NID to go retail with designed products chain

You always wondered why well-designed daily-use products created by students "" and faculty members "" of the National Institute of Design (NID) were not available in the market.

You need not do so any longer. The NID itself has decided to retail the products through outlets branded 'Nidus'. Darlie O Koshy, executive director of NID, said Nidus has been set up to give the public a chance to take advantage of the creativity of the students and faculty of NID.

"The outlet will sell products ranging from animation films to shirts. The first goal is to get a feedback from the consumer. Depending on this, we could plan more such outlets," he said.

In the initial phase, Nidus would book orders and supply products.

Later the focus will shift to merchandising and vendor development in order to sell the designed products on a commercial scale.

The designs will range from classic to contemporary, said Koshy.

The first outlet, located in the Paldi area of Ahmedabad where NID has its lush green campus, would be the model followed elsewhere.

NID has also set up an advisory committee to work out the cost of the products and the royalty which the students or the faculty members would get for the designs and the products created by them.

Nidus will be managed by the National Institute of Design Employees Credit and Consumer Society Ltd. Even designs by incubatees -- there are four at present at the National Design Business Incubator -- at NID will be sold through Nidus.

Meantime, the institute has made some suggestions for the National Design Policy to be announced by ministry of commerce and industry shortly.

It has said there is a need for sustained promotional measures including the constitution of a steering group, an Indian mark for goods design (I-Mark), international expositions etc.