Five talented young Indian designers have been chosen as finalists for the **Futures Challenge 2025**. This competition asked them to imagine what “currency” could mean in the year **2050**. Their innovative ideas look beyond traditional money, exploring new ways we might define value in the future. The top three winners will be announced at the prestigious **DesignUp25** conference, held in **Bengaluru** from **November 3 to 5, 2025**.
The Futures Challenge is a major highlight of **DesignUp25**, India's leading conference for design and new ideas. This year, the challenge focused on the theme "**The Design Currency**." Participants were encouraged to think about what truly holds value in a world that is quickly changing. They moved past traditional definitions of money to consider important aspects like **trust**, **attention**, **care**, **energy**, and **memory** as potential new forms of currency.
In our modern world, we already see many things acting like currency. For example, our time and attention are valuable to social media companies. Similarly, trust is essential in online shopping. This challenge pushed designers to think even further, into a future where such abstract values could become the main way people exchange goods and services, or even show wealth.
Meet the Innovative Finalists
An expert international jury carefully reviewed all entries. This panel included top design leaders, creative directors, and innovation specialists. The jury was led by **Thomas Küber** and **Andreas Wegner** from Futur2 Studio, based in Berlin. These five young designers stood out with their bold and thoughtful concepts:
| Designer Name | Institution | Concept Name | Idea Summary |
| Kuldeep Singh | NID Bengaluru | Petcoin: The Future of Currency is Alive | This idea suggests that taking care of pets and contributing to the well-being of the community could become a new form of wealth. It proposes a system where kindness and care hold economic value. |
| Mrinmoy Deka | NID Bengaluru | Attention as Currency for 2050 | This concept explores how human focus and presence—like paying attention to something or someone—could be turned into a measurable and exchangeable form of value in the future. |
| Nandini Arora | IIT BHU | NOVACOIN – A Multi-Centered Currency | This thoughtful idea looks at how trust, good behavior, and data analysis might combine to create future digital token economies. It suggests a currency linked to a person's reputation and actions. |
| Ritwik Kar | IIT Jodhpur | The Dream Era | A very imaginative concept where people's dreams themselves become a new way to exchange things and connect with others. It proposes that shared experiences and aspirations could have economic weight. |
| Preksha Baid | Rishihood University | Wealth Measured in Life, Not Digits | This reflective idea suggests that human memories and life experiences, rather than just numbers in a bank account, could be used as a form of currency, redefining what it means to be "wealthy." |
These ideas show how deeply these young minds have thought about societal values and technological changes. Their concepts push the boundaries of what we currently understand as money and exchange.
About the DesignUp25 Conference
The **DesignUp25** conference is a highly anticipated event in the design community. It will bring together over **1000 attendees**, including many global design leaders. Representatives from world-renowned companies like **Adobe**, **Canva**, **JPMorgan Chase**, and **Netflix** will be present. This provides a great opportunity for young designers and students to learn from the best in the field.
The conference serves as a platform for discussions, workshops, and showcasing new ideas in design and technology. The announcement of the Futures Challenge winners will be a key moment, highlighting the innovative spirit of India's young talent.
**Jay Dutta**, who is the founder and curator of DesignUp, and also the Global Head of User Experience (UX) at Deutsche Bank, shared his thoughts on the challenge. He stated, "The Futures Challenge celebrates bold imagination. It asks how we might design value itself in a rapidly changing world." This quote underlines the competition's goal to inspire creative solutions for future challenges.
For more detailed information about the DesignUp25 conference and the Futures Challenge 2025, interested students and enthusiasts can visit the official website:https://25.designup.io/. This website offers full schedules, speaker lists, and more insights into the future of design and innovation.
