Abhimanyu Nohwar
Founder, Director
A Graduate in Product Design from the prestigious National Institute of Design (NID) Ahmedabad in 2002, Abhimanyu has worked across domains in areas ranging from industrial design, branding, and spaces to digital experiences, innovation, design policy and strategy.
He established Kiba Design in 2005 as a space to explore the impact of design on different aspects of life, and to build a broad range of knowledge and experience across domains to better inform design solutions for the future.
Abhimanyu has been a design educationist and advisor to several high-level national and international bodies, including XPrize, V-Must (Virtual Museum Transnational Network - a European network of excellence focused on virtual museums), and as Expert Advisor on Design Innovation at the National Innovation Council (2012-2014), Planning Commission, Government of India, where he wrote India’s new policy on Design Education.
He has won several awards and been featured in the press and in numerous publications, including as the cover feature in Pool magazine - India's only international design magazine. He has also been featured by Alliance Francaise Delhi as one of 20 outstanding designers under the age of 35.
Abhimanyu is a passionate golfer and is steadily working his way up to break 80.
The vision
Solve the big problems facing society
Imagine a better future and proactively create it
Enable change through collaboration and partnerships
Awards and Accolades
Finalist, Lexus Design Award India 2018// Finalist in the furniture and interior category for the design of the 'Jolly Rocker' - a rocking stool that introduces a sense of play for children and adults alike, while providing serious health benefits including posture correction and regulating autism.
Jury member for the James Dyson Award, India 2018// Abhimanyu was the designer on a three-member jury panel that included a design educator and an editor of a product magazine.
Top 10 Branding & Design agencies in India, 2017// Kiba Design was put on a list of Top 10 Branding Design agencies in India for the year 2017 by Kulzy, alongside the likes of Landor Associates and The Brand Union. https://www.kulzy.com/blog/789/best-branding-design-agencies-2017/
India Design Mark 2017 awarded to two products// The India Design Mark is the highest design standard awarded by the India Design Council. Two product designs by Kiba Design of the Adonia water heater (geyser) for Havells India Ltd were awarded the India Design Mark in 2017 in recognition of their design excellence.
Winner, Godrej Design Lab// Winner of Godrej Design Lab 2017 for the design of the 'Jolly Rocker' - a rocking stool that not only works for children, but also for adults as active work seating, and helps autistic children in regulating their mood.
Featured Designer - 20 under 35 - Design X Design// Abhimanyu was featured as one of 20 outstanding designers under the age of 35 to share design philosophies, methodologies, experience and future aspirations, through a showcase of my work. The exhibition ran throughout February 2015 at Gallerie Romain Rolland, Alliance Francaise de Delhi.
Cover Feature// Abhimanyu was the cover feature in Pool magazine's November 2014 issue, in which my work and professional philosophy was featured. Pool is a monthly design magazine that covers top Indian designers.
http://www.poolmagazine.in/pool-53/
Wrote Policy Document on Design Education for the Government of India, included in the 12th Five Year Plan, 2012// Abhimanyu’s proposal for the creation of an Open Design School and a social network for collaborative social change - the National Design Innovation Network, and for Design Innovation Centres attached to non-design educational institutions, was included in India's 12th Five Year Plan and presented to the President of India in 2012. It is since being implemented across India by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, and partner organisations like IIT Mumbai, NID Ahmedabad, et al.
Clients
Kiba works with some of the most visionary entrepreneurs and leading brands in the industry, in India and Internationally. Our clients range from startups to multinational corporations, non-profits and government.
Services
Listed here is a break up of some of our design activities. We work with many different types of creatives and related professionals and teams to bring comprehensive design-led solutions to our clients.
Engineering
Mechanical engineering for plastic and sheet metal products, digital and handheld devices, wearables in various materials and finishes.
Prototyping and batch production
Tooling and mould handover till mass production.
Selection of capable original device makers, pricing devices and tooling, setting up engineering and performance criteria
Product Design
Design research
Market study and trend analysis
Product and Brand strategy
CAD visualisation
Prototyping
User testing
New product development
Digital Design
User Experience design (UX)
Expert Review
Usability Analysis
Usability Design and Testing
Information Architecture
User Interface Design (UI)
E-commerce platforms
Mobile Apps
Educational/Research platforms
Enterprise software design
Development
Development - UI and backend
Infrastructure and hosting
Data and inventory
Payment gateway integration
Logistics integration
SEO and digital marketing
Interns and associates
Kiba has always been very selective with its internship program, and are proud to have mentored some brilliant young designers over the years.
Radhika Mantri Product Designer, Srishti School of Design
Siddharth Grover Product Designer, ISD Rubika, Pune
Sameer Dwivedi Sculptor, Benaras Hindu University
Aanchal Saxena Architect, Sir JJ College of Architecture
Ishaan Dass Product Designer, National Institute of Design
Shreya Prem Product Designer, ISD Rubika
Internships
We have a very selective Internship programme, and like to work with highly motivated design thinkers who are passionate about personal and professional growth, and are a positive influence in our professional and studio projects. If you are interested in working with us, send us a cover note along with your portfolio to jobs@kiba.design
We appreciate every application we receive, but due to the volume of applications it's hard to respond to every mail. If you are selected (and we have a position available at the time) we will contact you. To keep track of open positions, follow us on Instagram.