Hasta La Creative!

Can you

tell us about Inkbrushnme ?
Inkbrushnme actually originated in 2005 as my final year campaign project when I didn’t have a budget for photography and it required a lot of effort, models, locations. I didnt want to compromise on my creative thought process. Time was running out and our display was in 4/5 days. I could not sleep and during that sleepless night, I came up with the idea of making an ad campaign
on myself, a studio that creates illustrations. A concept like that never existed in our country as far as I knew. I created a few illustrations and on that night, some basic layouts and inkbrushnme was born. Those 4/5 days were one of the most productive days
of my entire life.

Later I went for a post grad to IDC, IIT B and soon after my studies a new life began.
A few years down the line, inky has been bouncing like a ping pong ball with a soul through various platforms related to Art, Design, Music & Entertainment. We develop projects which have a tremendous potential for exploring illustration to an extent no one has tried. We would like to illustrate on the moon if given a chance!

You are group/collective of illustrators, visual designers, animators. Can you name who all are there in your team and how do you work on projects?
We work in a collective culture where creators are committed to a particular assignment and the rest have their independent projects going on. The core members of this studio are just two. Kaustubh Kamat who joined forces early 2012. Kaustubh is a very good designer and has a lot of experience working on various platforms of print & web and then there is me. We have a team of independent guys whom we love to work with. We hunt for talent depending on the scope of a particular project. Every client needs a unique solution, so we explore talent that is vastly available and then collaborate towards a singular vision.

What experience your team has, if you could highlight individually?
We do not have super powers but every day is an experience. We believe in un learning every time we finish a project and start a new one. So the experience is forgotten as an ego and you are reborn with new energies and new zest. We use our past projects as learning experience to propel us even further.

What Inkbrushnme best at?
Our arena is illustration & visual design. I have been communicating through visuals, reading visuals, dreaming visuals talking visuals. That would be our nuclear reactor.

What Inkbrushnme bad at?
Diffusing that nuclear reactor!
Do you have office or people in team work from their choice of locations.
You cant constrain a creative energy. So the free spirit culture always exists. Artists thus work from the space they are comfortable in, what matters is the final product. As such ours is a mobile studio depending upon the location of the project and how much we are inspired by it. At the moment we operate out of walls painted by us in Pune!

How Inkbrushnme is different?
Hire us, you will come to know!
Tell us about your most acclaimed work projects?
We recently rebranded a real estate builder based in Pune and the campaign was very effective. We created a property – MadeInPune that celebrates achievements in and from Pune. A real estate campaign that explores & celebrates this city inside out was one of the most ambitious projects we undertook. I consider MadeinPune as an acclimation for its outreach and possibilities in which are exploring this campaign. We are in a way branding this city, celebrating micro brands, food, festivals, world class achievements in technology, health, art, science, etc.
Tell us about your recent campaigns?
RushHrs is a chain QSRs in Pune. They serve yummy food but needed more visibility so as to stand confident in their
competition. We approached their problem in various ways and looked at using illustration throughout their
communication. We designed their restaurant while creating a unique style for their brand. Visual guidelines were
created. Since the idea of RushHrs originated from a chaotic yet beautiful culture of our metros, multiple strategies were
nailed for their communication.
Tell us about Shahrukh, pepsodent comic and how idea had come to your teams mind.
The idea wasnt ours, Lowe Lintas approached us for this project that they wanted to explore Pappu & Papa campaign
through comic books that’ll get distributed through their toothpastes. Arguably, the largest number of comic books ever distributed in India with a minimum circulation of 15 lac units. We had 3 simple stories and 3 comic books were created over a span of a
month or two. This initiative received a fabulous response.
What credentials are required to be part of your team?
One simply needs to have a strong visual sense, a unique approach of looking at life and most importantly a very powerful skill set for illustration.
Your Book moon, Ramu and I, won Darshana national award. What makes this book so special?
Illustrated books or comic books are by far my most favorite projects! I am a director, art director, actor for a story given to me to visualize and illustrate. All creative controls are in my hands and I just have to unleash. This book was a product of pure love & labour. There is no grid for this book. The story flows as thoughts flow, uncontrolled. I wanted kids to hold this book in all possible angles, directions and come back to this book and explore some more. The art has lot of details which werent required but as a storyteller, one needs to make the story so interesting that after a few years that story should come back to a reader naturally. They way one remembers Suppandi. Or even Ek Titli – the animated video.

How you see Inkbrushnme growing and what will be its future in next 5 years?
We want Inky to be known as a highly specified conceptual illustration & design studio from India.
How you make payments to team, Do they get salaries or it is project based fee?
They become partners and share a decided percentage. We believe in all creators and the efforts of every contributor deserves a share than a salary.
Your take on Desicreative’s initiative of promoting Indian creatives ?
Your network is wide spread. You must have a collective gathering and should organize design/art/illustration/typography seminars or festivals to educate budding talent. Thankyou!

Harsh can be contacted via his website here.

Vinay Daniel an Electrical engineer by education but a concept artist and digital painter by passion; Currently working with an animation company in Bangalore as a 3D Lighting and Compositing artist. He has been artistic as a child and has continued working towards it each day. He creates digital art of surreal worlds and intense characters that build through the use of Photoshop. Vinay’s worlds intertwine the elements of fantasy, adventure and science fiction that have been assembled and put down to visuals. When he is not drawing, he likes to spend his time bird watching, nature travels, watching movies and listening to music.
When I was asked to choose a profession, I took up Electrical Engineering. 4 years of my life was the best time spent exploring various things in life. Art being one of it and something that molded everything I am today.
A vital part of my life growing up has always been Art and its influences. Colors beckoned me to experiment what I could do. I have constantly been involved and interested in different artworks; be it poster color painting or canvas painting. I watched and learnt from various people I have come across in the walk of my life. I am still learning and exploring all aspects of my creative thoughts and capabilities. I am currently working as a 3D professional for an animation studio in Bangalore.

