Navin Kumar

"It doesn’t matter where you are coming from;
all that matters is where you are going."
- Brian Tracy

Navin’s journey began in the culturally rich city of Patna, Bihar, and has since evolved into a distinguished career shaped by purpose, resilience, and a deep commitment to creativity. He started his professional path as an instructor at the Triumphant Institute of Management Education (T.I.M.E.), mentoring MBA aspirants and setting the foundation for a life of impact.

A proud alumnus of the National Institute of Fashion Technology and the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, Navin blends creative insight with strategic foresight. His professional journey spans across industry-leading organizations like Titan, Hypercity Retail, and Future Group, where he has led transformative initiatives in Retail Experience Design, Visual merchandising, Brand experience, Customer experience and Business excellence.

What sets Navin apart is not just his understanding of retail and design but his ability to lead, inspire, and elevate. Whether mentoring future talent as a guest lecturer at NIFT or shaping regional and national campaigns, he brings clarity, conviction, and care to everything he does.

His thought leadership is also reflected in his writing. As a contributing voice on platforms like Retail4growth, he shares reflections on design thinking, consumer psychology, and the evolving dynamics of the retail landscape always with an aim to spark dialogue and drive innovation.

Navin’s contributions have been recognized with several honours, including a Jury Award from the CEO’s Innovation Awards, Gold Certification from TBExG (Tata Business Excellence Group), the Star Assessor Award at the Tata Group, Indian Couture award, Economic Times Retail Award, Dream Team award at Titan and Regional Excellence Awards.

Grounded in humility and driven by curiosity, he believes true leadership lies in empowering others. He often reminds those around him:

“Some people wish it to happen.
Some want it to happen.
Others make it happen.”

Navin chooses to be among those who make it happen with intention, imagination, and impact.

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My Book - Decoding the Visual Common Sense

The vision to achieve the business target is certainly the employee’s prime motive; however the priority to attain the figure varies at level considering people skillset and the business orientation according to their work profile. During the 12-plus years of my retail experience, I noticed that everyone at the top-middle-bottom level mysteriously had a design opinion; the aesthetic sense about product placement and all the more an understanding to lure customers entailing to higher conversion.

My initial belief slowly firmed up with growing years, meeting different people working at different organizations, observing art and architecture, visiting more than 120 cities nationally and internationally, and working with fellow colleagues at the front end. The belief substance became even stronger when I happened to work with vendors, artisans, craftsmen, weavers, potters, and many more that never happened to go to any design school yet had better visual common sense than the most profound designers of the trade.

To unclutter the differentiated thought, I decided to pen down my thoughts and found that it’s worth sharing with the larger audience who knowingly or unknowingly become the visual scapegoats.

Decoding the visual common sense talks about the visual influence on us, the reason why retailers use a different type of media and technology to promote their brands and products and the imaginative power that designers must possess to explore different ideas and thoughts.

This book also helps you understand the forward-thinking approach to imagine new ideas for products, the reason why developed countries clinch the top spot for the most innovative economy, the 7%-38%-55% communication rule, the golden steps to visual interpretation. This also answers the pertinent question, why certain brands achieve the milestone figure where others don’t, the many creative changes that brands would have undergone and many more.

I encourage budding designers, design aspirants, retail aspirants, retail and marketing professionals to read this book if they are innately curious, creative, and innovative and look forward to their creative success.

Navin Kumar

Retail Professional, Writer, Speaker

My Book - Decoding the Visual Common Sense

Decoding the Visual Common Sense

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