As an Artist …
I see my journey towards the creative world begin at an early stage in life when, as a 5 year old, I would look at all the movie posters while traveling in the school bus on my way back home. Once at home, I would rush to the court yard to draw images observed on the bus journey from school. Even during senior classes, I was more inclined towards art and would prefer drawing rather than study, in spite of being a brilliant student. In fact, I left science stream to pursue art, and eventually joined National Institute of Design, NID, to lend my talents a new dimension. Hence, it was perhaps those early sketches of figures from the movie posters which had left an impact on my sensitive and creative mind that has eventually shaped the path of my career.
As a painter, I have explored various mediums as well as subjects, the ‘bamboos’ being my favorite of all and dry pastels as far as the medium goes. I have created a series of paintings on bamboos, Ganesha and weeds, apart from portraits and some abstract art. I plan to progress onto canvases using the medium of oil and acrylic paints. I also plan to hold an exhibition of my paintings soon.
As a Designer …
As already mentioned, the foundation of my role as designer were laid at a very early stage in life that are the result of seeking distraction from formal studies by way of drawing all that I observed in my environment. Also, I used a lot of imagination while doing human figures as I would rarely draw looking at the subject. This contributed a lot in terms of strengthening my power of observation as well as imagination when I decided to pursue graphic design as a career, having been selected at NID in 1984.
While doing the course at NID, I realized that my strengths in graphic design were more in the area of ‘corporate identity development’. Hence, leaving animation, I chose to take up corporate identity design for my diploma project which was sponsored by Mudra Communications Ltd. Delhi. The client was Godfrey Phillips India Ltd. And I had revamped their visual identity and standardized the whole corporate identity system. Further, to implement the new system, I had designed a corporate identity manual as well. Due to certain factors the project was eventually not implemented and remained at hypothetical stage.
Starting my career with the magazine Business Today, a publication of Living Media Group, I went on to pursue jobs in publication design. But most of my projects as a freelance designer have been in the area of Visual Identity/ Corporate Identity Design, and I have enjoyed working on these.
As a Poet & Writer …
Life has not been a smooth sail. It usually is not so for many. In fact, I have seen many ups and downs in my profession as well as personal life. This rendered me more sensitive and a lot more mature, learning from my experiences that translated in a talent realized later in life as a poet and writer. I have written many poems in English, Urdu and a few in Hindi. All of these express the depths of my emotions and my unique flair to express the same with a command over these languages.
As a Teacher …
I have had the opportunity to explore the avenues in teaching when in 2007, I joined as an art teacher at Manipal Public School in Lucknow. After a few months, I was offered a position as an assistant professor at the Amity University at Lucknow. I was also the program coordinator there, and took an active part in the annual exhibitions called Samanvay. As a teacher, I preferred to keep my classes very interactive, as I believe I got to learn a lot from the younger generation whose ideas and approach to design was changing with the times. I also used a lot of case studies to illustrate the points I talked about, and shared my own experiences with my students which made teaching a lot more interesting.
Later, I joined NIFT, Delhi Centre, and taught the students of Fashion Communication, starting from the foundation year to post graduation level. The experience at NIFT was exceptional as I got an exposure to the latest trends in design, while teaching my students and in turn learning from them.
I see my journey towards the creative world begin at an early stage in life when, as a 5 year old, I would look at all the movie posters while traveling in the school bus on my way back home. Once at home, I would rush to the court yard to draw images observed on the bus journey from school. Even during senior classes, I was more inclined towards art and would prefer drawing rather than study, in spite of being a brilliant student. In fact, I left science stream to pursue art, and eventually joined National Institute of Design, NID, to lend my talents a new dimension. Hence, it was perhaps those early sketches of figures from the movie posters which had left an impact on my sensitive and creative mind that has eventually shaped the path of my career.
As a painter, I have explored various mediums as well as subjects, the ‘bamboos’ being my favorite of all and dry pastels as far as the medium goes. I have created a series of paintings on bamboos, Ganesha and weeds, apart from portraits and some abstract art. I plan to progress onto canvases using the medium of oil and acrylic paints. I also plan to hold an exhibition of my paintings soon.
As a Designer …
As already mentioned, the foundation of my role as designer were laid at a very early stage in life that are the result of seeking distraction from formal studies by way of drawing all that I observed in my environment. Also, I used a lot of imagination while doing human figures as I would rarely draw looking at the subject. This contributed a lot in terms of strengthening my power of observation as well as imagination when I decided to pursue graphic design as a career, having been selected at NID in 1984.
While doing the course at NID, I realized that my strengths in graphic design were more in the area of ‘corporate identity development’. Hence, leaving animation, I chose to take up corporate identity design for my diploma project which was sponsored by Mudra Communications Ltd. Delhi. The client was Godfrey Phillips India Ltd. And I had revamped their visual identity and standardized the whole corporate identity system. Further, to implement the new system, I had designed a corporate identity manual as well. Due to certain factors the project was eventually not implemented and remained at hypothetical stage.
Starting my career with the magazine Business Today, a publication of Living Media Group, I went on to pursue jobs in publication design. But most of my projects as a freelance designer have been in the area of Visual Identity/ Corporate Identity Design, and I have enjoyed working on these.
As a Poet & Writer …
Life has not been a smooth sail. It usually is not so for many. In fact, I have seen many ups and downs in my profession as well as personal life. This rendered me more sensitive and a lot more mature, learning from my experiences that translated in a talent realized later in life as a poet and writer. I have written many poems in English, Urdu and a few in Hindi. All of these express the depths of my emotions and my unique flair to express the same with a command over these languages.
As a Teacher …
I have had the opportunity to explore the avenues in teaching when in 2007, I joined as an art teacher at Manipal Public School in Lucknow. After a few months, I was offered a position as an assistant professor at the Amity University at Lucknow. I was also the program coordinator there, and took an active part in the annual exhibitions called Samanvay. As a teacher, I preferred to keep my classes very interactive, as I believe I got to learn a lot from the younger generation whose ideas and approach to design was changing with the times. I also used a lot of case studies to illustrate the points I talked about, and shared my own experiences with my students which made teaching a lot more interesting.
Later, I joined NIFT, Delhi Centre, and taught the students of Fashion Communication, starting from the foundation year to post graduation level. The experience at NIFT was exceptional as I got an exposure to the latest trends in design, while teaching my students and in turn learning from them.