Why are you an Illustrator?
Why not? Illustrator, Concept Artist, Artist… different words all connecting art. Art is in everything and anything you see. So why not do something I would love? An artist is like the protagonist and the audience to his own work. An Artist has a very broad spectrum to explore and understand. A role of an artist is never defined. It changes, grows and evolves every passing day.
Digital painting is fun and interesting, yet very serious business all at the same time. For me, this stream of art gives me a high, an elevation with endless freedom of infinite nights of doodling and scribbling. Painting requires the bravery of solitude, it requires disciplined labor. To be a painter is to search the world with a benevolent eye for every subtle beauty that the infinite world offers.

Did you attend school for fine art or design?
No, self taught and learning from artists from all walks of life.

You have a distinct style of illustration. How long did it take you to develop your style?
Much of my art is Digital, so I work on a computer for it and I use the software Photoshop as a medium to display my train of thoughts and colors. The freedom a computer gives is you have options of adding a lot of layers and levels to your artwork, which in real is a bit difficult to get. It sort of gives you a freedom to paint, but denies you the complete feeling of getting your hands dirty, which is also a lot of fun, but I prefer it this way. The crayons and pencils are replaced by the Wacom tablet and pen. It becomes your best friend and more like an extension of your fingers when you venture into Digital painting or Concept Art. Well, I have been working on this style for about 1 – 2 years now; I hope to get better at it each day.

Were there any particular role models for you when you grew up?
Yes! All artists inspire you. From music to painters to concept artists; as my professional clan is fondly referred to. There are several artists I learn from each day with every work they do. There is always a signature style they use in their artworks, which intrigues me. I dint know much about digital art as a kid, but I liked the paintings without even knowing the artist’s names. But now I try to follow them. My mentors and great influences in Concept art would be Justin Coro Kauffman, David Levy and Ryan Church; I also admire the works of Frank Frazetta.

Who was the most influential personality on your career in Illustrations?
All artists inspire me! From musicians to canvas painters to concept artists; everyone inspires you at various points in life. These are the people that influence your hands and mind.

What made you decide to become a freelance illustrator? When did you start freelancing? Do you illustrate for advertising? Are many advertising agencies getting illustrations made these days? Do you work more with agencies or publishers?
I am not a freelance illustrator. I am a full time professional at an animation company in Bangalore who works on various animation projects. I am open to freelancing and working with advertising studios if the project interests me though.

Was there any time when you wanted to quit Illustrations?
No. Once you get into it, this question doesn’t exist anymore.

Have you considered turning your illustrations into graphic novels?
I do intend on publishing this into a book, but it’s a long process which I am working on build on.

Any other Indian Illustrators who you admire?
Dhilip Kumar Somesh and Neville D’souza

Do you have any favorite fellow illustrators or resources relating to your fields?
I am always on a healthy dose of looking into the internet era of digital painters who I can look upto. Hence, it has always been Android Jones, Feng Zhu, Dylan Cole and Daniel Dociu amongst many others

You have such a wide experience as a top working professional. What advice do you have for aspiring creative professionals? Would you advise them to take on Illustration as a career option? Is it paying well enough?
Art is the way you see it! It’s what your mind can visualize it to be. Being an artist is always about the ability to guide and teach yourself, to recreate something you have imagined or dreamt about. It is quite complex and not an easy task to get that going. It’s like handling an alter ego and making sure he is doing exactly what you want him to. See, that’s like talking crazy! All artists need to be insane enough to stay inspired to be able to do this for a living or even personal works too, no offense! You form and manage to make art flow because you want to see it! You want your eyes to believe what your mind is imagining. So, focus, research, paint as much as you can. An artist, who paints often, is just like a poet; with extremely good hand and eye co ordination.
In concept art, only one thing counts: What you do next! Illustration is decent paying. But the irony still lies in people trying to get it for cheaper rather than appreciate the effort and creativity behind it. But I believe if you create the need to be well paid, you will get it.

Mac or PC?
PC

Who would you like to take out for dinner?
Scarlett Johansson

What’s on your iPod?
AC DC, Rage against the machine and Pink Floyd!!!

Why are you into Advertising?
One strong reason could be that it’s not rocket science.
Because I hated Physics even though I took science stream to please my parents, neighbours and pretty girls who thought arts stream was a waste bin for rejected rouges.
Somewhere I think God silently guides you to where you want to go.

And then coming from a defense back ground, I didn’t want to wear uniforms, bother about haircuts, and salute somebody only because of seniority and rather than out of respect or the persons’ merit.

From the very beginning I knew what I was good at and more importantly, what I was not good at.
Once I even asked my mathematics teacher where we would be using calculus in real life and all she said was, it’s in the syllabus, so just pay attention.

I used to sketch and paint well; I used to write poems from a very young age and was very active on stage as well. So the only place I thought where I could utilize all my talents without sacrificing or compromising on another talent would be advertising.

And I am one of those few lucky people who get paid for having fun with my hobbies.
I eat, drink, make merry and money.

And believe me, it’s been a wonderful journey so far.

Did you attend school for fine art or design or Communications??
I was not fortunate enough to get into an Art College, even though I tried my luck 3 times .
For Chandigarh College of Art. Three years in a row but didn’t get beyond shortlist.
Then I used my writer’s card to get an entry into the world of advertising.
And kept painting to keep the hobby alive.

But then life teaches you so many wonderful lessons, and if you are an honest student, you can excel on your own, and without having a certificate from an institution.

Tell us about your most recent campaign?
The last campaign that I did for McCann was for PSI, Population Services International for EDP (Early Detection Of Pregnancy) which went on air last week.

It’s all about empowering women and giving them the right to live their life on their own terms without compromising on their freedom. It’s about how life can still be in their control even after they miss a chance in life.

Were there any particular role models for you when you grew up?
There were not one but many. From Sunil Gavaskar, Ian Bothom, Vivian Richards, Steffi Graff, Martina Navratilova, Amitabh Bachhan, Imran khan, Rajani and Lalitaji(The TV Stars), Alyque Padamsee,  Michel Jackson, Mohammad Ali, Maradona, Carl Lewis, Satyajit Ray,Spielberg, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Mohanlal, PT Usha  to Safdar Hashmi to name a few.

Role models are ones who you look up to and motivate you through their perseverance, performance and personality.
You would not want to be what they are but you love them for their passion and dedication towards their goal.

