I-Mark: India’s new quality benchmark for design

New Delhi: The India Design Council launched a campaign Friday to foster awareness about good design in India by launching a quality benchmark - the I-Mark –a tag which, upon conferment, will denote good design in products, services, objects and works.

The 'I Mark' was unveiled by design icon Ritu Kumar, a senior member of the India Design Council, at the inauguration of the Japanese Good Design Exhibition at the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

The 'I-Mark' is a stylised motif which uses the alphabets 'I' and 'M' to denote the mark and has been designed by two young Pune-based designers. The leitmotif was chosen from 153 entries as part of a contest to design the logo.

The Indian Design Council plans to confer the marking on certain products, services, objects and works that conform to the process and standards set by it to 'define good in the concept of good design'.

'The objective of the I-Mark is to raise profile of Indian design, increase awareness of design to encourage students to study new design programmes. The award will also make entrepreneurs aware of ways in which design is integral to business planning,' said Pradyumna Vyas, member-secretary of the India Design Council.

'Since times immemorial, design and aesthetics have been vital to Indian mythology which has a dedicated god of design in Lord Visvakarma who built temples, palaces, temples and dams,' said Vyas, who is also the director of the Ahmedabad-based National School of Design.