And Pune is the perfect city to host such an event, as the city is not just a hub for IT, education and automobile industry, it has also established its position as a hotbed for designers with more than 40 professional design studios, 10 design institutes and several design teams within large IT and automotive corporations.

Since 2006, the Association of Designers of India (ADI), Pune Chapter, has been organising Pune Design Festival, a national-level conference with speakers and delegates from around the world. It is India's marquee design event curated by the design community to enhance the role of professional design practice.

“The festival will span across a week of concurrent events in the city. The two-day conference being our flagship, the week will also include Lexus Design Awards, hands-on workshops, visits to design studios, Design Expo, six parallel forums focused on topics such as branding, gaming and animation, interaction design and so on,” said Bala Mahajan, president, ADI, Pune Chapter.

The event will also be a celebration replete with more than 30 speakers across conference and forums for professionals, more than 10 workshops and open talks for design aspirants.

Talking about the highlights from earlier years, co-convenor Ashwini Deshpande said, “Our stage has been graced by Bunker Roy, Dadi Pudumji, Resul Pookutty, all Padmashree honoraries, internationally renowned design thinkers like John Thackara, Ashoka Awardees like Sonam Wangchuk, Kiran Bir Sethi and Swapneel Chaturvedi. While we are proud of our Pune lineage, we are an international design festival. We have had speakers from over 10 countries and professional delegates from Bangalore, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai and Jaipur, apart from Pune every year. Last year we also had media from Japan covering the festival. Attendees include professionals from design practice, industry, academia (60%) and students (40%).”

This year, Harish Bhat, Brand Custodian, Tata Group, will be a keynote speaker. Spaceship designer and space entrepreneur Dr Susmita Mohanty, celebrity photographer Joseph Radhik, experimental letterist Kriti Monga are some of the other speakers.

“Since ADI is a not-for-profit trust, we focus on being inclusive so that most number of attendees can benefit by our events. Pune Design Festival Conference and Forum passes have easy-on-pocket flexible options and the Design Expo is open to public for free,” Ashish Deshpande, president, ADI national executive committee, added.