Who was the most influential personality on your career in Advertising???
I would like to specially mention Raghu Bhat, whom I met in the beginning of my career some 16 years back in Delhi Clarion. He has been a friend, philosopher and guide throughout.
I also worked with Raghu–Manish at McCann, Mumbai.
Then Kaustav Niyogi (Kosty),  from McCann Delhi under whom I worked for 2 years,
and of course Prasoon Joshi who is an institution in himself, with whom I worked for 7 years.

Where do you get your inspiration from???
Inspiration comes in many forms, from many directions.
Your eyes, your nose, your ears are all receivers. You have to keep them alert every time.
Nature, Culture, Religion, Life, Art, People, Silence, Organism, Space they all inspire me.
Advertising should be a product of everything that you are surrounded with.
A reflection of the society. A projection of insights.
An exaggeration of beautiful thoughts.

Do you have any kind of a program to nurture and train young talent?
The best way to nurture and train young talent is to guide them on a daily basis, while you are still working with them.
Because nurturing cannot be a 4 day program. The lessons from a workshop end where they take place if it is not carried back to the cubicles and cabins.
And whoever come to be for any guidance or help, I extend my whole hearted cooperation.
I want to meet them like the good people I met during my struggling days rather than like people who found faults and discouraged me.

Tell us something about the McCann Environment.
Rich and Lively. It was a privilege to work under the leadership of Prasoon Joshi. The environment was always brimming with brilliant ideas with young and energetic team around. Out there, there was a thin line between strategic and creative thinking and everyone worked as a team rather than different departments.

Tell us about your biggest challenge as the Creative Director.
To assemble and build a team that is more like a family.
To motivate them, inspire them, console them and nurture them like a gardener.
To make sure that there is no scope for mediocrity, and not to tolerate indiscipline.
Give the freedom to make mistakes so that what you finally arrive at is a piece of gem.

To decipher a brief and explain it to the team in the most sensible and uncomplicated manner so that they can focus their mind to come up with the right solution rather than getting trapped in the web of jargons.
Then guide them in ideation to execution.
To identify the right spark and then convert it to a bushfire.

Tell us about your 1st job as a Creative Director in advertising.
It’s very tough thing because when you are working on so many brands at the same time , there are no firsts…as they don’t happen in a chronological manner. But I remember my major work as a Creative Director was on Onida, where we decided to bid goodbye to the Devil that was associated with the brand for around 20 years and repositioned the brand.

Do you think brands whose advertising wins awards, do well in the market?
Of course, they do. Because the jury who decides the awards, are the same people who would have spent their entire life creating big brands and they probably won’t go wrong. They look at the merit of the idea and not just the execution.
In fact it’s the brand that does well in the market win awards.
Obviously, it also varies from awards to awards. There are effectiveness awards, creative awards and media awards. And every award has its own criteria.
I would say a brand doing well in the market by itself is an award.

What advice do you have for aspiring creative professionals??
Advertising is a serious business, and it is great fun if you understand the seriousness involved. It’s a 24/7 job. If you are not addicted, passionate, ready to meet deadlines as if you’re meeting your lover, love working under pressure as if playing angry birds sitting on your pot, if you can’t take rejections in your stride and bounce back,  you should stay away.

Not every piece of work you come up with will end up as landmark campaign. Many will go straight to the bins and very few see the light of the day. So, think that every time you fall in love in the day, it might just end up as a one night stand.
So enjoy those few moments before getting dumped.
Learn to enjoy the journey and you will realize that it takes many short journeys before you arrive at the destination.

Would you like to tell us something about your upcoming campaigns?
Right now I’m on a sabbatical. Just finished working on a script for a feature film and it’ll go on floor in September. It’s a romantic comedy

Who would you like to take out for dinner?
I would have liked to take Mother Teresa out for dinner. She would have taught me how much to consume without wasting food while there are lakhs of  children going to bed empty stomach every night. A dinner over an enlightening conversation.

But that would be after I have had lunch with Penelope Cruz

What’s on your iPod?
For me music is freedom. And I can enjoy music only if it is mixed with pure air, float in the fragrance of my surroundings, and blend with the ambience before touching my soul.  I don’t like it trapped in a wire and getting stuffed into my ears.
My iPod Touch is for my daughter to play games. To keep her away from the imported Chinese cartoon characters.

Mac or PC??
It’s what I do with them makes a Mac or a PC, what they are.  Content is king and they are just electronic slaves. I’m happy with either or neither. I need them when I want them.

Kunel hails from New Delhi, India. He works in advertising. And like every art director, he shares the burden of being a great photographer, illustrator and artist. He is a non-drinker, non smoker and hence very non-advertising, which is why at times he thinks he should just stick to becoming a film maker. That’s because he’s ok with coke overdose (He also owns a tshirt brand called Cocaine – for which he just directed his first film titled “This is cocaine”). While some may think he has lost it, he believes he hasn’t even found it yet.

Why are you into Advertising?
I have no idea. Maybe because it has a mix of everything in it, and I like that. Advertising uses you in every way it can, which is a good thing if you do have a lot to offer.

Did you attend school for fine art or design or Communications?
I attended a 3 year course in Advertising and Graphic design from WLCI. Ten years back it did seem like a better idea than going for an engineering school when you didn’t want to become an engineer.

Were there any particular role models for you when you grew up?
I’ve always had role models but they keep changing cos the things that inspire me to do them keep changing, and since I’m still growing I’d say it’s a good thing. Though, nerds who drop out of school to become billionaires are a constant favorite.

Who was the most influential personality on your career in Advertising?
Erik Vervroegen.

Where do you get your inspiration from?
Life. Art. Coffee. Sex. Shopping. Movies. Music. Theatre. Gaming. Travel. Autorickshaws. Internet. Chandni Chowk. Seniors. Juniors. Coffee table books. Spirituality books. Porn clips. Exhibitions. Television shows. Chai. Biscuit. Dreams. Newspapers. All in the same breath and not necessarily in that order.

