IDeaz 2008 - Day 1

The key-note speaker Mr.Kenneth Leidler

"Interior designers are not decorators."
~Designer Kenneth Laidler. M.A, FRSA, President of the Association of Professional Interior Designers (APID).

After hosting 'Kreationz-Unlimited' successfully for the last three years, the Interior Design Department has decided to go a step forward by hosting a design conference titled 'IDeaz 2008'.

Audience at the conference

IDeaz 2008 began yesterday with speeches by the Director of Manipal University, Dr. B. Ramjee’s followed by Mr. Ashok Iyer, the Chairperson for the conference. "IDEAZ is truly a platform giving an opportunity for the young students to display their creativity on par with design professionals and consultants from the industry," he said. This was then followed by the unveiling of the publication, 'Ideaz' by the guest of honour - Kenneth Laidler, along with the heads of the other departments.

Unveiling of the publication - 'Ideaz'. From left: Mr. Kenneth Leidler, Dr. Mohd. Firoz (HOD of Media & Communications) , Dr. Shahul Hameed (HOD of Management Studies), Mr. Ashok Iyer (HOD of Interior Design).

Kenneth Laidler, the President of Kenneth Laidler Design FZ LLC and President of the Association of Professional Interior Designers (APID) then gave his own presentation on the differesnt aspects of interior designing, from what an interior designer does to what were the many perceptions that existed. He spoke from his own personal experience and connected with the audience by giving them a taste of real life situations and projects that he and his team had worked on.

He emphasized on the importance of being pratical in one's design and not just focusing on one's creativity. "Though most designers focus on being creative, remember to always be practical in your approach so that the design in itself will serve a purpose," he said.

This informative and insightful presentation was then followed by presentations that showcased the works of the students titled 'The trip down the memory lane’, presented by Ms. Shraddha and another concept-based presentation, titled 'Unity in Faith' by Rabia Sheikh.

Kenneth Laidler was then presented with a token of appreciation by the Chairperson, Mr. Ashok Iyer and Ms. Vidhya Rao, an Interior Design faculty. This token was personally designed by the students of the department.

Kenneth Leidler being presented with the token of appreciation.

The conference then moved on to it's second half with a product presenation by the well-known Al-Gurg OFIS Furniture, of the Easa- Saleh Al-Gurg group. Afterwhich, there were other presentations given by faculty and students which gave students a varied outlook into the different aspects of the profession.

The 1st day ended with students looking forward to the second day of the conference.