About
DesignX offers a Design Summer Camp for Kids & Teens that focuses on studio-style design learning. Students take part in hands-on studios such as Fashion Design, Soft Toy Design, Wood Toy Design, and Architecture, and some participants show their work in the DesignX Student Fashion Show.
• Ages: 5–18 years old
• Schedule: One-week design studio-style sessions throughout the summer
DesignX is a studio-based design education company serving youth across the San Francisco Bay Area, with studio-style design programs that enable students to think like designers, work with real materials, and work within real constraints. Each studio offers a hands-on design experience led by talented emerging designers, who guide students through every step of the process from ideation to completion. The curriculum introduces students to a range of design areas and grows in complexity as their skills deepen, and each summer, design graduates are selected to lead studios through the DesignX Fellowship.
DesignX exists to embolden each child’s unique creative voice through studio-style design programs where young people are taught to dream it, design it, and make it, working with real materials, real constraints, and thoughtful processes. The DesignX teaching team consists of a diverse group of up-and-coming talent from institutions including San Jose State, Stanford, UC Berkeley, USC, SFSU, Parsons, RISD, and others. The leadership team includes Founder and CEO Durga Kalavagunta, Brand Strategy Marketing, Media, Community and Partner Relations lead Richa Krishna, and Hope Patricia Daly.
DesignX began as an effort to bring studio-based design learning to K–12 students at a time when design was limited to higher education. In 2009, Durga Kalavagunta began creating the studio she wanted for her own children, and in 2017 she founded DesignX, which has since expanded, with curriculum and standards refined year after year.
DesignX reports having served more than 8,000 students, engaged 27 schools, delivered 541 programs, and developed 60 design educators. The organization partners with schools, community organizations, and educational institutions to bring design experiences to youth across the country, and the DesignX Student Fashion Show is hosted by State Street Market in Los Altos with hair and makeup by Halo Blow Dry Bar and specialty drinks by Murdoch's in Los Altos.
Parent feedback includes comments that DesignX is an “all-time favorite program” that “sparks curiosity and encourages creative thinking,” and one parent notes that their daughter is now pursuing Fashion Design at Parsons in New York City after being inspired at DesignX. Other parents report that their children ask to return each year, describe the teachers as skilled, encouraging, and dedicated to helping each child bring fashion creations to life, and mention that their children enjoyed making pieces such as a skirt at camp. Several parents note that their children came home enthusiastic about camp, talked about it, and asked to attend again in future summers.
Last updated March 22, 2026.
• Ages: 5–18 years old
• Schedule: One-week design studio-style sessions throughout the summer
DesignX is a studio-based design education company serving youth across the San Francisco Bay Area, with studio-style design programs that enable students to think like designers, work with real materials, and work within real constraints. Each studio offers a hands-on design experience led by talented emerging designers, who guide students through every step of the process from ideation to completion. The curriculum introduces students to a range of design areas and grows in complexity as their skills deepen, and each summer, design graduates are selected to lead studios through the DesignX Fellowship.
DesignX exists to embolden each child’s unique creative voice through studio-style design programs where young people are taught to dream it, design it, and make it, working with real materials, real constraints, and thoughtful processes. The DesignX teaching team consists of a diverse group of up-and-coming talent from institutions including San Jose State, Stanford, UC Berkeley, USC, SFSU, Parsons, RISD, and others. The leadership team includes Founder and CEO Durga Kalavagunta, Brand Strategy Marketing, Media, Community and Partner Relations lead Richa Krishna, and Hope Patricia Daly.
DesignX began as an effort to bring studio-based design learning to K–12 students at a time when design was limited to higher education. In 2009, Durga Kalavagunta began creating the studio she wanted for her own children, and in 2017 she founded DesignX, which has since expanded, with curriculum and standards refined year after year.
DesignX reports having served more than 8,000 students, engaged 27 schools, delivered 541 programs, and developed 60 design educators. The organization partners with schools, community organizations, and educational institutions to bring design experiences to youth across the country, and the DesignX Student Fashion Show is hosted by State Street Market in Los Altos with hair and makeup by Halo Blow Dry Bar and specialty drinks by Murdoch's in Los Altos.
Parent feedback includes comments that DesignX is an “all-time favorite program” that “sparks curiosity and encourages creative thinking,” and one parent notes that their daughter is now pursuing Fashion Design at Parsons in New York City after being inspired at DesignX. Other parents report that their children ask to return each year, describe the teachers as skilled, encouraging, and dedicated to helping each child bring fashion creations to life, and mention that their children enjoyed making pieces such as a skirt at camp. Several parents note that their children came home enthusiastic about camp, talked about it, and asked to attend again in future summers.
Last updated March 22, 2026.
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