aasthathakkar28
Jan 10, 2017
Graduate / Design, graphic and art is in my heart. Statement of Purpose for MFA in Visual Communication @SAIC [4]
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
I have always been a collector and stamps are something I have collected on/off since childhood. I used to browse through my grandfather's stamp collection for hours and it was always the more graphic and what I would later discover "modernist" stamps which excited me. A strong sense of typography and beautiful compositions. Even as a child what I noticed was how simple, graphic ideas could be conveyed through a highly visible yet tiny medium like stamps.
I started noticing design around me at a very young age, but the thought of pursuing design as a career never crossed me. Even at the age of 18, I never fully understood the prospects of design in a country like India and hence I took a safer route. I ended up pursuing a conventional career path in commerce for my bachelor's degree.
College opened many new avenues for me, both in art and design and also as an individual. Though I was pursuing an academic course from one of the top universities in the country, I felt my heart was never fully in it. I joined the Fine Arts and Photography Society (F.A.P.S) of my college and participated in various art and design competitions. I started making hand painted posters for campaigns and events within the Delhi University. I also made digital posters for theatre plays and street plays of my college's theatre society-PLAYERS. My work started getting recognition and accolades. By the end of my final year I was clear that I wanted to pursue my passion in design, where my heart truly lies and nurture this undying passion of mine.
2013 was one of the most exciting years of my life. I was in London at the prestigious Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design (CSM). I knew I had to make the most of this wonderful opportunity. I was inducted into the core principles of graphic communication design through lectures, workshops, seminars and individual and collaborative projects. Here I learned to communicate my ideas verbally, visually and in writing. My work was being critiqued by faculty members who were also industry professionals. I worked in group projects where I learnt from the creative process of my peers. For a project called 'Unsung Hero', we worked in collaboration with the V&A and searched within the museum for an unsung hero. I immersed myself in research and worked round the clock to create this zine . This year helped me develop not only technical and conceptual skills but I also engaged socially and culturally, to understand how design can shape human behaviour. Design softwares took my ideas to another dimension all together. Adobe Illustrator, Indesign and Photoshop were the core softwares that I learnt from online tutorials like Skillshare and Lynda. Moreover, I cannot help but mention the impact the acclaimed graphic designer and educator Ellen Lupton has had on me. When I was trying to educate myself about core graphic design principles, her books- 'Thinking With Type' and 'Graphic Design The New Basics' helped a lot. I devoted myself to not just reading but practicing the projects set by her in these books and tutorials.
This one-year course build a solid foundation for me and as soon as I came back to India in 2014, I got the opportunity to work with Aman Khanna. Under his mentorship I designed newsletters, publications and reports for clients like Intellecap, Oxfam India and created posters for NGOs like Toxic Link etc. Aman is an acclaimed sculptor and used to work on the potter's wheel in the studio.I used to observe his process and often help him in researching, brainstorming and even learnt to work on the wheel. I developed a keen interest in ceramics and ended up working on Claymen, his personal project. Furthermore, working in a team for a large scale project like the fashion week installation was a great learning experience. I gained hands on experience in areas such as layout design, typography and grid systems.I took every opportunity that came my way and burned the midnight oil to educate myself about softwares through online tutorials.
As I started compiling my projects into a portfolio, people started noticing my work. I was getting freelance projects and requests for collaborations with other artists and designers. I wanted to try out new things, experiment and explore what else I could do besides layout and information design. I realised I could choose the kind of projects that I wanted to do now. I wanted to learnt website design, as I spent an entire year working in print. I also wanted to take up branding and illustration based projects. Hence I spent the major part of 2015 freelancing and only recently joined a design studio called Design Route as a part-time designer. Freelancing helped me pick projects that challenged me as a designer.
Though I have learned a lot in the past few years as a graphic designer, I still feel there is so much to learn to take my career forward. With a non-design background, it is imperative that I gain knowledge through a structured and a research based program. SAIC's interdisciplinary approach and curriculum really excites me. My own work has been interdisciplinary. I worked in an information design studio and simultaneously was also working with a tactile medium-clay. This cross disciplinary approach expands the realm of ideas and helps me focus better on core design projects. The icing on the cake was when I met Jacqueline in November who talked about SAIC and its vision- which further strengthened my resolve to study at SAIC.
My intention behind spending two years working on my own, after coming back from London, was to bridge the gap between not having a formal education in design and pursuing a career in it. Now I wish to deepen my quest for finding my own creative voice and I am certain that pursuing a post grad degree will do that for me. I also feel I am deeply influenced by my environment and the people I surround myself with. I find it exhilarating to interact with like-minded creative people. Moreover Chicago is one city I have always wanted to live in. I have closely followed the design community in this wonderful city and I cant wait to be a part of it.
