Volume 5. Issue 12. December 2011 Rs. 25/-
THE
INSIDE TRACK CONNECTING THE DESIGN COMMUNITY Now view our web edition at www.theinsidetrack.in
Cover Story
O
ur recent chat with Mr. Pierre Yves Panis was an eye opener to say the least. The Vice President of Design and Art Direction at Legrand was on his first ever visit to India, and while there were still a few things he was getting used to, he was full of praise for what he had seen during his trip. Design is really integral to Legrand’s overall strategy. A clear indicator of its importance is the way the company is structured. Design at Legrand is part of their strategy department, a centrally located unit that does not belong to any other business cell but reports directly to the CEO. “My CEO says design is everyone’s business at Legrand,” beamed Mr. Pierre Yves Panis. The 70 year-old company believes in the mantra of ‘listen, design, make and support’ which has helped to create a global specialist in the electrical and digital building infrastructure with a presence in 180 countries and a turnover of 4 billion Euro. Having been at Legrand for the past 8 years and currently leading the design and art direction team at this conglomerate, Mr. Panis also got a chance to interact with members of the Indian Industrial design community during his visit. “I was in Pune last weekend for the opening of a design school, which had designers from both Mumbai and Pune visiting. But what I thought was very exciting was to see the work of young graduates and review their portfolios as well
“Design Is Everyone’s Business” The CEO of Legrand believes that design is everyone’s business and enforcing this mindset was Mr. Pierre Yves Panis, the Vice President of Design and Art Direction, who shared with us how important design really is at Legrand.
Mr. Pierre Yves Panis, the Vice President of Design and Art Direction was in India recently
as talk to them on their perspective of industrial design in India. To be very frank, I was astounded by the quality of the work I saw. Not just from the perspective of being able to execute, and by that I mean being able to do good form and function, but their ability to do observational work and ethnographic work,” he continued on page 2
The Arteor collection is designed with universal appeal and incorporates a unique iconography making it much easier to navigate and use