Visual Communication Design Course In Mumbai, India

Devyani Arya

Faculty

Ms. Devyani Arya hails from a background in information technology. She went on to receive a master’s degree in New Media Design from the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad. With a zealous intent to stay away from run-of-the-mill work, her take on most subjects is refreshingly quirky and borderline oddball. Her work collaborations include but are not limited to, the Mumbai Film Festival, Habitat for Humanity International, Naandi Foundation, Grandmother India, the Ranthambore Festival, Nariyal Paani. With over thirteen years of experience in Branding, Graphic Design, UI/UX design – her focus lies in edgy storytelling through design. Her future projects include a children’s book, a collaborative art project and research on Indian Art and tribal jewelry.

Fueled by a fierce passion for the Arts, at the Whistling Woods International, she teaches various subjects related to Art, such as Art and Aesthetics, Classical Indian Art, Western and Oriental Art.

Chaitanya Modak

Visiting Faculty

Darshan Gandhi

Visiting Faculty

Darshan Gandhi is Global Head – Design, Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL).

Darshan believes in inclusive design principles; that all good design should be accessible. She joined Godrej & Boyce’s Interio division in 2006, where she was a catalyst in introducing design thinking, by creating and showcasing a diverse range of products under one platform, with a unique design philosophy. This led her to work for Godrej Industries in 2008, where she was assigned to design SPACE, a prototype office to create a young work culture that inspired the exchange of ideas, innovation and change at Godrej. This was the start of design driven thinking at GCPL.

She formed the GCPLDesignLab in 2009, and was instrumental in applying design led thinking to transform brands with delightful product offerings (in a Godrej way) for a rapidly evolving Indian market. This created a great impact and value for consumers across categories, with reinvigorated brands like Expert, aer, Cinthol, Goodknight and BBLUNT. By leveraging the design tools of need based user-centric segmentation, prototyping and product mapping, Darshan led the development of a unique collaborative approach in line with GCPL’s overall objectives. Today, she and her team of highly skilled designers have extended the same approach to GCPL’s brands and categories across Africa and Indonesia. The recent ‘designification’ of Africa’s leading hair extensions brand, Darling, marks a milestone in GCPLDesignLab’s journey of inclusive design thinking practices as a leading in-house design studio. GCPLDesignLab was awarded ‘India’s Best Design Studio Award 2017’ and ‘India’s Best Product Design Award 2019’ .

Darshan is a post graduate from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, and an alumna of the Harvard Business School’s executive education General Management Programme.

Neha Ramaiya

Visiting Faculty

Neha has completed her education in bachelors from Sir. J. J. School of Art, Mumbai, and her Master’s in Ceramic and Glass Design from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India. She is the founder of YellowSpiders Pottery (est. 2009,) a pottery studio of eminence. The talented staff at the studio work extremely hardworking to help nurture & cultivate the inner artist in all the students and guests who come into the studio. The YellowSpiders community serves as an educational branch and support system for all artists, a unique place where their creative juices flow freely. The studio is committed to success and developing the skills of artists and young talents. It is the studio’s mission to ensure that the arts remain a strong influence, and to offer classes to students of all levels – introducing newcomers to art and creativity and refining the techniques of even the most veteran artists.

Nupur Bhargava Kewalya

Visiting Faculty

Nupur is an Artist, Animation Director & Creative Director living her dream of telling stories & creating art for the past 17 years.She is an alumnus of National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, where she did Animation Film Design. She has created many award winning & nominated Promos & Animations during her stint at MTV, India. For the past 14 years, she is the Co-Founder & Director of Invisible Rabbit, an award winning boutique animation studio in the heart of Mumbai. The only Director in India who has designed & Directed three feature film songs in stop-motion. Her work is an unique eclectic array of styles, themes & animation mediums for the biggest brands, OTT platforms & Film studios of India. She is also an artist & owner of OoeeMa! A Quirky Home décor & merchandise Brand. She loves Stop-motion, caricatures and all forms of storytelling. She also enjoys teaching & encourages Original Glocal thinking.

Akshaya Thombre

Visiting Faculty

Akshaya has been practising calligraphy for over 11 years and specialises in Roman calligraphy. Her calligraphy exhibition in 2017 at the Nehru Centre Art Gallery, Worli, was based on the development and modification of letters as design composition and presented it in a painting form. Her various experiments in the art led to the development and modification of her own variation of a style called ‘Blackletter’, which has a lot of variations internationally. She bases her creation on her sense of identity, space, design forms, and the grace of each letter. She has furthered the idea and presented it in wall paintings, chocolate engravings, and more. She is presently working on various other letters and styles with different perspectives to look forward towards calligraphy and take it to a new level.
A former student of the Achyut Palav school of Calligraphy, she is currently visiting faculty at Whistling Woods International (Visual Communication Design), I.E.S. College of Architecture, Rachna Sansad College of architecture, and MGM University. She also freelances as a Calligrapher and is associated with Artico Enterprises for designing projects. She has participated in representing India in various international exhibitions, and in 2021 she won The Excellence Award at the 18th Cheongju Jikji World Calligraphy Association, South Korea.

Swati Chandak Sharma

Visiting Faculty

Swati Chandak Sharma is the founder and director at Designmembrane, a graphic design studio in Mumbai. Her studio specialises in design for print publication, packaging, branding and illustration. She is a postgraduate from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad 2006.

Tripti Sahni

Visiting Faculty

Tripti is the Founder and Principal Designer of Studio Trace, a lighting design firm, with a multidisciplinary focus.She is an award winning, internationally trained lighting designer, graduating with a Masters in Lighting Design from PARSONS, New York. A recipient of the EDIDA Award for her Origami Lamp, she has nurtured her interest in bespoke product design. The genesis of this was her material explorations at J.J. College of Architecture where she graduated with Honors and went on to work with multiple architects on high-end residential and commercial projects. Tripti has been the recipient of the Michael Kalil Grant for her work on light and human perception. Tripti balances creative thinking with technical expertise, helping spaces come alive by bringing out the richness of materials, exaggerating scale and enhancing geometry through modulations of light and shadow.