With young Urban India increasingly moving towards improved quality of life, luxurious spaces and interiors have become a norm, resulting in the Interior Design Industry of India, growing at a rapid pace. Being a country of 135 crore people, India is in dire need of designers who effectively and efficiently use the space given to them, and, in turn, convert blank spaces into something awesome. Also, considering the demand for talented designers and creative geniuses, interior designing has emerged as one of the booming career options for all. Thereby, colleges and institutions across the length and breadth of our country have started on an endless journey of giving back to society abled design experts, who can literally visualize and customize everything from design, decor, or the furniture. Furthermore, with so many transformations happening across all interior design parallels, it is evident that the domain of interior design is going to expand even more in the years to come.
Keeping the demand of creating design experts of tomorrow in the forefront, well in the pursuit of imparting Gold Standard Interior Design Education to all its students, Academy of Applied Arts strives as an exceptional educational hub in the process of ‘Transforming Design’. Started in the year 2010, promoting the holistic development of students at large, the design institute focuses on imparting the right amount of textbook knowledge, coupled with the right amount of worldly exposure.
Working with a completely industry-aligned curriculum and teaching, AAA is a classic example of how to impart in-depth practical design knowledge. Recognized by NIESBUD an autonomous institute under ‘Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Govt. of India’, Academy of Applied Arts is a leading single discipline institution for Interior Design. Excelling in the various fields of specializations such as Visual Merchandising, Retail Design, and Luxury Residential Design, a decade long experience of providing design solutions has converted AAA into a prestigious institution, which refines design knowledge and skills into commercially productive commodities.
Dedicated to design
Believing thoroughly in the concept that – “No institute is better than its teachers”, The Academy of Applied Arts preaches strong mentor-mentee relationships on its campus. Consisting of a few of the best design experts heading the parade of the faculty, every student is taught by at least 7 specialized teachers, depending on the course they choose from. The faculty members also involve themselves rigorously in working towards building a curated version of the teaching curriculum which is purely industry aligned, which would be required in building creative mindsets of its students. Relying heavily on the industry demands and trends, AAA works day in and day out, giving back to society employable individuals, who fill in the demand to supply ratio, in terms of the number of design experts needed by the Indian Society.
Giving applied arts education an all-new meaning, practical aspects of teaching/learning are nurtured at the academy. With every batch of students being assigned to one mentor, students find role models in their very own teachers. Guiding them & helping them on all fronts, be it personal talents or academic prowess, students learn to make the most of each opportunity thrown at them, absorbing all the required knowledge and expertise from their mentors. Also, with the same faculty members continuing to be a part of the team for more than over 5 years, an atmosphere of inclusivity is felt across all the corners of the academy.
Talking to us about the whole journey, which is The Academy of Applied Arts, Mr Avneet S Alag, the founder and the Director of AAA, touched upon all the aspects of working as an eminent place for quality design learning. He also spoke about how AAA was already well prepared with the feasibility of the medium shift in the way the teaching was imparted, adapting to the online medium without any hiccups. “The in-room teaching experience is definitely our choice, but we have seen the millennials who are joining our online batches are enjoying studying at the privacy of their homes and making the most of Virtual live classes.”, stated Mr Alag, about how the post-COVID world has moved on with life effortlessly, and so has the academy. Crediting the smooth shift to the already well-established ICT-infrastructure, a good team effort was seen across the online campus, working based on a strategic plan made.
Transforming towards the future
As we all know, Interior Design is a broad stream, thus, targeting the most in-demand areas of design expertise, the academy offers various specializations in the fields like Luxury Residential Design, Visual Merchandise, Furniture Design and so on. “Working towards creating a deeper understanding and giving students an edge in their respective domains, we offer courses from 6 months to 36 months, depending on the depth at which subjects are dealt with”, stated Mr Alag, during the conversation.
All the courses offered are professional diploma courses, along with which students are provided with a Government certificate through MSME. These courses include a Professional Diploma program and a Post Graduate Program in Interior Design. The academy also ventures into fast track courses, thus also hosting specialisation courses of 6 months duration which are Advanced Diploma in Visual Merchandising (ADVM), Advanced Diploma In Luxury Residential Design (ADLRD), Advanced Diploma in Furniture Design(ADFD), Advanced Diploma In Event & Exhibition Design(ADEED) and Foundation Diploma In Interior Design (FDID). Considering the importance of visual learning, AAA also offers a 15 months Virtual Learning Program in Interior Designing called Program in Interior Architecture and Styling.
Promoting a sense of community in all present on campus, the teaching approach at AAA makes sure that a thorough balance is maintained between theoretical and practical aspects of the industry. Pushing all of its students towards being expert achievers, and by using the impressive infrastructure and world-class amenities present on campus, students are trained towards outperforming, both, inside and outside their classrooms. From teaching students, the very basics of design to converting them into tomorrow’s design specialists, AAA is constantly creating evolving, dynamic individuals. The already existing impressive industry-academia relationship added to the whole advantage, helping students get the best of the industry knowledge and the best jobs/internships.
“Our ethos fits the student’s needs, whether they are a professional looking to acquire a new skill or credential, or, a design enthusiast seeking to nourish their passion in Interior Design”, stated Mr Avneet Alag, summing up the whole conversation, where we posed as budding design-experts trying to get answers to the most asked questions pertaining to the field of design learning. Lastly, being ranked one among the top design learning institutions of India, AAA helps budding interior and retail designers get equipped with skills which can open up several professional avenues for them, equipping them with the skill sets which will help them to thrive and succeed in the real world.
Mr Avneet S Alag, The Director
A thorough design expert and a popular name among top brands and esteemed clients, Avneet S Alag is the Director of the Academy of Applied Arts. Having begun his professional journey in the year 2004, he has seen the best of corporate and the academic viewpoints of design. With over 700 retail projects across product ranges, the students at AAA, consider him a role model, striving with the aim of making it large in the field of design. He practices and teaches visual merchandising and retail design at the Academy of Applied Arts, and evidently his expertise has helped numerous students to shape great careers for themselves in the field of retail and interior design. Last but not the least, his thought-provoking and out of the box ideas have helped in making Academy as one of the best design colleges in the country.