Tell us something about the JWT, work environment. With such a large team, how does that affect individuality and creativity.
It affects a lot, in a good way. A large team means more ideas being discussed around you, which only makes for that much more exposure. There’s a lot happening here everyday, a lot of things change yet a lot of them remain the same every other morning. Some of our brands are constantly trying to shift things around, even if it means taking risks to give way to edgier ideas. And these are global brands who have always followed their western offices for communication strategies in this market, and failed. They realized that the world has now changed to the extent that the west is no longer the only key-bearer to the future of advertising, in fact they’re confused about the next step and are looking here for a direction. It’s good to see that while some clients may take a little longer to step up their act, most have understood that there isn’t any other way. And to be the one showing that way is quite something. This is what we try everyday, fail at times and then try again the next day.

What do you think of the state of Print advertising right now. At least here in India, the released work is most often too sad? Are agencies ignoring released print?
Not at all, but the readers are ignoring it for sure. Agencies actually spend a lot more time on print than TV and surround put together. The thing is, I haven’t seen a more passionate marketing manager than the one who’s responsible for converting a perfectly clean brief into a bullshit press campaign. They are few, but they are there. I would be happy if the released work was in fact sad, in the literal meaning of it. At least it would make someone cry and we could play on that to sell our product. Print is itself an emotionless medium and therefore needs more push than usual to stand out.

Do you think brands who’s advertising wins awards, do well in the market?
Depends on the brand. Depends on the market and depends on the advertising idea. Some brands with a really great advertising idea that won everything in India and abroad, fail to sell anything in the market. Sometimes an ok idea sells the entire stock cos maybe the brand didn’t a winning idea. It’s too subjective.

What advice do you have for aspiring creative professionals?
Do what you love. You’ll live longer.

Mac or PC?
Mac.

Who would you like to take out for dinner?
Emily Browning. Goddess and hollywood actress.

What’s on your iPod?
Pink Floyd.

The ‘Cocaine’ film that Kunel directed.

Drawer of quirky, colourful stuff.
Incorrigible daydreamer, crazy about desserts, laughs a lot, thinks of herself as a modern-day Alice (in Wonderland).
An all-or-nothing person.

Why are you an Illustrator?
All through a timeline that included a Bachelor’s Degree in Medical Electronics, an IT job, a course in animation, learning graphic design through self-study and some half-baked ventures, there was one thing I kept coming back to – illustration. So, illustration it is!

Did you attend school for fine art or design?
No, I learnt through self-study – books, free online tutorials, blogs etc. Not having a degree in any of the art-related fields, held me back mentally when I started out. Now I see it as an advantage, because I’ve realized that I have never been cut out for any kind of classroom learning. So I have been able to do things my way – be it learning or creating.

You have a distinct style of illustration. How long did it take you to develop your style?
If I do have a distinct style (I am not sure if I do), I made no effort to develop it. I just drew. But since the last year or so, after I started putting up my work online, I’ve been seeing my thought processes and my work in a new light altogether.

Were there any particular role models for you when you grew up?
Growing up, my mother and her never-say-die attitude have had a huge impact on me. Also, in recent years, I’ve been influenced a great deal by Hugh Macleod or rather, his cartoons. His work says so much in so few words – it has made a huge impact on all aspects of my life.

Who was the most influential personality on your career in Illustrations?
I would have to say Gemma Correll, an illustrator of illustrations from Norwich, UK.
Her illustrations are so witty and brilliant. The tiniest of elements/characters in her work have so much personality – it’s hard not to love them. Also, the amount of work she has accomplished is simply amazing.

Have you worked for advertising campaigns? When did you start freelancing?
No, I haven’t. I started freelancing in August 2010.

Are many advertising agencies getting illustrations made these days? Do you work more with agencies or publishers?
As of now, I’ve worked mainly with individuals, startups and small teams. So far, I like that approach.

Was there any time when you wanted to quit Illustrations?
Not at all, but there are times when I wish I had more time to work on self-initiated projects, in addition to implementing the ideas of others.

Have you considered turning your illustrations into toys?
Not really, not as of now.

Any other Indian Illustrators who you admire?
I am still discovering so many wonderful ones every week, I am yet to pick a favourite.
But I really like the work done by Pencil Sauce Studio.

Do you have any favorite fellow illustrators or resources relating to your fields?
That list could well turn out to be never-ending. But, as I said, Gemma Correll is my favourite illustrator. Other illustrators whose work I love are Chris Leavens, Gaia Bordicchia and Melanie Matthews.

You have such a wide experience as a top working professional. What advice do you have for aspiring creative professionals? Would you advise them to take on Illustration as a career option? Is it paying well enough?
Based on my personal experience, this is what I’ve to say:
•    Keep at it because it’s what you love to do best.
•    Be ready for a lot of hard work – not just in working on your craft, but also
in promoting it just as actively.
•    Create the perfect personal space (physically and mentally), where the world cannot reach you. This makes a huge impact on your thought process and creativity.
•    Remember you have a life “offline”.

As for telling people about illustration as a career option, I would say that depends on the strength of one’s interest in it and personal priorities. Finances are always a tricky thing in a creative, subjective field like this. But if it’s a labour of love, nothing else really matters.
Practically speaking, one can always take up a temporary job till one finds a strong foothold in the industry.

Tell us something of your personal projects (The Fiction Project etc)
In December 2010, I discovered a bunch of colourful drawings on someone’s Facebook wall. They were part of The Sketchbook Project 2011. I was instantly interested in participating. Unfortunately, the deadline for that was over and I ended up participating in The Fiction Project instead. It was a fun, highly satisfying creative experience. Here is a link to my notebook from that project.

This year, I finally got to participate in The Sketchbook Project. The digitized version of my notebook should be available on my website soon.

What is your dream project?
My dream project is one that involves a blank sheet of paper, a theme as a starting point and a free hand. The Sketchbook Project and The Fiction Project have been all that and more.

Who would you like to take out for dinner?
J. K. Rowling

What’s on your iPod?
Mainly oldies (both English and Hindi) and a few favourite new tracks that keep changing.

Mac or PC?
Mac.

