More than three decades after graduating from IDC, Sheetal Paknikar returned to his alma mater to address the Class of 2026 as Chief Guest at the IDC School of Design Convocation.

For Sheetal Paknikar, Founder & CEO of Seven Twenty Ten Network, the occasion was more than a convocation. It was a moment of coming full circle.

In 1993, he stood among the graduating students at IDC. Thirty-three years later, he returned to the same institution to stand at the podium and address a new generation of designers.

As he remarked during his address, “Life has come full circle as I have walked from the audience to this podium in 30+ years.”

From an uncertain beginning to a 33-year design journey

Paknikar’s own journey after IDC did not begin with an easy transition into the industry. Despite his postgraduate degree, he did not clear any of the campus interviews he appeared for.

His first break came unexpectedly at a production house in Juhu, where he was asked if he could work with animation software he had never used. He initially lost the opportunity, but a fellow IDC designer taught him the software over five nights. He returned, took the test and got the job.

The experience shaped one of his enduring lessons: a degree is a foundation, but designers must continually understand, learn and adapt to what the industry needs.

Over the next three decades, that approach took him across animation, publication design, infographics, CGI and VFX, television, films and advertising.

Eventually, after several professional stints, he decided to take another risk and build something of his own.

That decision led to the creation of Seven Twenty Ten in July 2010—a collaborative network built around professionals and subject-matter experts from diverse backgrounds, with trust, collaboration and accountability at its core.

Seven words for a designer’s journey

Speaking to the graduating students, Paknikar looked beyond careers and job titles to the broader role of designers in society.

He shared seven words that have shaped his own outlook:

Dependence. Solitude. Pattern. Transience. Speed. Creation. Perspective.

From recognising the power of collaboration and solitude to questioning our obsession with speed and asking whether designers truly create or simply recreate, his reflections encouraged the graduating class to look beyond the obvious.

He also spoke about the rapidly changing design landscape, where technology, innovation and AI are transforming how products, services and experiences are conceived. But his message was not simply to chase the next technology. It was to consider how much more can genuinely be added to our lives and what responsibility designers have towards society.

A message for the Class of 2026

His final message was simple: remain curious, adaptable and engaged with the world.

“Let’s be agile, awake and compassionate,” he told the graduating designers, encouraging them to work to their strengths, address their shortcomings, embrace uncertainty and keep moving forward.

For someone returning to IDC after 33 years, the convocation was a reminder that a design education does not end with a degree. It continues through every new challenge, every failure, every collaboration and every opportunity to step into the unknown.

From the audience to the podium in 33 years. From an IDC graduate to Chief Guest. And from one generation of designers to the next.

The complete transcript of the convocation address is available here.