Designing For Impact

Effecting social change is what moves Nirmala Nair, and she uses her training as a designer to reach the widest possible audience

Why did you choose to pursue design and how has it influenced your career?

NN: I used to do a lot of political street theater in Delhi, and had a deep sense of how art can change the world. The need to learn filmmaking rose out of the need to include films and technology to reach a larger audience. It took me six months to find my place at NID (where I pursued a Post Graduate Diploma in Visual Communication). Design Thinking was the course that shattered me. It challenged every belief and semblance of knowledge I thought I had, even while giving me a sense of purpose.

Though I did not use the process consciously till much later in my career, design thinking started acting as a solution to problems.

It took me a while to understand what design education meant to me. Everything from finding comfort in the unknown to exploring form to looking at things from different angles, to attention to detail – NID equipped me with the tools to work with. The ‘content’ of what I create was shaped by experiences in school, college and other things I did in life but it was NID that gave me the vision and tools to add a ‘form’ to it.

Why do you call yourself a ‘reluctant designer’?

NN: My journey of working on social change projects started at NID. The very nature of all the projects was such that I ended up donning multiple hats at all times. The first project was the feature length documentary India Untouched, exploring caste based discrimination in India. Starting out as a researcher, I went on to be the driver, conducted interviews, shot, and edited the documentary. There was never the luxury to call myself just the filmmaker.