Born in 1975 Chennai. Spent 8 years growing up in Africa. Returned to Chennai in 1985. Learnt to play the mridangam for 3 years. Acted in 27 full fledged theatre productions. Joined advertising in Dec 1995 as an intern. Did six years between Chennai Bangalore learning to be a copywriter. Worked in Y&R Dubai for 3 years from 2001-2004. Worked in Ogilvy Bangalore for 3 years. Started Happy in 2007 with Praveen Das. Love movies, music, design and pop art. Moonlight as a stand up comedian as The HigherIyer Show.

?Why are you into Advertising??
Cos it’s the only place you get to use your creative muscles with every medium that’s exists. I also get bored easily, so it helps to keep focusing on different brands with different needs. But I didn’t know any of this when I started my career. Actually I loved commercials and asked someone who ‘thought’ of them. Someone said the agency and I decided I would learn to be a copywriter. It took me 5 years to realize what I actually wanted to do was direct ad films. Hopefully I’ll get there some day.

?Did you attend school for fine art or design or Communications??
Did my bachelors in visual communications at Loyola College, Chennai (1993-1996)
Tell us about your recent work campaign??The most popular is the Flipkart – No kidding. No worries. – campaign. Am particularly proud of it cos it was good advertising packed with the perfect dash of creative punch. It was not only great fun working with kids on the campaign. It resulted in 800% growth for the clients business. Add to that, that it was rated among the top 5 recalled campaigns of 2011.

?Were there any particular role models for you when you grew up??
Walt Disney. Bill Cosby. Pink Floyd. Richard Pryor. Al Pacino. Quinten Tarantino. Steve Jobs.

?Who was the most influential personality on your career in Advertising?
Shahir Zag. He continues to influence me even today.

?Where do you get your inspiration from?
Music. Movies. Video Games. Typography. Fashion. Stand up comedy. Life.

Do you have any kind of a program to nurture and train young talent??
While we try to meet once in six months to work as a group and nuture team building, I don’t think we have a structured program to impart. We have a culture that we try to live by and people pick up from that.
?Tell us something about the ‘Happy’ Environment.
Its a high energy zone. Some people feel naturally drawn to this energy and tend to become part of it exuding their own into the environment. For some its over bearing, and they leave. We have people from very different backgrounds. The love for all things cool and awesome brings us together for sure. The power of appreciation, sigh.
?Tell us about your biggest challenge as the Creative Director of Happy…
Defining that role is the biggest challenge.
?Tell us about your 1st work as a creative director in the field of advertising.
The A R Rahman campaign for worldspace satellite radio, done at Ogilvy & Mather in 2006. Technically I was only ACD then, but I would say that was my first role as a CD from being there and seeing the campaign through from conception to release.
?Pick and tell us about one of all your past campaigns, your personal favourite…
The Flipkart – No kidding. No worries. campaign and the Lee Never Wasted bag design from the recent past.
What do you think of the state of Print advertising right now. At least here in India, the released work is most often too sad??
One can say unreasonable cost of print media has contributed to this. No budget for production – so headline and clipart (read as graphic elements). Add to this a large percentage of unimaginative people in our industry.
?Do you think brands who’s advertising wins awards, do well in the market??
For sure. The biggest ideas that win awards, in the biggest award shows are all real work. And that’s how they become the biggest brands.
?What advice do you have for aspiring creative professionals??
Only now you have the energy to work hard and party harder. Make sure you work hard, too.
?Who would you like to take out for dinner??
Add the-hottest-actress-in-your-head-name here. Hey we like the same girl. Awesome! High five.
What’s on your iPod?
All kinds of music.

Mac or PC?
Its like asking someone to choose between a bandra boy and Priyanka Chopra. But in this case – Mac.

I am a complete Puneri (Pune-ite) at heart. I completely represent the Pune cult. I inherit my art from my family. My dad, Mr Sadanand Chandekar, is a recognised stage artist from Marathi theatre. My mom, though not involved in theatre professionally, is a connoisseur of music and theatre. As such, I see my art deeply rooted in my family background.??

Why are you into Advertising?
It is one thing to create art from one’s own inspirations and muses. It is quite another to delve into somebody else’s mindspace, get a glimpse of their mindset and thought processes and then create art that’ll click with them, appeal to them. In advertising, the ‘consumer’ is my inspiration. The consumer is my critic and my best friend. I like the challenge of creating ideas and concepts, that come from a very specific insight of the consumer.
My mind does not see advertising as a marketing activity or a sales promotion drive. As an artist, I perceive advertising as my canvas. It’s the media on which I paint. And then the painting works its magic!
Advertising provides me with the variety and spice that I need to keep living. It is my opinion that if one has talent, in advertising, sky is the limit for developing one’s artistic pursuits. And at this point in my career, I see a field of challenges and opportunities just waiting for me.

 ?Did you attend school for fine art or design or Communications?
Yes, I attended Abhinav Kala Mahavidyalay, Pune. I majored in the applied arts faculty.
?Tell us about  your recent work campaign?
I currently work with Ogilvy & Mather, in their experiential and rural marketing vertical, called OgilvyAction. I think that my work is another step in my education as an artist. The experience I’ve gained in O&M has further strengthened my art philosophy. Like I said before, the insights I’ve gained into the consumer’s mind, have given my art a new identity.
Recently I undertook a campaign for Hindustan Unilever Ltd., for their soap Lifebuoy. The brief was to develop a campaign to explain the importance of washing hands with soap to pregnant women.

Were there any particular role models for you when you grew up?
Speaking frankly – I do not see anybody as my role model. The pursuit of excellence and the constant endeavour to further my capabilities as an artist, are the 2 things that drive me.
 ?Who was the most influential personality on your career in Advertising?
Fortunately I have the chance to work with creative and industry-leading masterminds like Mr. Rajkumar Za,  Mr Sameer Gupte and Mr Vipul Salvi. These are names on the frontier of the industry today. I respect and admire them for their professional dedication, understanding of the advertising art and the effective manifestation of their artistic ideas.
The creative teams in agencies are made up of two halfs of art and copy. My work is what it is, of course  because of my copy partner Saisuresh Murthy.
?Where do you get your inspiration from?
Contrary to popular belief, inspiration does not necessarily have to come from only the extraordinary. My inspiration comes from ‘the ordinary’. From the many a things that come to us by default. In the course of my interplay with society, as a professional and as a private citizen; normal events, ‘day-to-day’ happenings tend take on a different and unexpected form. Forms that you never would or could imagine. My art, my inspiration is not alien to my society. In fact, it stems from it. My art is the manifestation of my life experiences. Alec Padmsee’s autobiography ‘Doublelife’ inspired me to step into this field. Reading it was really a wonderful experience.

