Hasta La Creative!

“I am a Graphic Designer from Mumbai, India. And, super proud to be Indian.

Explorations in the cross-sections of life and design, within the Indian context, outline a major part of my practice as a designer.

I love words as much as I love visuals. I am forever curious. And loyalty would be my superpower.”

Why are you a Graphic Designer?
When I was in school, I really enjoyed only three things. History, Math and Drawing. I think Graphic Design is a good combination of the skills in each. It involves research, problem solving and knowing how to draw your imagination. I kind of have had a very focussed career graph since I was 14. I can’t imagine being anything else in this life if I have to think about it. Maybe law would have been a close second career choice.

Did you attend school for fine art or design?
Yes! Rachana Sansad College of Applied Art and Craft in Mumbai, India.

You have a distinct style of Design. How long did it take you to develop your style?
Do I really? To be honest – I don’t really worry about styles. I just do work that is relevant to me and where I am at any point. It would be fairly easy to chart my personal work and see how my life has moved from Point A to Point B. Context is everything to me. However, the one single common thread tying all of my personal projects is the idea of narrating stories which could be both an everyday reality or my parallel reality.

How did you focus so much on typographic illustrations? When did you realise you loved doing it and wanted more of it?
While graduating from art school, my elective major was typography. So I have been pretty much interested in type, typography and letters since the beginning of my art school and career as a graphic designer. I find a sense of unadulterated joy in it. Briefly while exploring the various aspects of graphic design, I took to extending my interests to paper craft illustrations. That was fun while it lasted! And well, since I’ve always had a relationship with the written word I got back to exploring writing and type in some of my recent projects.

Were there any particular role models for you when you grew up?
My parents, undoubtedly. I am because they are. My dad always taught me was that there is no escaping hard work. You only get what you put in the hours and work for. And my biggest learning from mom is the power of resilience and not having any ego to really thrive. I also do get my love for all kinds of food from her. She is an exemplary cook and yes, she does make the best filter coffee in the world.

I am the younger kid in the house. And so by default, I always grew up looking at my brother as a mentor. And well in many ways I still do. Somethings never really change even though we live in different countries now

Apart from that – Enid Blyton and JK Rowling. The worlds they’ve spun in my head still are the best places to be!

Who was the most influential personality on your career in graphic design?
Hard to pick one person. I mean at large mostly lots of different kinds of books and reading. I’m a voracious reader and love learning new perspectives. But if I had to really pick some names it would be Alain De Botton, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Jhumpa Lahiri.

When did you start freelancing?
I freelanced between somewhere mid of 2013 for almost 2 and a half years. I am presently employed at Landor in Mumbai, India.

Was there any time when you wanted to quit graphic design?
I think I have this existential crisis once a year atleast. Hahahaha. Sometimes more often. Being self aware definitely brings about this question. And like with all creative fields there are other questions about ethics, life, morals that all come to play.

But I guess like it is with all things in life – nothing worth having comes easy. And like I already previously said, I learnt the power of resilience from Ma.

How do you market yourself?
I don’t freelance anymore but this is probably a bit more general and so here’s the thumb rule –

Do good work. Do work you believe in. Put it out there and the universe will find a way to make it work for you. Always.

It sounds very in the air but trust it to happen.

Any other Indian graphic designers who you admire?
I think this list is far too long. A single name is near impossible.

What advice do you have for aspiring creative professionals? Would you advise them to take on graphic design as a career option?
It is definitely a great career option if you are in it because you want to make and create. If you are looking for it to be an easy way out of studying, I suppose not. And I would not recommend it to those who think this is a cool life, one way to become famous etc. Like any other job, you have to show up everyday and do the work. Some days are better than other days and some days you will be ecstatic and fabulously creative. And some others you will be oiling the gears and both are necessary in the long run.

Do you think Clients are opening up to keeping aside a decent respectable budget for design work? Do you think clients are understanding that they need to invest in Design as a communication tool and also to cut the clutter, and that good design comes at a price?
Indian clients are increasingly understanding what good design can do. And yet they find design very expensive. We are still a very amateur market and both designers and clients are trying to understand and evolve as we go. We haven’t gotten to the point where the marketplace is like the west (yet). Though I can see that independent professionals and studios will command more money and respect in the years to come.

Mac or PC?
I love designing on the massive 27” iMac. Not so much a fan of the laptops because I feel like the screen is too tiny. Not that I think the iMac is better than the PC, but just that I have been using Apple for so long, I haven’t considered otherwise.

Who would you like to take out for dinner?
For the mind – Haruki Murakami or Jhumpa Lahiri. Both authors whose writing I love.

What’s on your iPod?
Sarah Kay’s spoken word poetry.

Whats your Twitter Handle? Instagram?
twitter.com/pavithradikshit
instagram.com/pavithradikshit