AT A GLANCE
Shiuli
Area of Practice:
Design for Social good, Furniture Design, Product Design, Design Anthropology
OVERVIEW
Shiuli is a trained furniture and product designer with a strong focus on social innovation and understanding contemporary contexts. With a background in furniture and product design, she has been invited to teach a variety of courses and projects based in design thinking, furniture design and product design, at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Shiuli is particularly interested in designing solutions that address today’s social and environmental challenges, and has worked on several projects that integrate design thinking with real-world issues.
In addition to academic roles, she has volunteered in capacity-building initiatives, leveraging design as a tool for social impact for positive community transformation. She is dedicated to exploring how design can transform communities by responding to the specific needs and contexts of today’s ever-evolving world.
Her parallel interest in travel and folklore, which informs her approach to design by blending modern techniques with age-old craftsmanship. This combination of interests helps her create work that bridges cultural traditions with innovative solutions for today’s world.
EDUCATION
PGD in Crafts and Design
Specialization in Furniture and Interior Products
Indian Institute of Crafts and Design|2004 – 2007
Bachelor in Information Technology| 2001-04
Higher National Diploma in Computing and Multimedia
Edexcel Foundation|UK |2001-02
WORK EXPERIENCE
- Faculty, Srishti Manipal Institute of Art Design and Technology, September 2024 – Present
- Art Educator and Design Consultant, Self Employed, November 2021 – August 2024, Dubai
- Guest Faculty, Dada Lakshmi Chand State University of Performing and Visual Arts, Rohtak, November 2020
- Faculty, Srishti Institute of Art Design and Technology, Bengaluru, June 2015 – January 2020
- Guest Faculty, Banasthali Vidyapeeth, Vanasthali, September 2013 – October 2013
- Guest Faculty, Indian Institute of Crafts and Design, Jaipur, February 2013 – May 2013
- Invited Academician, Heriot-Watt University, Scotland, March 2012
- Post Graduate Program Coordinator, Indian Institute of Crafts and Design, Jaipur, February 2010 – October 2012
- Assistant Professor, Indian Institute of Crafts and Design, Jaipur, February 2010 – October 2012
- Section Head, FabIndia Overseas Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru, October 2013 – June 2014
- Design Manager, TDW Furnitures Pvt Ltd, Ahmedabad, November 2008 – June 2009
- Interior Designer, Mobel Grace, Noida, June 2008 – September 2008
- Design Trainee (PG Thesis), Quetzel Designs India Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru, June 2007 – January 2008
- Design Intern, Vani Crafts, New Delhi , December 2006
- Design Intern, Kalasrushti, Srikalahasti, Andhra Pradesh, May 2006 – June 2006
- Design Consultant (Voluntary), Bowstring Trust, Jaipur, May 2022 – Present
- Design Consultant (Voluntary), Action Center for Transformation, Gurgaon, 2010 – 2018
INTEREST AREAS
Shiuli is deeply fascinated by the intersection of design thinking, traditional craft practices, and the evolving role of design in shaping our future. She believes that design is not only about creating functional objects, but about understanding context—historical, cultural, and societal—and using this knowledge to craft meaningful, sustainable solutions.
She is particularly interested in the conceptualization process, where the convergence of storytelling, craft, and technology results in design solutions that are not only aesthetically compelling but also socially and culturally relevant.
She has a strong interest in art education for children, focusing on fostering creative thinking and nurturing curiosity. Her approach encourages children to explore new ideas, question assumptions, and express themselves freely. By engaging with art, children develop a deeper sense of wonder, resilience, and the confidence to think beyond conventional boundaries.
CURRENT PRACTICE AT SRISHTI
Mark Making | Undergraduate Foundation Students| Process and Industry | Third year IADP students
TEACHING PORTFOLIO
- Workshop based in Geometry for Foundation students
- Student Work for the Pre-Thesis Project Tinker Thinker based on the concept of Play and Learning, targeting the age group of 7-11 years
- Pre-Thesis Project for the department of Industrial Arts and Design
- Practices based on reducing food wastage at various stages from farm to table
- Picture with the team of students who were part of the IADP Pre-Thesis project Tinker Thinker
CREATIVE PRACTICE & OUTREACH
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Furniture and Product DesignShiuli has been in freelancing, conceptualizing furniture and product design over the years. Her work on– Monograph on Gajanan Upadhyaya Furniture Designer, was published by TDW Furnitures Pvt Ltd, in the year 2009Shiuli along with her role as design manager, assisted in the making of monograph on Gajanan Upadhyaya. This gave her the opportunity to interact and learn from the man who shaped the Indian Furniture Design. She was entrusted to work on his hand drawings, writing and documenting stories behind each milestone he achieved. In this experience at the initial stage of her career, she learned the art of appreciation, interaction with materials and transitions.
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Design for Social Impact– Shiuli was actively associated with Action Center for Transformation, an NGO based in Gurgaon, where she along with the director initiated the program Kaagaz ke Pankh, and created a community of women artisans, through her up-cycled design with newspapers and skill development trainings. This work got noticed and published by various media houses, magazines like CreativeGaga.
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Her interest in traditional craft practices led her to travel, explore and interact with landscapes, understand social dynamics, demographic study, and study the impact of changing scenarios. In the span of last 17 years, she has had the opportunity to travel and interact with terracotta artisans of Pokharan, to meeting the artisans working in the languishing crafts of Comb making in interiors of Andhra Pradesh.She has been an Invited Speaker, Shilp Charcha, NIFT Bengaluru, 2015 and speak on Craft, Tradition and culture at DICRC, Space Making Bamboo Crafts Furniture, 2011
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In recent years, she has explored and enriched her learning in Art and Design Futures, by engaging in conversations with various artists and practitioners in national and international fairs, workshops and exhibitions.
