Nayna Yadav is a graphic designer and Illustrator. She recently completed her post graduation from IDC IIT Bombay. Wildly enthusiastic about drawing, writing and reading, when not drawing or working, Nayna enjoys avoiding the outdoors and chasing stray animals. She lives in Mumbai, India.

Why are you a Graphic Designer?
There was never anything else that really interested me. According to my mum, I was doodling at 10 months! ( I used to make a crooked circle with two eyes- A self portrait of sorts )

Did you attend school for fine art or design?
Yes. I did my masters in Communication Design from IDC IIT Bombay

You have a distinct style of Design. How long did it take you to develop your style?
I actually have two-three styles (different in vector and raster). It takes lots and lots of experimenting. Draw enough and a style will develop by itself!

How did you focus so much on illustration? When did you realise you loved doing it and wanted more of it?
I did my undergrad in Industrial Design but by the end of my four years I knew I was less interested in making products and more interested in drawing them or drawing anything really.

(more…)

Saurabh Sharma is a self-taught designer focused on Branding and Digital Illustration, obsessed with colours, and interested in cognitive psychology. Beyond this, he’s a founder of Blanky Creative Agency working helping clients building their brand and also the Creative Director at CapStreet Media.

Why are you a Graphic Designer?
Being a graphics designer is not only creating something for a brand. It’s all about how you provide the values to the society. So, I became designer to help the world make smarter decisions.

Did you attend school for fine art or design?
No, I didn’t go to any design schools. I believe every person is an artist. It all starts within the childhood when you’re doodling all over your walls in your house. All it need just a passion to continue your childhood things.

You have a distinct style of Design. How long did it take you to develop your style?
Being a self-taught designer every day is a learning process for me. So for developing any style, it’s a practice and discipline.
My unconventional background and always eager to learn new has made me stronger and my unique mixture of design, illustration and social content-creation is what makes me stand out in an increasingly online world.

(more…)

Gunjan Rai is a law graduate who loves lettering, doodles and illustrating quotes – be it from her favourite musician or a poet she has never heard of – that she posts under the name ‘elayichi’. She likes cats, desserts, poetry and watching time lapse videos.

Why are you a Graphic Designer?
I love poetry and sometimes a line or two will really strike me and I have to put it down on paper so I can absorb it fully.

Did you attend school for fine art or design?
No.

You have a distinct style of Design. How long did it take you to develop your style?
Wouldn’t say I have a completely distinct style yet. But yeah, more than a couple of years. Challenges such as #inktober pushed me to post regularly and improve on my design. I would look at the work of people I was inspired by and took a little bit from here and there to make my own.

Portrait of Gunjan Rai ‘Elayichi’ by Tiphaine Burguburu.

(more…)

Kritika Trehan is a graphic designer by day, illustrator by night. She graduated from Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology and is juggling between working for others and herself. Her work is rooted in nostalgia, gender, vernacular and pop culture and she has a new found interest in hand lettering. She enjoys using humour and loves print and web equally (almost). When she is not doing work for others, she likes to work on side projects. She talks too fast, organises too much and is now regretting writing this in third person.

Why are you a Graphic Designer?
I feel graphic design allows us to communicate an idea, however complex, visually and in a much more interesting and relatable way. I also love using it as a medium to create conversation about things that I might not be comfortable either talking or even writing about.

Did you attend school for fine art or design?
I went to Srishti Institute of Art, Design + Technology

You have a distinct style of Design. How long did it take you to develop your style?
Quiet honestly I don’t see a very clear style in all my work since I am still exploring mediums and learning techniques everyday. However, I do aim to have a more conceptual/thematic style flowing through my work which mainly relies on things like vernacular, gender, nostalgia. I also always like to think about what my work is trying to say rather than how it always ‘looks’ which usually drives the form itself.

(more…)

“I’m an illustrator/graphic designer from Mumbai, I’ve been drawing my whole life and professionally since the past 6 years.”

Why are you an Illustrator?
As I said, I’ve been drawing, doodling all my life, and I wanted to turn my hobby into a profession, so here I am.

Did you attend school for fine art or design?
I did not. I learnt Photoshop and Illustrator watching tutorials on YouTube. I am actually just a high school graduate (10th grade). I did attend college for a while, then I dropped out after the first year. I didn’t even attend a single class. Same with my diploma course in animation, I got bored and dropped out halfway.

You have a distinct style of illustration. How long did it take you to develop your style?
I started out by imitating the styles of my favorite artists, then ultimately settled with my current style. I still experiment with other styles, but most of those pieces get scrapped before I finish them.

(more…)