.tribaldesignforum.com.
Tribal Design Forum is the only group of tribal designers and creative professionals in India that strives to use design as a methodology to address the challenges faced by tribal communities.