Thank You.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
The right time to pursue my own creative voice
I have always been a collector and stamps are something I have collected on/off since childhood. I used to browse through my grandfather's stamp collection for hours and it was always the more graphic and what I would later discover "modernist" stamps which excited me. A strong sense of typography and beautiful compositions. Even as a child what I noticed was how simple, graphic ideas could be conveyed through a highly visible yet tiny medium like stamps.
I started noticing design around me at a very young age, but the thought of pursuing design as a career never crossed me. Even at the age of 18, I never fully understood the prospects of design in a country like India and hence I took a safer route. I ended up pursuing a conventional career path in commerce for my bachelor's degree.
College opened many new avenues for me, both in art and design and also as an individual. Though I was pursuing an academic course from one of the top universities in the country, I felt my heart was never fully in it. I joined the Fine Arts and Photography Society (F.A.P.S) of my college and participated in various art and design competitions. I started making hand painted posters for campaigns and events within the Delhi University. I also made digital posters for theatre plays and street plays of my college's theatre society-PLAYERS. My work started getting recognition and accolades. By the end of my final year I was clear that I wanted to pursue my passion in design, where my heart truly lies and nurture this undying passion of mine.
2013 was one of the most exciting years of my life. I was in London at the prestigious Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design (CSM). I knew I had to make the most of this wonderful opportunity. I was inducted into the core principles of graphic communication design through lectures, workshops, seminars and individual and collaborative projects. Here I learned to communicate my ideas verbally, visually and in writing. My work was being critiqued by faculty members who were also industry professionals. I worked in group projects where I learnt from the creative process of my peers. For a project called 'Unsung Hero', we worked in collaboration with the V&A and searched within the museum for an unsung hero. I immersed myself in research and worked round the clock to create this zine . This year helped me develop not only technical and conceptual skills but I also engaged socially and culturally, to understand how design can shape human behaviour. Design softwares took my ideas to another dimension all together. Adobe Illustrator, Indesign and Photoshop were the core softwares that I learnt from online tutorials like Skillshare and Lynda. Moreover, I cannot help but mention the impact the acclaimed graphic designer and educator Ellen Lupton has had on me. When I was trying to educate myself about core graphic design principles, her books- 'Thinking With Type' and 'Graphic Design The New Basics' helped a lot. I devoted myself to not just reading but practicing the projects set by her in these books and tutorials.
This one-year course build a solid foundation for me and as soon as I came back to India in 2014, I got the opportunity to work with Aman Khanna. Under his mentorship I designed newsletters, publications and reports for clients like Intellecap, Oxfam India and created posters for NGOs like Toxic Link etc. Aman is an acclaimed sculptor and used to work on the potter's wheel in the studio.I used to observe his process and often help him in researching, brainstorming and even learnt to work on the wheel. I developed a keen interest in ceramics and ended up working on Claymen, his personal project. Furthermore, working in a team for a large scale project like the fashion week installation was a great learning experience. I gained hands on experience in areas such as layout design, typography and grid systems.I took every opportunity that came my way and burned the midnight oil to educate myself about softwares through online tutorials.
As I started compiling my projects into a portfolio, people started noticing my work. I was getting freelance projects and requests for collaborations with other artists and designers. I wanted to try out new things, experiment and explore what else I could do besides layout and information design. I realised I could choose the kind of projects that I wanted to do now. I wanted to learnt website design, as I spent an entire year working in print. I also wanted to take up branding and illustration based projects. Hence I spent the major part of 2015 freelancing and only recently joined a design studio called Design Route as a part-time designer. Freelancing helped me pick projects that challenged me as a designer.
Though I have learned a lot in the past few years as a graphic designer, I still feel there is so much to learn to take my career forward. With a non-design background, it is imperative that I gain knowledge through a structured and a research based program. SAIC's interdisciplinary approach and curriculum really excites me. My own work has been interdisciplinary. I worked in an information design studio and simultaneously was also working with a tactile medium-clay. This cross disciplinary approach expands the realm of ideas and helps me focus better on core design projects. The icing on the cake was when I met Jacqueline in November who talked about SAIC and its vision- which further strengthened my resolve to study at SAIC.
My intention behind spending two years working on my own, after coming back from London, was to bridge the gap between not having a formal education in design and pursuing a career in it. Now I wish to deepen my quest for finding my own creative voice and I am certain that pursuing a post grad degree will do that for me. I also feel I am deeply influenced by my environment and the people I surround myself with. I find it exhilarating to interact with like-minded creative people. Moreover Chicago is one city I have always wanted to live in. I have closely followed the design community in this wonderful city and I cant wait to be a part of it.
Thank You.