Tell us something about the O&M  environment.
O&M, of course is well known for the healthy atmosphere it provides in which healthy creative minds thrive. The agency believes in meritocracy and thus attention is given to creating a competitive and informal environment. This way, I can concentrate more on my work.

Tell us about your 1st work as an art director in the field of advertising
My first campaign as art director is called Khushiyon ki Doli. It is a Unilever campaign. I will always remember this campaign for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity it gave me to work on almost 15 different FMCG brands at one time. The challenge was come develop a direct to consumer rural communication module, which would deliver multi-brand customised messages to the rural audience at their doorstep.

What do you think of the state of Print advertising right now. At least?here in India, the released work is most often too sad?
I think that the quality of content published in any media (including literature), is the result of equilibrium of two equal and opposing forces. On one hand, the need of the authors, or copy/art teams, to give better and newer creative inputs, is constantly pushing its limits. On the other hand, the awareness and readiness level of the audience for which this content is intended, continually limits the extent of creative liberties that the publishers can take.

Even today, in the age of digital and virtual media, the daily morning newspaper at the time of breakfast still remains an indispensable part of our day. As long as the readers will keep on opening that newspaper or magazine in the morning, the medium of Print advertising will continue to exist. And thus we, the ones who create the printed creative content, need to keep on pursuing excellence, even in this media.

Do you think brands who’s advertising wins awards, do well in the market??
This is a classic question. And the answer is very simple. Very broadly, there are two types of awards in advertising. Creative excellence awards and effectiveness awards. The former celebrate excellence of creativity in the content published, and the latter celebrate the effectiveness of the published content in achieving the desired results.

In my work, I pursue effective creativity. It is my belief, that a ‘creative ad’, that does not achieve its effectiveness targets is only half the work done. Clients do not select their agencies to make creative ads. They select their agencies to make effective ads that may also be creative.
?What advice do you have for aspiring creative professionals?
The creation in itself is blissful. the professions where creative activities go on enrich your life quality.it becomes a pleasure journey than mere many earning whereas I have to state that when u knw that the money is everything the creative profession brings you heaven to live with

Who would you like to take out for dinner?
See I am a bit choosy regarding whom I ask out for dinner. So if you insist, I will ask only Mamta Kulkarni. Wink!

What’s on your iPod?
Nitin Sawney, Karsh Kale and Prem Joshua

Your upcoming campaigns if any?
Confidential. You’ll know them when you’ll see them.

Mac or PC?
Mac!

After completing my graduation in visual communication in Chennai, I headed to Delhi to work for a fashion design company, to design tee shirts for prints for their US & Europe markets. Soon, I got interested in trend spotting and later I moved on to become a fashion trend analyst. This I would do for four years until my love for advertising pulled me Back to Chennai ( I used to freelance copy while I was in Delhi). One MG was started by my friend and classmate Nishant, when he asked me to join One MG as the creative head, I jumped at that opportunity. It’s been 3 years I have been working here as the creative head along with Nishant.

Why are you into Advertising?
Right from my collage days, I have been enamoured by ability of some visuals and text to lure masses into doing irrational things, things that they are so proud of it, but would have never done it if they hadn’t seen the ad or promotion. I have always wondered as a kid, what would I do when the giant gulab jamun and the poori would drop, in the old Sundrop oil commercial, that fascinated me, probably the reason why am here.

Did you attend school for fine art or design or Communications?
I have a graduation in visual communication from SRM institute.

Tell us about  your recent work campaign.
One of the recent works that we did was for a restaurant called La Shaakahari. As the name suggest the restaurant was a completely vegetarian restaurant. We found out the greatest problem for vegetarian dinners in chennai was the choice of platter available to them. La Shaakahari which offered vegetarian world cuisine was a right fit. We developed the campaign revolving around a vegetarian’s mind trip. A fantasy land where everything was vegetarian and delicious. Where they had the choice, that they never previously had. We used 3d and matt painting to create this fantasy world, where cheese blocks formed Taj Mahal and other veggies and desserts found themselves as fountains and ponds and many more.
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus was a great inspiration for us, we tried imitating a lot of colors and frames from there. Our art director Mr Thirmaran and our illustrator Mr Deepak deserve all the credit.

Were there any particular role models for you when you grew up?
In college we were fed a lot of Ogilvy and Trevor Beattie and automatically they became my icons.

Who was the most influential personality on your career in Advertising?
My love for advertising always made sure that I hang around with people in advertising, even when I was not part of this industry. I think the awe they instilled in me has got me thus far. I really owe to my friends.

Where do you get your inspiration from?
Well that could be from any where. From the music I hear to the movies that I watch. This question really doesn’t have a definite answer.

Do you have any kind of a program to nurture and train young talent?
We don’t have a program, but we consistently take in trainees and and get them involved in work.

Tell us something about the One MG environment.
One MG or One Mind Group is really a conglomeration of people from different backgrounds coming together to do some amazing work in communication design. That in itself makes this environment thirsty for innovation in all aspects of what we do. The greed to be different, drives us to have as much fun possible we a small but vibrant team. We celebrated our 4th anniversary this January.

Tell us about your biggest challenge as the Creative Director of One MG…
Often creative work and client needs are two different tangents, syncing both together has been the single biggest challenge.

Tell us about your 1st work as a Creative Director.
My first work was a website for  a management consulting firm, BrainStorm consulting based in Chennai. They were then a bunch of young entrepreneurs entering the consulting space- an industry flooded with veterans and an industry that sneered young blood. Our brief was to make this as their strong suit. Four years hence, they have grown exponentially now.

Pick and tell us about one of all your past campaigns, your personal favourite…
Couple of years back we ran this campaign for a Tex-Mex restaurant- Texas Fiesta, called GET TEX MEXMERIZED. A series of illustration ads where the protagonist is living dangerously In a wild west environment and he’s unaware of his dangers as he bites into a delicacy from Texas Fiesta. The campaign got us and the client a lot of eyeballs and apperception.

