Rahul Singh Ydav has a Bachelor’s Degree in Mass Media and he is currently working as an Designer/Illustrator at HB Design, Mumbai. Besides this he has started his own venture OZO apparel which supports Hip Hop culture and Street art.

Why are you into Advertising?
I always wanted to satisfy my hunger for creativity but I didn’t know which path to follow. It became more concrete when I took admission to BMM and specialized in advertising.

Did you attend school for fine art or design or Communications?
No, whatever I have learnt till now and whatever have been learning all these years is because of a wondrous thing called INTERNET. I started learning stuff from sites namely psd.tuts.com , photoshoplady.com, youtube and many others.

Were there any particular role models for you when you grew up?
When I started designing, few of my friends helped me a lot. They were masters in their own right, I really look up to them. Another artist whom I have admired for his individuality and spirit is Banksy.

Who was the most influential personality on your career in Advertising?
There are many actually but the most influential personality in my career is my friend Sajid Wajid Shaikh.

Where do you get your inspiration from?
Inspiration is the most important part to keep you going in advertising and for my daily dose I prefer to surf on sites like behance.com, illustration served.comand ffffound.com.

Tell us something about the freelance work environment. We know lots of creatives would love to go freelance…
There are some creatives who are big on independence and love to work on their own terms. Though the income maybe uncertain i think freedom is very essential to the creative process. The market for freelance creatives is also very good but its the uncertainty and instability which may be bad.

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 india is doing really well in print media and its going to do much better in future.

Do you think brands who’s advertising wins awards, do well in the market?
No, not entirely. Awards serve a completely different purpose. Creating brand awareness and making the brand a success among consumers are the two most important goals of any advertiser. Award winning ads may not always strike a chord with the masses. It can either make advertisers work very hard or it could result in them straying from their goals if they focus too much on awards.

What advice do you have for aspiring creative professionals?
I advice them to start early and chalk out a plan that they wish to follow. creative professionals should constantly up their game and update their skills. The most important thing is to develop a style of their own because they have to stand out and put something of their own on the table.
If you can dream of what you want in your life then you can achieve it too.

What’s your dream project?
There are many concepts going on in my mind but one of the best concept I would love to work on is illustration of all the gods coming back on earth and how the world would react. Ill name the project “Return Of Gods”.

Where do you see yourself in 15 years?
I see myself having developed my own venture OZO into a big recognisable name that promotes Hip hop culture. It will have joined the ranks of major brands that identify itself with hip hop. I also see myself working as an artist having honed my skills to perfection, because art is something I will never quit.

Who would you like to take out for dinner?
My lovely girlfriend.

What’s on your iPod?
I don’t have one. but on my player i listen to breakbeats, nu metal and hip hop tracks.

Mac or PC?
I am actually ok with both of them but ill rather prefer Mac over PC.