The National Institute of Design (NID) is renowned for making noteworthy contributions to the field of leather crafts through the Jawaja Project in the 1970s. This was an iconic project that involved significant research culminating in an exhaustive documentation by pioneering faculty in the field of design education of the time-Ravi J. Matthai, Nilam Iyer, and Helena Perheentupa to name a few.

Simple Leather Products: A Step-by-Step Guide to Making Them is an instruction manual published by NID Press in 2017. Written by P. Rameshkumar, the process of making leather products forms the crux of this manual. The manual is written in pellucid language so that it can be easily read and understood by a vast section of readers. Photographs in the book facilitate a better comprehension of the varied techniques that are employed in the making of leather products. Craftspersons, students, and readers in general will find this an interesting read and it is hoped that this manual will inspire them to create their own repertoire of leather products.

P. RAMESHKUMAR works as an instructor at the Innovation Centre for Natural Fibre (ICNF) at the National Institute of Design (NID), Gandhinagar Campus. He joined NID in 1999 as a sample maker in the Apparel Design and Lifestyle Accessory Design disciplines. Prior to joining NID, he worked with leading export houses in Chennai for twelve years. The author has also been associated with the Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI), Chennai.

It was over the last eighteen years at NID that he developed a great interest in guiding and training people in their efforts towards making leather products. He has actively assisted students in developing complex products with precision finishing in addition to guiding them in pattern making, in construction of leather products, and in the demonstration of basic skills. He has also been a part of several training workshops across the country, each of which majorly focused on exploring leather as a material. This is his first publication.