What do you think of the state of Print advertising right now. At least here in India, the released work is most often too sad?
Well to be honest, your agencies’ work is only as good as your client. If you have good clients who appreciate good work, then you have your task cut out. Numbers are good to rely on, but it can never preempt a possible awe inspiring campaign. It’s the case with all creatives, not just print.

Do you think brands who’s advertising wins awards, do well in the market?
Well they can, as long as they are in sync with the brand needs. Ads for the sake of awards can never do well, but ads intended to do well in the market and done creatively enough to win awards, definitely are a win.

What advice do you have for aspiring creative professionals?
Intern. Intern. Intern.

Your upcoming campaigns if any?
We are working on a campaign for Spa based in Chennai called Medora, you’ll see the campaign soon…

Who would you like to take out for dinner?
I guess Chitrangada Singh… one hottie…

What’s on your iPod?
Coldplay, Incubus, Greenday… alternative rock mostly.

Mac or PC?
PC for Digital, Mac for print.

?A Mechanical Engineer from REC Warangal (now NIT Warangal). 42 years old. Grey beard and a bald head. Meet Hari Prasad. Creative Director, Trikaal Advertising, Hyderabad.

?Why are you into Advertising??
By accident. Post engineering I was looking at various options – from journalism to an MBA to the UPSC to film editing to direction and having tried all of them for various periods of time, struck upon copywriting which I loved enough to stay put. And so hence, I guess it answers why I am into advertising.

?Did you attend school for fine art or design or Communications??No.??Were there any particular role models for you when you grew up?
Not really.

Who was the most influential personality on your career in Advertising??
Can’t really think of anyone in a personal interaction sense.

??Where do you get your inspiration from?
I guess that’s an impossible question to answer. All inspiration derives from the deep rooted unconscious, the conscious, the forgotten knowledge accumulated, the unforgotten knowledge acquired and of course the way you bring all of that to solve a communication problem.??Tell us something about the work environment at Trikaal Advertising…?It’s a mix of the professional and the casual.

Do you have any kind of a program to nurture and train young talent??
Nothing structured but we encourage anyone to call any time and have a discussion on any subject.??Tell us about your biggest challenge as the Creative Director of Trikaal…? Nurturing young talent would be the biggest challenge. The thing is I look for people who are self motivated and enquiring. These are qualities that are difficult to nurture and I try to grapple with them – specially with people who I think have promise.

?What about new and young film makers/photographers? Do you consciously?keep looking for newer talent and try someone completely new??
Yes.

?What do you think of the state of Print advertising right now. At least? here in India, the released work is most often too sad? Why do you think ?it  has lost the shine? Why are the younger lot more interested in TV??
A new medium is always more interesting then the earlier one. Having said that one should note that most audiences are also shifting from print to TV, hence it should not be surprising that we see more professionals shifting to it. This is the supply-demand answer.

?More and more young people are web savvy and want to work on the internet?or on more entrepreneurial ventures. Has that affected the quality of?people advertising has been getting??
Yes. It does, but is it unhealthy? I guess for advertising the answer will be yes but for the whole world in a broader sense it is a positive.

Do you think brands whose advertising wins awards, do well in the market??
I will answer this with a question. Do you think individuals who get the top marks and accolades in school do well later in life?

??What advice do you have for aspiring creative professionals??
Aspire. And aspire for more. Just back up your aspirations with true hard work rather than long hair or tattoos.

What is your dream project?
Advertising/promoting free market economics as an alternative ideology to socialism (thank god, communism is dead). To that add promoting innovation and entrepreneurship as a desirable trait.

Mac or PC?
Macbook Pro as laptop. PC as dektop.

?Who would you like to take out for dinner??
Alex Bogusky, Matt Ridley and Donald J. Boudreaux to discuss my dream project.

?What’s on your iPod??
129 GB to list. Exactly right now it is 1Q84 by Murakami intercepted with the music of James Blake which will change in a day or two.

The work:

Case Sheet For Apollo 5ive | Year: 2009

The Challenge
Apollo – the super specialty hospital was celebrating its 25th year of completion. Taking this occasion as an opportunity they planned to come out with a service for high net worth individuals which they were losing to smaller hospitals. The issues were involved were as below.

High net worth individuals (specially their family members) did not see any special privilege or service when they came to the hospital. They were treated like any other patients and because of that high net worth patients started moving to smaller hospitals where they received better attention. Of course they would come to Apollo for extremely important surgeries or treatments as the hospital had doctors, surgeons and equipment that the other hospitals could not match.
Specifically in the case of cosmetic related treatments Apollo saw that it was not getting patients because of lack of individualized attention and also privacy.
To tackle this they decided to form a team that would be dedicated only to serving high net worth patients where the service would take care of everything in an almost instant manner with a special menu, special rooms, the best of nurses and a doctor available at the nursing station 24 X 7 plus a registration process that would be instantaneous where the patients/customers need not fill forms but just need to sign etc.
This was the start point of our involvement.

The Solution

After a series of discussions and brainstorming sessions we came to a conclusion that this exercise needed to be just more than a communication as we are not just dealing with high net worth individual (who like a film star or a sports star or a top business man) can be recognized but his family members cannot be.
Hence it was decided that we need to create a card and whoever carries the card will be given the premium service. Additionally as this was a one-to-one gifting/marketing exercise, we could create an exclusive phone number which could be fed into their mobiles as a speed dial number.
A lot of brainstorming later the whole concept crystallized as a package in itself.
The name of 5ive for the card.
“5” as the number which would be the speed dial number fed in to the customer’s mobile
A concept which would communicate the service and one which was “smart” to make the customer feel better about himself and feel exclusive for being “chosen” to be gifted the 5ive card. The receiver was called a “5iver” and “5iver” was defined as a person who leveraged the four elements of nature and made something out of them to benefit the world.
The card and the service was a huge success so much in fact that there were people who felt bad that they were not “chosen”. And many people wanted the card and approached the hospital with references and recommendations.

