7 November 2024 · nIVA SHAH

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How has your cultural heritage and personal journey shaped the way you approach design? Were there specific moments or influences that led you to choose this field?

Growing up, my mom always loved collecting and admiring Indian fabrics that were handprinting, often buying sarees from craftsmanship in the old city part of Hyderabad. A core memory I have is watching two men screenprinting the entire length of a saree, watching them run the ink across and build upon layers to reveal the image of a peacock it has stuck with over time. It influenced my interest in design and printmaking, making me appreciative of the history of book-making and letterpress printing. Both my parents don’t work in creative fields but have creative interests which made them supportive of my own hobbies and passions.

Who are some Asian creatives or designers you admire, and how have they influenced your style or approach?

When I was younger, I was obsessed with watching Sabyasachi on tv—the way he integrates culture into design and truly embraces it–inspires me. I look up to the way he respects culture and beauty.

Do you have any routines or creative practices that help you stay inspired? How do you balance traditional influences with fresh, innovative ideas?

I love to design things for myself, creating posters for songs or movies I like and using it as an opportunity to explore mediums, techniques or styles that I can then incorporate into larger projects. It’s a chance for me to try new things and explore custom typography or image-making.

Could you share your approach to choosing and integrating elements like materials, color, or technology into your work? How do you think these choices reflect your personal and cultural identity?

I’ve used Telugu typography in works about home and my relationship with culture or nostalgia. That’s something I’ve been wanting to explore more, maybe creating better typefaces in Telugu or exploring the way design has been used traditionally.

How do you envision your work evolving in the coming years, and are there any design styles or concepts you’re excited to explore?

I would love to create a bridge between design and printmaking, a happy middle-ground of working with my hands while still being precise and working with type or other designed elements.

What challenges have you encountered as an Asian designer, and how have you worked through them? Are there any common misconceptions about Asian creatives you hope to change?

Sometimes, especially in white-dominated spaces, there is a lot of pressure in how culture is represented—it can be incredibly personal and individual to the creator of the work or it can serve a larger purpose of representation which can be a lot of weight on a single person. As someone who grew up in both India and America, there is a duality to how I view culture or represent it and something beautiful about creating cultural works is the multitude of different experiences of culture that can be explored and experienced through design.

How has your identity impacted your journey in design school and the industry? What advice would you give other Asian creatives facing similar challenges?

I like to find different ways to explore or pick topics that challenge me to learn something new whether it be in the design field, like a skill, or a new subject about my culture, history or just something that interests me. I think finding projects you’re genuinely interested always yields good results and makes the work feel more authentic.

Is there a project or experience that stands out as particularly meaningful, and what made it so?

The book I’m working on right now, about morse code, has become very personal in a weird way. Although morse code is such an objective topic, working on it has forced me to learn new skills and explore new avenues which made it feel like I accomplished something and the book has become something I’m proud of.

What message or emotion do you want your designs to convey, and how do you hope your work impacts others?

I love design for its limitless potential, I can create two vastly different works that still speak to me as a person. There is something very intimate in creating a poetic piece that reflects my feelings and feels like a love letter to something personal in my life and there’s other moments where I want to create something based on hard facts but at the end of the day, both come from me and my perspective on design and my surroundings.

How do you see Asian culture and values shaping global design conversations? Are there specific areas where you see these influences growing?

I love seeing the recent integration of the West embracing South Asian jewelry. I love jewelry and have a lot of heirlooms passed down by my family which I truly cherish. There’s something very different about how jewelry is viewed in places like India in comparison to the West and I love seeing it get its limelight more globally.

What’s a key lesson you wish you had known earlier in your studies? How has mentorship influenced your development, and what role do you think it plays in shaping new designers?

A gigantic myth that I had let go of mentally was the notion of ‘having a personal style’ in design. I think design serves a purpose, it’s a response to a need and the design should reflect that need. The context of the content should influence the design—of course aesthetics plays a part in it, designs should look good—but the priority should always be how the design best reflects the need and your style as a designer is reflected in the choices that you make in creating an answer to a problem.

How can design institutions better support diverse perspectives and promote inclusivity within their programs?

The AIGA DxD Worldstudio scholarship was a great way to promote diverse designers and artists and relieve the burden of tuition, whatever the amount may be. It was great exposure and also comforting to be seen for my work.

How do you see technology shaping the future of design, especially for Asian creatives? Are there any upcoming trends or shifts that you’re particularly excited about?

Although I do not support the unethical use of AI to steal art, I’ve seen some really cool ethical experimental projects using AI and AR/VR technologies lately. It’s interesting what these advancements are bringing forth to the table of design, and hope for it to be a tool creatives, Asian or not, use to create pieces of work that inspire.

Do you have any upcoming projects or concepts you’re working on that you’re excited to share?

I’m currently working on a book called “A Guide To Morse Code,” an example of when I feel like creating something tangible, rooted in facts and less abstract. When I create something factual, I worry less about the content and focus more on how I can create a compelling design in response to the content. It’s a way for me to learn something new, in this case—morse code, while also exploring new design forms and compositions.

What advice would you offer to young Asian creatives who are just starting in design? How can they stay authentic to their identity while navigating the demands of the industry?

Constantly creating work is an extremely exhausting task and on top of that there’s a lot of internal pressure to create amazing or perfect work. But the whole point of design is to keep learning and keep growing. You can create something perfect today, look back and hate it tomorrow. The biggest thing I wish I did sooner and encourage others to do is to just keep creating and sharing work, it doesn’t have to be perfect but it’s the best way to get there and to get seen. It creates a creative rhythm and encourages you to exercise ‘quick creativity,’ whether it’d be making a poster in 30 minutes of creating a book in a month. The constant act of creating keeps you learning.

Looking back, what advice would you give to your younger self as you started on this journey?

Nothing, I’m very proud of how I’ve learned what I’ve learned—my experiences has shaped who I am and I don’t think advice can change or benefit that. I believe what I believe right now because of how I experienced my past.

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