New Delhi based Surabhi Khanna is a reputed design and education workshop specialist but is equally passionate about being a toy and game designer.
Though she had never planned to be a design educator, Surabhi found an inspiration for own design workshops:

“I experienced that the combination of the 3Hs – hands, heart, head – is the foundation of learning with joy.”

‘Fill and Feel’ – refillable dry fruits, containers for gifts & play therapy

The play products created in her studio are usually inspired by heritage and learning through curiosity:

“‘Fill and Feel’ is a hand-embroidered textile play-gift product. One has to fill, feel and guess what is inside, then open it and eat all of the edible fill. Playing with natural textures is one of the best play therapies.”

‘Friendship Grip’ – a playful gift

“The workshops do wonders,”- she says. “For teachers, the focus is on pedagogy. They are taught to make playful products, especially toys which are culture, nature or tradition inspired. The next stage is story creations relating with dynamic movement and playfulness of the toy. For students, this leads to understanding of materials, mechanism, science and technology, story formation and creative expression.”

Creativity Workshop Exhibition at Nuremberg, Germany in March 2013

She believes that design education in the future would be much more multi-disciplinary and linked with design practice and practitioners:

“Design for industry will be one sector of specialization; design for social and community needs and design for special need groups hopefully will receive their due importance. Design also will be more active part of management programs.”

Read this story in POOL 56.

Tags: game design, New Delhi, POOL 56, Surabhi Khanna, toy design