What Does a B.Des Student Actually Do? Studios, Projects, And Critiques Explained

Creative education in India is moving towards more practical learning. In the Union Budget 2026–27, the government proposed setting up content creator labs in 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges across India. (PIB) The Budget also noted that India’s design industry is expanding rapidly but continues to face a shortage of trained Indian designers. (Hindustan Times)

But if you are looking for a B.Des degree after Class 12, you may still wonder what students actually do every day. Is it mainly drawing? Are there normal lectures? What exactly is a studio? And why do design students keep talking about critiques and juries?

The answer is simple: B.Des learning is usually less about memorising one correct answer and more about creating, testing and improving ideas.

A design studio is one of the main learning spaces in a B.Des programme. It is where students take an idea from a rough thought to a proper design outcome.

A normal studio task may involve:

Students first study what needs to be designed and who will use it.

They collect references, make rough drawings and try different directions.

Depending on the specialisation, this could mean a prototype, garment, poster, furniture model, app screen or spatial layout.

The first solution is rarely treated as the final solution. Students keep improving it.

This means your table may sometimes look less like a normal classroom desk and more like a place full of sketches, paper, materials, laptops and half-finished ideas.

Projects teach something that a textbook alone cannot teach: what happens when an idea has to work in the real world.

For example, a product design student may have to create an object that is comfortable to use. A communication design student may need to make information easier to understand. An interior design student may have to consider movement, lighting, materials, and the needs of people using a space.

This is also why project work can take time. Students may research first, reject three ideas, develop another, make a model, and then discover that some part does not work.

That failure is not wasted work. It is often part of learning design.

A critique is when students show their work to faculty or reviewers and explain why they made particular design choices. A jury is usually a more formal version of this process.

Students may put their sketches, research, models or final output in front of reviewers and explain their thinking.

They can ask questions such as:

• Why did you choose this material?
• Who is this design for?
• What problem does it solve?
• Could this layout work better?

The purpose is not simply to tell a student that the design is good or bad. Useful criticism shows where the idea is weak and what needs more thinking.

Learning to explain your own work is important too. In professional design, having a good idea is not always enough. You should also be able to explain why the idea makes sense.

Imagine you design a chair that looks very attractive. During the critique, someone points out that its height may make it uncomfortable for the user.

You now have a choice. You can protect the original idea, or you can test the feedback and improve the chair.

This cycle of make, present, receive feedback and revise is an important part of design learning. Over time, students can become less attached to the first idea and more interested in finding a better idea.

Parul University’s current B.Des programmes include Communication Design, Product Design, User Experience and Interaction Design with AI, Fashion Design and Technology, and Interior and Furniture Design. The learning environment includes design studios and practical project work.

Some examples from Parul University’s documented student learning include:

Students can move from basic drawings and material boards towards larger models and more detailed projects.

Interior design students have worked with visits to actual spaces and project sites to understand materials, scale and user needs.

Product Design learning includes sketching, CAD modelling, prototyping and testing.

A 2026 Parul University design exhibition featured more than 300 student projects across different design areas.

So, students are not only learning what design means. They are repeatedly practising how a designer works.

You do not need to be the person who draws perfectly in every notebook.

You should, however, be comfortable with trying things again. Design work can involve long hours on one idea, sudden changes after feedback and projects where the answer is not given at the back of the book.

If that sounds interesting rather than irritating, B.Des may suit the way you like to learn.

Before applying, try one small design problem yourself. Redesign confusing food packaging, improve your study table, create a simple app screen or rethink a poster you see every day.

That question is often where a design student’s journey really begins.