Interior intelligence

• Q: I want to be an interior designer. What is the eligibility and where is it taught?Tanhi Ghosal

• A: Although elements of interior design are covered in most of the bachelors of architecture (BArch) courses, the subject is also offered as a specialised course in a handful of architecture schools.

On a much wider scale, it is offered as a specialisation at the masters in architecture (MArch) level.

Other than these, courses are also offered at the BA and BSc level. In fact, even diploma-level courses are offered in a lot of institutes and have quite a few takers.

Some of the institutes which you could look at include —

• National Institute of Fashion Design (NIFD), BD-32, Sector-1, Salt Lake City, Near Tank No 4, Calcutta, and at 20 A, Lindsay Street, 2nd floor, Calcutta. They offer a BSc degree in interior design affiliated to Annamalai University.

The course is of a duration of three years. They also offer an advance diploma in interior design. For additional information, log on to www.nifd.net.

• Shilpasadan, Visva Bharati, Shantiniketan, Birbhum, offers a diploma in interior design.

• Exterior Interior Private Limited, with its office at 8 Mullen Road, Calcutta, offers a diploma in interior design.

The duration of the course is one year and includes three months of CAD training. You can check out the details at www.exterior-interiors.com.

Students who complete this course can pursue a masters degree in interior design in the US after clearing the GRE, TOEFL and other relevant exams.

• Centre for Environment Planning and Technology, Ahmedabad (www.cept.ac.in/www.spcept.org), and Sir J.J. School of Art, Sir D.N. Road, Mumbai, are the other renowned institutes for interior design courses.

Passion for teaching

• Q: I want to pursue BEd through correspondence. Which are the UGC-recognised institutes offering this course?
Maya Kripalani

• A: Under the guidelines issued by the National Council for Teacher Education, only working teachers with a minimum of two years’ experience in a recognised school can enrol for BEd courses. All others must enrol in regular full-time programmes. So if you have the relevant work experience, you can check out the following universities that offer BEd through correspondence. All these courses are of two years’ duration.

• Indira Gandhi National Open University (contact your nearest IGNOU Regional Centre for details).

• Tripura University, Directorate of Distance Education, Agartala, Tripura.

Caution: Don’t fall prey to private institutes offering BEd courses.

Creativity needed to be a graphic designer

• Q : I want to pursue a career as a graphic artist in a publishing house. What does it entail and where is it offered in Calcutta?
Navin Kumar

• A: A key component of graphic design encompasses related disciplines such as calligraphy,
illustration, painting, animation, printing techniques, computer-aided design, etc.

More specialised as compared to those who major in fine arts, graphic designers (also called commercial artists) work not merely to satisfy their creative instincts but also to satisfy the client’s requirements.

Graphic design involves applying various forms of art to achieve a targeted commercial purpose. A graphic designer aims to create a visually stunning impact on the reader. This calls for a keen awareness of consumer trends and current marketing strategies.

The work ranges from formatting the text and pictures to designing ad posters, sales brochures, stationery, packaging material and POPs (point of purchase material). While drawing by hand remains highly prized, the computer has become an indispensable tool of the modern-day graphic designer. Most of the work in the art department is now executed using special designing software.

So look for the best multimedia and graphic design training package from a reputed institute. Increasingly, the better art colleges incorporate the basics of computer graphics and animation in their courses. As graphics software technology requires constant upgradation, make sure that you are trained to work on the latest versions. But remember, knowledge of computers and multimedia is a facilitator, not a substitute for designing skills.

Apart from having a keen aesthetic sensibility and an eye for detail, coupled with loads of creativity and imagination, you also need to be open-minded and flexible. You should also have the capacity to accept other people’s ideas and assimilate them into your work.

Graphic design is a specialisation offered in bachelors of fine, applied, visual arts and design courses at leading art colleges such as the Government College of Arts and Crafts, 28 J.L. Nehru Marg, Calcutta, Rabindra Bharati, Calcutta, Kala Bhavan, Visva Bharati, Santiniketan, etc.

While the courses at the bachelors level are of four years’ duration, the diploma courses offered by polytechnics and private institutes range from a few months to a couple of years.