Brief Setter for 2023-24: Kangan Arora

We are excited to announce that the Design Ventura 2023-24 brief setter is Kangan Arora, a South London-based designer specialising in textiles, though she has designed everything from websites to chocolate packaging!

Kangan works with and is inspired by communities across the world, from her students and colleagues at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, to her fellow creatives and design experts with whom she staged an exhibition in Japan in 2020. Her favourite source of inspiration is the rainbow of colours, geometries, and pattern applications of the Indian visual vernacular.

While her patterns are often abstract, Kangan is a designer, so her work is rooted in the practical – she constantly collects and experiments with different pigments and print processes. With so much to draw on it’s no surprise that she has designed a huge range of products including soft furnishings, acoustic panels, and socks. She has also worked with a variety of brands and institutions including TATE, Heal’s, Floor_Story, and IKEA.

Two things are central to Kangan Arora’s work: colour and community. That’s why this year’s Design Ventura brief asks you to draw on one or both of these themes when designing your product for the competition. Watch the video below to find out more about Kangan’s work and the Design Ventura brief:

Even though Kangan’s work covers a huge range of product types, she always has a unique and identifiable personal style. We suggest that for your own project, you start by thinking about how colour and community are present in your own life – this will ensure that your ideas are grounded and original. From here, we encourage you to unleash your creativity. Seek out other designers who incorporate colour and community in their work. You might be surprised how many different ways these themes can be incorporated!

Don’t forget to think about all aspects of your product: how it looks, feels, and functions. You could take inspiration from Kangan Arora’s portfolio of packaging and branding designs for ideas on how to present your product as it deserves, in a way that will appeal to your chosen target market.

Kangan is a lecturer at Central Saint Martins, which is part of the University of London, so she knows how to help students get creative. Watch the video below for some of her top tips when producing your design, from idea generation to final pitch:

We are thrilled to welcome Kangan Arora to Design Ventura this year. As well as setting your brief, she will be one of our expert judges, helping to choose this year’s winning idea at the Pitching Day in March 2024. We can’t wait to see your ideas!