Mumbai-based Whistling Woods International (WWI) is a brainchild of multi-talented and critically acclaimed filmmaker, Mr. Subhash Ghai. WWI runs world-class undergraduate, postgraduate, and diploma programmes in Acting, Animation & Game Design, Cinematography, Direction, Editing, Producing, Production Design, Screenwriting, Sound Recording & Design, Visual Effects, Music Production & Composition, Media Management Studies, Fashion & Costume Design, Visual Communication Design, Event Management & Experiential Marketing and Sports & Esports Management. All the programmes are offered under an agreement with WWI’s university partner—Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development (RGNIYD), an Institute of National Importance.
“Our vision is to create a state-of-the-art academic institution that sets new standards of world-class education in film, communication, and creative arts”, shares Milindo Taid, HOD, WWI School of Design.
Cutting-Edge Programmes Aimed at Achieving Visual Design Excellence
At WWI, the four-year BDes programme in Visual Communication Design offers electives in Motion Design, Interaction Design, and Spatial/Environmental Design with a cross-cultural perspective in addition to the core of Graphic Design/Visual Design. The students of BDes receive additional instruction in universal design, deep ecology, and environmental perception.
Moreover, the programme strongly emphasizes on students receiving fundamental design foundational inputs from the first semester onward. This is followed by intense project-based semesters that lead to a professional design project completed in the eighth semester, under typical industry conditions. In the 2nd and 3rd years of the Visual Communication Design programme, electives of Spatial Design, Motion Design and Interaction Design are offered to the students, to account for the broad sweep of communication design needs that arise in contemporary societies, nationally and globally.
An Expert Team of Faculty
WWI’s faculty members comprise leading industry professionals & instructors coming from a rich academic background, being alumni from top rung design institutes in India and abroad. To support the professional development of its faculty, the premier institute conducts regular workshops and training sessions in teaching methodology, improvement, and specific subject matters. The faculty members are also given an opportunity to attend global seminars and conferences related to education and visual communication design.
Similarly, WWI encourages its staff to participate in various R&D projects on new & emerging media or educational teaching methodologies. The institute also provides financial assistance in the form of grants to its faculty to carry out their research projects along with infrastructural facilities available at the campus.
Nurturing Industry, Academia & Tech Collaborations
WWI’s Affiliations team works actively to collaborate with leading institutes, universities, and organisations worldwide to provide possibilities for students seeking international exposure and degree credentials. The institute has partnered with international universities for short and customised courses, workshops, shared library resources, and student and faculty exchanges.
In 2017, WWI collaborated with ECV (a leading Design School headquartered in Paris) to launch the one-of-a-kind, comprehensive four-year Bachelor’s in Visual Communication and Design programme. Furthermore, WWI’s academic affiliations give its students access to world-class centres of excellence in Australia, Europe, and North America. In addition, the institute has formed some significant technology partnerships with leading brands such as Sony, Reliance Jio, Insta 360, HP, Dolby Digital, Adobe, Kodak, GoPro, Fujifilm, Canon, etc. to deliver the best technology experience to its students.
Inspiring Innovation & Encouraging Creativity Right from the Beginning
Founded on an ethos of ‘Learning by Doing,’ students of WWI School of Design are given the freedom to think out of the box and engage proactively and productively with all individual and group learning activities. They also have unlimited access to all the R&D Labs WWI runs on campus as constituents, learners, and collaborators. Several workshops and masterclasses by professional visual communication designers and visiting experts & faculty from India and abroad round-up their learning.
Moreover, the final semester degree/thesis project is executed by each student as a young and competent design professional, who works under standard industry conditions. This is how WWI grooms its students in making them industry-ready.
Projects Based Curriculum Prepares the Students for their Entrepreneurial Journey
The School of Design at WWI has project-based semesters, wherein each semester incorporates a design project addressing real-world problems. The students have to frame the design challenge and pitch and defend the project in front of a jury comprising of leading industry experts. The live check/feedback from the industry keeps the projects industry-relevant. It hones the students’ abilities to take calculated entrepreneurial risks, addressing the larger mass market while keeping them poised to balance the commercial, aesthetic, and social impact goals of their designs.
Life in Campus
Being Asia’s premier film, communication, and creative arts institute, WWI offers students a holistic learning environment, emphasizing on the theoretical and practical sides of learning, equally. Students also get to work on practical projects, be it cutting-edge graphic design or assisting the institute with various events.
Regarding extra-curricular activities, WWI annually hosts events such as Celebrate Cinema, Inbox, WWCL and Inspiration, which become an idea exchange and social interaction platform for the students. Besides these, students of WWI get to follow their passion in the city of dreams, Mumbai, and soak in and get inspired by its culture.
A High Placement Record
The last two batches of the Visual Communication Design programme have witnessed a 100% placement post-graduation record. Some of the key recruiters were: Skechers, Pop Communications, Graphic Ink, Loud Mob Media, Blinctrip, Owled Media, Welspun Group, Cultivate Design Studio, and Evogue Media LLP.
Dealing with the Pandemic Times
Soon after the announcement of lockdowns, educational institutions all over India had to implement e-learning systems almost overnight. A premier institute such as WWI always had an edge with its state-of-the-art IT infrastructure for the delivery of learning content remotely. Hence, it was only a matter of timely activation in response to fulfilling the educational needs of its students during such unprecedented times.
Always being a step ahead in its approach, WWI has already made appropriate curricular revisions to include broader systems thinking within the design to address any other complex and unpredictable challenges that may arise in the future.
Roadmap Towards Building a Film, Communication & Creative Arts Oasis
With its well-established Mumbai campus, WWI looks forward to expanding its programme verticals and campuses. In light of this, the institute recently launched the School of Sports & Esports Management. Additionally, WWI is at various stages of establishing additional campuses both within India and outside, in partnership with governments & like-minded organisations, to establish more such schools that aren’t just a film institute but a communication & creative arts oasis. The institute’s ultimate dream is to have an institution that hones and promotes talent from the age group of 5 to 50.
“We want every creative person who wishes to make a career in this dynamic industry to go through top-quality education and be successful in what they do”, expresses Milindo Taid.
For More Info: https://www.whistlingwoods.net/