Kavya Agarwal · Kaagazi Labs
A Pune-based Marwari designer who reads design through business, technology, and research.
A graduate of NID Ahmedabad & IIT Hyderabad with 15+ years of experience across academia and industry – I now teach, consult, and write about design as a civic capability that belongs to citizens, changemakers, and innovators, not just the design professionals.
“Never miss an opportunity to learn or educate.”
Professor MP Ranjan
Find me
Same gap, seen from every side.
I’m a transdisciplinary designer, educator, and researcher with 15+ years of experience building a bridge between design and India — between craft and technology, local cultures and global futures, and education and industry.I trained as a communication designer at NID Ahmedabad, and later did my M.Des at IIT Hyderabad, where I worked on building a design minor curriculum for engineering students.
At Kaagazi Labs, I work on Design Literacy — design understood as a distributed civic capability rather than a profession. I’m also the creator and editor of Design Futures India, a weekly signal-scan decoding India’s design, technology, and innovation landscape.
My work builds on the lineage I was trained in at NID Ahmedabad — the conviction, running from the institute’s founding through M.P. Ranjan’s work, that design belongs to India’s everyday life and not only to its institutions. I am continuing that spirit through my own practice, for a moment shaped by AI, digital systems, and a design profession that is growing faster than its reach.
With this work I hope to democratize design in India: to show that our crafts, frugal ingenuity, and cultural intelligence are not weaknesses but competitive advantages in the next innovation economy.
What I believe
Core principles behind my work:
01
Design is infrastructure, not only decoration.
Design in today’s world decides who can access, participate, and profit — long before anyone notices how something looks.
02
Capability is already there and distributed.
India doesn’t just need more professional designers but also citizens, innovators entreprenuers who can work with design.
03
Design a fundamental human act for innovation
If people can’t name a thing, they can’t question it. Clarity is how capability spreads.
Who I learn from
Mentors on this journey
A few people actively shape how I think and work through deep conversations, challenges, and leading by example.
Prof. Ashoke Chatterjee
Design education Advocate/
Ex- Director NID Ahmedabad
AC is the guiding light and inspiration behind this project.
Prof. Mookesh Patel
Professor Emeritus,
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
Mookesh provides deep insights and necessary pushbacks on my research writing.
Prof. Shilpa Das
Professor Interdisciplinary Studies, NID Ahmedabad
Shilpa helps me keep my writing grounded and groundbreaking at the same time.
Manali Mitra
Designer & Lego Serious PLay facilitator
Manali helps transform my ideas and concepts into powerful learning experiences
Let’s talk!
If this resonates, you can write to me.
A question, an insight, a project, or just say hi!