Nikita Sawant, Visual Communication Designer

“Be a designer first for passion, then profession”

Freedom Tree / Pic Courtesy : Nikita Sawant

Give us an insight into your journey from being a student of art to being a successful Visual Communication designer today.

Having an inclination towards drawing since my days in school, I was somehow quite sure of choosing a career in the same field. The journey has been all about wanting to learn something more, something new. New technique, new software, anything.
I started off with being a Visualizer in Advertising, to a Graphic Designer / Illustrator, to a User Interface Designer as of now. I wouldn’t call myself a successful designer, not just yet, there is still so much out there, unexplored!

Bengal Tourism / Pic Courtesy : Nikita Sawant

Where did you undertake formal training for the same and how important do you feel is international exposure in the design industry?

Being a graduate art student at Sophia Polytechnic, Mumbai helped me get my basic skills on point, it’s my alma mater and MIT Institute of Design, Pune for my post-graduation gave me that one necessary nudge into being a Visual Communication Designer.
International exposure is not only limited to going abroad for education or work, yes, that is definitely a value addition, but I feel it’s more about being aware of what’s happening in the design world around you, understanding their psyche and keeping in pace with the updates. With multiple online design platforms giving exposure to young and professionals alike, you can follow the work of the people who inspire you, learn from them and evolve. So yes, international exposure does make a difference.

Krsna : The Story Illustrated / Pic Courtesy : Nikita Sawant

How would you define your personal style? Where do you draw inspiration from?

I do not really follow one particular style, it always depends on the kind of project that I am working with.
Although overall I love to follow a clean and de-cluttered design, with a conscious usage of color. I love working with color and discovering their theories. I have been taking inspiration from a number of people and things that keep happening day-to-day.
I am in awe with the works of Stephan Sagmeister, Jessica Walsh and Mario Miranda to name a few.

The Buvette / Pic Courtesy : Nikita Sawant

Which has been your most memorable piece of work that you have created? Can you give us a brief description about it?

I constantly keep going back to my final year branding project done at MIT, ‘The Buvette’. That exercise helped me a lot to get a better understanding into the design process, why is it important to be followed and how it validates your design. It also proved of great use, while I was working on a live branding project with Freedom Tree.

The Buvette / Pic Courtesy : Nikita Sawant

What are the challenges that you face while working on such projects?

The challenge always lies in trying to figure out, what is the need of the hour, what does your consumer want, why and how can you make it new and better for them and what is the experience, you would want them to take back.

Freedom Tree / Pic Courtesy : Nikita Sawant

What is your usual workflow pattern for any assignment?

The workflow pattern more or less follows around :

Research | Study > Mind Mapping | Keywords > Scribbles | Explorations > Moodboard > Color and Typo > Final > Extensions of the project

Freedom Tree / Pic Courtesy : Nikita Sawant

What are the tools/software that you use regularly as a part of your work?

Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and Indesign are my primary softwares, besides these I am currently learning to work with Sketch.

Any message for the aspiring designers?

As I said earlier, it is great to constantly keep evolving and rediscovering yourself. Try and learn as much as you can, keep venturing into something new, make mistakes, get out of the comfort zone. I believe that is what the industry is looking for. Be a designer first for passion, then profession!