Featured Speaker
Treading Lightly on Planet Earth
Jacob Mathew,
Founder Director and Chief Designer, IDIOM
Are China and India the new superpowers of the planet? The problem is that there may not be too much of planet left for that! India and Africa may not see the explosive growth of public infrastructure that China has seen in recent years, propelling consumption and development in possibly the largest shift of poor-to-prosperous the planet has ever seen. Design for development is going to have to be frugal on resources and big on ideas to be able to deliver.
Jacob Mathew & Idiom
Idiom has seen the nature of its business change from the business of design to the design of business, where a multidisciplinary design office combines design with business strategy. Idiom is one of the larger design firms in India (employing over 100 people), and one of the few that is truly multidisciplinary and holistic. It works in the area of business design that is inclusive, holistic, transformative, and can scale.
Projects range from branding and identity, to architecture, retail design, interior design and product design, as well as projects that bring several of these areas together. Idiom also takes design intelligence to business and educational institutions through Spread Design, its education initiative.
Jacob trained as a product designer but has had a ring side seat in the development of organized retail in India, having worked in the core team that led to Future group becoming the largest retailer in India. He has also been keenly interested in how organizations work and evolve into work cultures.
Currently, Jacob also leads the Design for Social Change initiative at Idiom and is part of a team that looks at bringing Design Intelligence, business strategy and capital together for developing the next wave of Indian entrepreneurs.
He is a part of the Confederation of Indian Industry's panel that advises on Design Policy and has co-founded several design-led enterprises such as The Design Store, and Dovetail Furniture. He serves on a number of boards for several enterprises, and advises several social ventures on strategic issues.
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