The National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, will start an extreme design section (X- DES) to encourage breakthrough innovations from this year.

Darlie O Koshy, executive director, NID, said, "This new section will start functioning from this year and would provide a platform for creative innovations to people who don't find a place where their creativity could be moulded."

Talking about innovations, Koshy said toys and games design was a segment where dramatic innovations would take place.

"NID is focussing on toy design with an objective to enable design professionals to work on designing toys, play material, games and entertainment design," he added.

The gaming industry, which focuses on mobile phone games and video console gaming, is expanding. Game developer, level designer, 3D animator, technical artist, lighting technical director are some segments where the demand for professional designers is growing, said Koshy.

"Indian companies need to invest in design. We lag behind Europe, Korea and Japan [Images] as far as design innovation is concerned," he said. Koshy added that foreign companies were increasingly seeking the services of Indian designers.

On Indian companies' investments in product design, Koshy said there were few Indian companies which were investing in product design and 1 to 1.5 per cent of their turnover was spent on product development. In comparison, multinational companies invest heavily on product design.