Spectrum 2012 started with an idea of defying gravity. The theme “Udan khatola” was taken inorder to ascertain the free thinking NIFTians are known for. And the moment the theme was decided , ideas oozed out of everywhere.
Every department plays a major role in the festival . The fashion design department, leather design department, textile design department, accessory design department, and knitwear design department have their fashion shows. Each fashion show has its own theme. The themes decided for the departments this time were:
“Levitas” : leather design
“Wingardium leviosa” : textile design
“Onboard” : fashion design
“Anway Arway” : knitwear design
“Who” : accessory design
The MFM department had its event called “ super-management” which has events related to management skills.
The preparations started two weeks prior to the event. All the themes in some way had to be coordinated with the main theme which was” Udan Khatola” . The models for the fashion show are students themselves who audition for respective departments. Along with the seniors, the juniors also help the with the completion of the garments. The practice takes place in the amphitheater only.
All the branches have their unique installation outside their departments. The work on these installation is again supposed to be done by students only. Everyone has their own way of expressing their department. For the very first time, FP( foundation programme) or First years also had their installation. The posters of the events that were supposed to take place were also put up everywhere.
The fashion communication department is responsible for the logo designs. Starting from back staging to designing posters for the events , they take care of the technical aspects of the festival.
The college decoration is also an important part of the festival, which again is the responsibility of the students. Other than the fashion show and events, there were dance performances and skits too by students. 
These two weeks are very busy as everyone has a role to play in the event and nobody is left out.All this is carefully guided by the faculties who along with giving full freedom to creativity provide direction. All finances are handled by NIFT.
But somehow students always find a way to have fun in all this work. Every department had unique badges, including the Foundation Programme made by the students which they proudly carry all coming days of the festival. With all the hard work done , everyone gets ready for the most awaited event of the year, SPECTRUM 2012.
Everything around us is a composition. From the leaves of a tree to a building, it all made up of few basic elements. These elements are line, shape, texture and color. Elements of design is one of the very important subjects covered in the foundation programme at all design colleges. Its relevance is to make students see the basics behind everything as it is the vocabulary through which a designer can communicate with the viewer.
One of the first exercise that students work are with DOTS. One can explore compositions consisting of dots followed by explorations on lines and shapes. A point or dot is the most basic element in design. The line which is the track between two points can take different forms such as straight line or curve. It can represent motion and mood. Shapes define space and it helps establishing balance between negative and positive.
Gestalt’s laws is another topic that helps to understand the principles of design. Also termed as the design rules they help a designer guide his expressions. This covers proximity, similarity, closure and continuity. Its basically how we perceive a composition with the help of the four laws. Figure and ground also is a major part of perceiving an object. It helps us distinguish an object from another in a composition. Rhythm and balance are also crucial.
Texture is the feel of the object. It can be both visual texture or physical texture. The exercises could include to create textures on paper through various methods including making impressions through different material and texture through salt, bleach, wax etc.
Color is a major part of the whole design process. Color decides the mood and gives life to the composition. First year studies in design schools include the primary, secondary and tertiary colors, tints and shades, textures through colors and pixilation. Right from mixing colors to color application. One really interesting exercise is the mood board in which one could pick a color and make a collage through visuals that describes the color. You would also be doing various color schemes.
One needs to pay attention to this subject as it is a core subject and is evaluated almost on a daily basis, also it develops in us a sense of a better design which excels in all areas and communicates on a higher level with the viewer. All great designs had the simplest ideas behind them, so basics are the way to go.
So, after a month of hard labor and no sleep, the new students at NIFT New Delhi campus finally caught the sight of NIFT fresher’s week. It is a big deal in the campus as it is the time for the junior-senior interaction. 
Juniors exhibit their talents through various events organized for them and in the end Mr. and Miss fresher is selected based on their performances in these events.
The theme for the first day was superheroes. One could see the all sorts of superheroes coming alive from comic books, movies and what not. 
Hulk, Superman, Batman, Wonderwoman, Catwoman, fantastic fours etc roamed around the campus in an amazing spree.
The second theme was Circus which had a lot of participants. Clowns, jugglers, ballerinas, ringmasters, dwarfs etc made the day really colorful. The whole college looked like some kinda fair and was only missing on the big rides and circus tents. The event started 6:00PM onwards where they were supposed to perform which was judged by the seniors.
After that came the big day of the fresher’s party. This day also witnessed the HT fresh face by Hindustan times that happened in the campus. There were a lot of quizzes and the winner of the fresh face was decided based on that. There were a lot of participants in this too who gave amazing performances. From mimicry to balancing a guitar on the chin, various talents were recognized.
Everyone also got free refreshment coupons from the canteen. The official fresher’s party was inside the college premises. There was awesome music and everybody danced their shoes off. 
Some of the teachers also joined in. it was all great. After the official party got over some people also went for the after party happening in the Hotel Ashoka. Not many people went because of a little expensive entry tickets and late timings.
On the whole the fresher’s week was a total blast. Everybody refreshed them selves after four hectic weeks. It was definitely worth remembering.
