Introducing Studio Kohl

Etniq Design is now Studio Kohl.

While the site is currently under construction, you can follow the spankin' new tumblog at studiokohl.com/blog

See you there!

P.S. This blog will now no longer be updated but will remain as an archive.

The Trellis

If you are interested in gender equality and representation of women in the media (or sometimes, the lack of it) you may be interested in this paper, which was part of my coursework at NID. In short, the paper questions the premise of targeting male condoms only at men, after it proves that the images on its packaging is crafted for heterosexual males alone. Other alternatives for visuals are explored that cater to a wider audience. Published by The Trellis, NID's research publication.

   

Animal 'Species' exhibits in Delhi

Remember this post? Well, the guys at Animal will be exhibiting my work in Delhi along with 100 other artists' as part of their Species project. The showcase will take place on 7th March, Friday, 2014. Details and RSVP here. Some pre-event snapshots below.

"The power of creativity amazes me. My once mentor Tadashi Sasaki told me while I was just starting out, “You have the gift.” I was surprised, “The gift?” Sasaki said, “Yes, the gift of creativity. Did you know it is also a curse?” I wasn’t sure what he meant until many years later. What Sasaki meant, I think, is that it is a real gift to think of all kinds of things you can possibly do. Unfortunately, it can be a curse because it prevents you from ever doing anything at all. You can get started on something, and then immediately derailed because you start to see something completely new elsewhere. And then when you branch off to that, you get off on another tangent. If you are not careful, all you leave is a massive trail of unfinished work with nothing to show for. So the gift of ideas, is the curse of doing nothing."

-JOHN MAEDA

Featured on CreativeBLOQ

Just got news that I got featured on CreativeBloq, Computer Arts UK's sister magazine, amongst several talented individuals. Take a look at the other neon picks that CreativeBloq decided to feature here

A Phataka of a Diwali

Happy Diwali all of you. Some of you will be getting this, or have already got this in your mail. In the spirit of the festival of lights, may yours be really BRIGHT!

Levi's Pioneer at NH7 Weekender

Two of my tees among other artists' were on sale at NH7 Weekender, Pune, from Friday the 18th, to Sunday 20th October as part of the Levi's / NH7 Pioneer Studio. Was really fun to be able to screen print them yourself (well, to be honest, Yorick worked the squeegee), in the colours you like, seeing them get made right before your eyes!

Here are some pics from the stall:

That is one mother of a stall. More like a huge tent. 

Getting the tee ready for printing. Laying it flat against the printing surface.

The design had two colours, and so two screens were washed and made ready.

Placing the appropriate screen on the tee, in the right position.

The fun part begins. We chose a colour we liked and lay a few dollops evenly across the bottom of the screen.

Yorick works the squeegee while I shoot, with a little help from the crew. It's nice to have your hubby print your art on his own tee!

After the first colour is dry (5 minutes with a hairdryer) we go for the second round, with yellow.

Yorick prints while Nikhil from NH7 hears out a member of his crew.

The crew was really enthusiastic and were wearing most of the tees. This was the other design I contributed.

If this guy looks happy, I'm happy!

Anu from Levi's holds up the reverse colour tee I printed for myself.

And if you'd like to get your hands dirty, but did not attend the Pune edition, the stall will be at the Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata editions too.

Species

Just completed this piece for Animal's Species Project. The gallery of pieces released so far can be seen on Facebook. Have a look!

My inspiration was a 'composite animal', the kind that appear in Mughal miniatures. In these miniatures, several animals are seen accommodating the form of another, single silhouette of an animal. Rather than choosing a favourite animal, which was the goal of the project, I interpreted several animals into the form of a single animal, the exception being that this single animal was a wordmark rather than a silhouette.

There's more planned for this project, so watch this space!