Case Sheet For IIIrd i | Year: 2002

The Challenge: The client (a new photography studio) had a budget which was extremely limited and he wanted just a one day presence in the newspapers.

The Solution

Any solution had to take into account the limited budget.
It also had to take into account that it would be a single ad.
It had also take into account that it should not just be creative but it should also look creative (a little like “justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done”).
It should also be a creative that allowed it to become a poster which he could put up at multiple places almost at zero cost.
The ad we developed is as below.

Case Sheet For Seranova | Year: 2000

The Challenge: There were multiple challenges that we needed to address with a large scale campaign that would run across the country. Summarized as below.

The first thing was that the internet was new and there was talk of all this “eCommerce Revolution”.
We needed to position Seranova as a company in this space which by then was undefined or unknown territory to many people.
There were large consulting companies like Mckinsey, Delloite, Anderson (now Accenture) etc who were talking and producing papers on this new marketspace.
The challenge was also to get professionals interested in this company from an “employment” perspective as well as clients interested from a “business” perspective.

The Solution

After a series of discussions and brainstorming we came to the conclusion that as it is a new space there is no point in talking about how good we were in the IT space and what our strengths were etc.
We also wanted to delineate the new company from Intelligroup which was by then a well known company of which Seranova was an offshoot. This was a conscious decision and there were people within Intelligroup’s senior management who thought that we would be missing out on the “heritage” factor. But most of them agreed that the “heritage of old IT” in the new space of eCommerce may anyway not be very relevant or useful.
We decided that as the space was new. . .
There were no benchmarks to measure by.
There were no leaders.
Hence we should occupy the space and communicate ourselves as the leaders in the space.
The key here was to develop a campaign that showed confidence and communicated that we understand the new space and we can handhold clients into this new world of eCommerce.
The campaign was a big success and ran for a period of three months in national newspapers, magazines etc. It won awards and helped Seranova position itself as a leader in that space.

Case Sheet For Zagma | Year: 2009

The Challenge: We had worked with Zagma on the UI design and usability issues dealing with their product called FOBIT. A little description of FOBIT is necessary.

FOBIT is a web-enabled IT solution that inventories and monitors all the IT assets in an organization including hardware, software etc. Imagine a company like Walmart which has multiple geographies and has bought hardware and software across its many offices/outlets and over a period of time. FOBIT inventories all of them and presents a single dashboard view of all the IT assets to the CIO.

The issue that most of the time happens is that business decisions cannot be taken or fail when taken because the CIO does not have an idea of his complete IT assets. This often causes friction between CEOs and CIOs. FOBIT seeks to solve and address that.

The Zagma team was attending an international conference where the CEOs and CIOs were expected to be present. And this was exactly the target audience they were looking for. So how do you catch their attention?

The Solution

1. The target segment here is so tightly defined (just CEOs, CIOs and Chairman or Board Members) we knew the creatives/communication needed to be sophisticated and yet clear and engaging.
2. For this kind of target audience we definitely cannot be Informative or preachy or appear to be teaching, or selling benefits.
3. Moreover we need to catch their attention in a snap and the message needs to be clear.
4. And we decided that if the creative can make the CEO or CIO ask a question then that would be truly an achievement.
5. The creatives were so successful that some of the CEOs and CIOs requested the creatives to be sent to them by email.

Priya Sebastian completed a Masters in Illustration from Queensland College of Art, Australia and lives in Bangalore. She is a much sought after illustrator and her work adorns the covers and pages of many books, magazines and newspapers.
When she is not drawing, Priya writes, teaches, explores places and blogs about her experiences at her well known blog which is filled with vivid stories, sketches and photographs all of which tie in beautifully with her world view and her drawings.

Why are you an Illustrator?
That’s akin to asking a spider why it is a spider. Or a rhinoceros why it is what it is.
I cannot imagine being anything else. It is an inherent quality. Interpreting an idea or sa story visually gives me a high.

Did you attend school for fine art or design?
Yup. The first one I attended was in Bengaluru. I’m not sure what I did there. Then I went off to Australia to do a Master’s in Illustration from Queensland College of Art. It was a revelation.

You have a distinct style of illustration. How long did it take you to develop your style?
Thank you. I have been illustrating for about 15 years now. My style is still developing and I hope the development never stops.

Were there any particular role models for you when you grew up?
Most definitely Chandranath Acharya who used to illustrate stories in the Sunday editions of Deccan Herald. I wanted to do that too.

Who was the most influential personality on your career in Illustrations?
A teacher in Australia, Armin Greder

Have you worked for any advertising project? Would you like to?
Not as yet but I am open to it if the work interests me.

Are many advertising agencies getting illustrations made these days? Do you work more with agencies or publishers?
I wouldn’t know about advertising agencies. I mostly work with publishers.

What made you decide to become a freelance illustrator? When did you start freelancing?
I think there was no option but to freelance as an illustrator 15 years ago.

Was there any time when you wanted to quit Illustrating?
No

Have you considered turning your illustrations into toys?
Why would I want to go there given the kind of style I have?

Any other Indian Illustrators who you admire?
Prabha Mallya and Ajanta Guhathakurta

Do you have any favorite fellow illustrators or resources relating to your fields?
I was brought up on a diet of American Illustrators during the pre-internet era (yes, there was such an era). Now, much to my relief and thanks to blogs I get to see the style of Latin American Illustrators, Scandinavian Illustrators, Spanish and Portugese Illustrators…it is wonderful to see such a marvellous richness and diversity of styles and talent.

You have such a wide experience as a top working professional. What advice do you have for aspiring creative professionals? Would you advise them to take on Illustration as a career option? Is it paying well enough?
Regarding payment for illustrating, I think one has to ‘make’ it pay. To be a good illustrator, you have to hone your drawing skills and style to a very high standard through dedicated hard work and then you have to value your work enough to ask your client for a dignified fee. I find newspapers still pay some illustrators Rs.1000 per illustration and there young illustrators new to the field who actually accept that. I’d like to tell them that they are not doing anyone a favour by accepting work at such terms.

Who would you like to take out for dinner?
David Hughes

What’s on your iPod?
Bach’s preludes, Beethoven’s piano sonatas

Mac or PC?
PC.