Over the last few years, I’ve lost several teachers from my time at design school. Their permanent absence has been quite difficult to grasp—perhaps because they are connected to a time that shaped who we are still becoming. In bits & pieces, their voice still reappears in moments of doubt…

A collection of observations from the practice of graphic design in India in the last decade. Some of which persist, and others in a state of transformation. As we do with age, dividing the passage of time into 10-year clusters, allows us to reflect on what we have achieved that…

In 2018, when everyone was doing their fabulous versions of #36daysofType I decided I’d do mine in verse—drawing with words. Almost all were written on the go, in the car ride to & from the studio, as hasty notes on my phone. Here’s the set, spellchecked and in an ordered…

The pandemic, the lockdown — who are the people that emerge on the other side of it? Not entirely new, not entirely familiar either. Maybe neither. We’ll never know, unless we begin to imagine it. — Any resemblance to people known is purely coincidental, or not. This piece is w.i.p. for the foreseeable future. Rayan Rayan found himself gradually gravitating to a way of life that aligned with all that was natural and steeped in the wisdom of nature. It gave him gentle recourse and gradual renewal…

A few words on not losing your #@%$ or sleep over summer internship applications. Hello! As February draws to a close, and I watch the application inbox start to fill with applications for summer internships, I have a few things to share. Consider this neither the last word, nor the first on this, but hopefully and perhaps a little helpful if you are a…

Little ones When you read books of history Be sure to reflect deeply On a series of follies That amount to travesty Of basic human dignity, And fractured geography. Maybe just stick To biology and its wisdom Of identical machinery Made of blood, bone and muscle — All equally vulnerable To machinations of greater…

Well past the mid-year mark now, it is safe to assume all possible design trends for 2019 from ‘buxom-serifs’ to ‘smashing-stereotypes’, and ‘realism-meets-flat-design’ have been published, devoured and reproduced. I do enjoy a good listicle, from time to time. Not as a ready reckoner, but more as a sign of…

While brands work hard to embrace and express change, the dynamic & flexible identity design trend as a solution, needs greater insight and critical deliberation on the relationship and contradiction between change & consistency. In this short piece, I reflect and ramble, on designing identity and change. 2 Assumptions &…

What is a memory But the imagination Of how it felt: Sunny, When she walked in To a cold dark room. God-like, When you looked up. Still & serene, In a sleepless city aflutter. It is not true, not necessarily, But it is to be remembered Just as you felt, Not with your…