We, as the Designer Interviews ("DI") had the distinct pleasure and opportunity to interview award-winning, most creative and innovative Abhijeet Thakur ("AT").
Abhijeet Thakur is a 25 year old designer from India, currently pursuing my post graduation from M.I.T Institute of Design, Pune. Experimentation and exploration are his forte. Whatever he takes up in life, He puts his heart and soul, thus he transformed his heart’s desire into his passion and his profession. And thus he is a Designer! He is an aesthete therefore he is in love with clean layouts and subtle functionality. Also a fanatic for shapes and patterns who loves fussing different art styles and coming up with something entirely new. He firmly believes that every change is an opportunity to learn something new, adapt and grow.
Abhijeet Thakur Designs
We are pleased to share with you original and innovative design work by Abhijeet Thakur.
Abhijeet Thakur Design - Boho Ras Packaged Cocktails
Designer Interview of Abhijeet Thakur:
DI: Could you please tell us more about your art and design background? What made you become an artist/designer? Have you always wanted to be a designer?
AT : Abhijeet Thakur is a student who is currently pursuing his post-graduation in Graphic Design at MIT Institute of Design, Pune, India. He has completed his Graduation in Applied Arts from B.S Bandekar college of applied arts, India. Abhijeet was always keen about design and its functionality, he was always fascinated how design can change someone's life or his/hers decision to do something. He always wanted to be a designer and impact peoples lives in a positive way.
DI: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
AT : Abhijeet is currently a student/freelancer.
DI: What is "design" for you?
AT : Abhijeet thinks that design is a culmination of aesthetics and functionality both. He thinks that design is everywhere, even a bird taking a flight to an ant making its colony there is design involved. Design is the ultimate guide to life, it is the overlooked principle upon which our lives function.
DI: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
AT : Abhijeet is very much interested in branding and packaging, and now he is exploring his way into motion design and 3d illustrations
DI: What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?
AT : Abhijeet is appreciative towards most of the designs and considering something favourite restricts your optimism because then you start to think that this is the best design and that in turn affects your work.
DI: What was the first thing you designed for a company?
AT : A logo for a brand called Art antiquaa which was a home decor and lifestyle design studio.
DI: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
AT : Currently, he is exploring 3d illustrations and he thinks it is by far the best way to design and communicate.
DI: When do you feel the most creative?
AT : when he is in his element, in his quaint ambient little room.
DI: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
AT : He focuses on keeping the balance between function and aesthetics.
DI: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
AT : He feels Joy and excitement.
DI: What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
AT : Even happier and excited.
DI: What makes a design successful?
AT : Abhijeet thinks that design is successful when it satisfies the consumer needs and creates a positive impact on peoples lives
DI: When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?
AT : It should be problem-solving or must envoke certain emotions. sometimes the execution can be on the weaker side but if it has a strong message it can create a positive impact.
DI: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
AT : A designer should never be biased in his/her opinions while putting a design-forward because it is a tool for communication and if we should not misuse that.
DI: How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?
AT : He thinks that the future of designing is beyond our traditional media but will take place into the virtual world.
DI: When was your last exhibition and where was it? And when do you want to hold your next exhibition?
AT : Abhijeet haven't had any exhibitions but he soon planes to collaborate with design curators.
DI: Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?
AT : The inspiration for the design is everywhere if you are keen enough to observe life to its minute details you will find your inspiration.
DI: How would you describe your design style? What made you explore more this style and what are the main characteristics of your style? What's your approach to design?
AT : Abhijeet doesn't really think that he has a style, he believes in experimentation and exploration, therefore, his style is always transforming and evolving.
DI: Where do you live? Do you feel the cultural heritage of your country affects your designs? What are the pros and cons during designing as a result of living in your country?
AT : Abhijeet is from India and yes he comes from a very rich and vibrant cultural heritage and it has left its traces in his design. The pros are that it is a developing country and it has a design rich past so he gets all his inspiration just by looking around. The cons are that people are not ready to accept experimental designs it sometimes scares them away from the product.
DI: How do you work with companies?
AT : Abhijeet is currently a student but he has been interning at Tiepograph a Design studio based in Mumbai, India. He has a very professional approach towards work.
DI: What are your suggestions to companies for working with a designer? How can companies select a good designer?
AT : Always look for his current ongoing projects or projects that he/she thought wasn't good enough, because such ideas are very impulsive and give an insight into how deep is their thought process.
DI: Can you talk a little about your design process?
AT : Abhijeet usually does a thorough research of the problem and then starts to analyse what different approaches can be taken to solve this problem and then he lists out the key insights and starts developing a visual around it.
DI: What are 5 of your favorite design items at home?
AT : His Laptop, His sketchbook, His diary of crazy ideas, His Wacom, and his art supplies.
DI: Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?
AT : Always look for that narrow-angle where you can balance function and aesthetics both and never hesitate to experiment and explore beyond your comfort zone.
DI: From your perspective, what would you say are some positives and negatives of being a designer?
AT : Positive is that we get to impact peoples lives and create a positive change and the negatives are that you need to separate work from life. Both are two different aspects you your life st you should treat them accordingly.
DI: What is your "golden rule" in design?
AT : Creativity thrives on constraints.
DI: What skills are most important for a designer?
AT : His/her ability to think and be a problem solver.
DI: Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?
AT : Abhijeet has a Dell xps15 1970, he uses Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Indesign, Xd, Lightroom and now he is exploring Adobe aftereffects and 3D Blender. His favourite book for inspiration is The Art of Looking Sideways by Alen Fetcher.
DI: Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?
AT : Always have focus time slots for design after you are done with your research turn off your phone and for 90 mins work without any distractions that will help you ease your workload because we get distracted so easily that it eats away all of our time and work doesn't get finished on time.
DI: How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?
AT : That really depends upon the project but during the initial hour or two, the designer has a very rough map of how is it going to look the time-consuming part is crafting with precision and assembling.
DI: What is the most frequently asked question to you, as a designer?
AT : Does it pay? Abhijeet comes from India where people are still getting used to the idea that their child/friend/concerned person should be in a very mainstream profession and if they go into something apart from the mainstream then it means that monetary gains will significantly low.
DI: What was your most important job experience?
AT : Abhijeet is now interning at Tiepograph a design studio in India and there he learned that no matter how well you understand the brand the person who started and developed the brand knows it the best so always if possible make sure to send them a questionnaire which will give you an insight about the soul of the brand.
DI: Who are some of your clients?
AT : Art Antiquaa-Home decor and Life design studio, Tiepograph-Design studio, Vrindavan Nursery etc.
DI: What type of design work do you enjoy the most and why?
AT : Vector Illustration, experimental branding and packaging. Because you get to explore humans perception of a brand and get to affect peoples lives in a positive way.
DI: What are your future plans? What is next for you?
AT : Abhijeet is planning to get more into Motion graphics and 3D illustrations and explore more into these fields.
DI: Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?
AT : Abhijeet is currently working solo but is welcoming towards anyone who wants to collaborate.
DI: Do you have any works-in-progress being designed that you would like to talk about?
AT : Abhijeet will be releasing them soon on his Behance so stay tuned.
DI: How can people contact you?
AT : People can contact Abhijeet Thakur at Email- abhijeetthakur830@gmail Behance- https://www.behance.net/abhijeetth1137 Dribbble- https://dribbble.com/wild_child
DI: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?
AT : No, He thinks that we have covered enough