Commitment makes you a better designer?

Designer, Sushant Ajnikar has had the best of both worlds; he has a technical know-how of the design and due to his vast experience, he has picked up artistic skills. Using these to his advantage he has successfully carved out a versatile line of work. Sushant emphases on being committed to whatever he chooses to do.

Pledge to the passion.

Sushant has mastered the ability to shuttle between being the designer, technical developer and even the project manager; this has come about from his long list of experience both in college as well as the workplace. His job doesn't cease to exist once away from his desk, but only begins once he mounts his bike or relaxes with his dogs. Sushant believes, riding and his love for dogs make him a better designer purely because of the commitment to the cause.

Sushant says, he rides because he wants to, he has 3 dogs because he wanted them in his life and, as he wants these things, he can only think of doing these better. He just rides more and more to become an experienced rider; he will always manage to take out time for his dogs. He chooses to be a designer because he wanted to be one and he is as passionate about it as he is about anything else that he chooses to do. He believes he is the biggest motivation for himself.

In the Client's Shoes.

A whiskey drinker put down his glass to picked up the beer mug when his job called for it, the rider in him restarted the journey on an Enfield and now understanding furniture to make people's home beautiful, Sushant has literally walked a mile in the shoes of his clients. He emphasize that understanding the subject is most important while designing especially when you have the chance to design for unique products.

The Process Makes a Difference.

Sushant is like most designers who concern themselves with the user experience and aiming towards a balanced user-client- designer relationship. His process of delivering a design begins with an in-depth conversation with the client where he understands the brand and its needs/wants. This is followed by flow charts and data depiction which is approved by the client and then is sugar coated to made aesthetically pleasing. It is important to note that in his process the drawing board comes after all the technicalities are sorted which makes Sushant's process very unique.

Working with the Team.

There are designers who don't ask questions, who work in the silo, who think they don't have a say in the copy or the technological application of their design, and worse of all, aren't interested in that bit. As design makes everything look better and if a designer doesn't participate and work 'with' the team, and think that design is exclusive of everything, then there's an attitude that needs immediate change. Sushant works very closely with his technology team as he always wants the best UI/UX possible. He wants the user to be able to experience whatever idea he has in his mind, and he believes only he can communicate clearly to his tech team. He also correctes copy and give feedbacks. If a designer has been working on a brand for long, he or she should point out if a line of copy is wrong in their, or atleast, initiate a discussion.

Build Stronger Insight.

Though insights do not come through or doesn't get articulated in a compelling manner but riding really does help Sushant in his design as different landscapes, colours, cultures and their art forms get imprinted onto his brain during the ride and later when he is on his desk, all of these show up in various forms and ideas. Moreover, riding for Sushant isn't just a means to break away as it also teaches him discipline, trains him to focus and also builds his self-confidence in taking risks and approaching completely new challenges in totally strange circumstances. For him, drawing a parallel between the rider and the designer gives great insights, a parallel where the rider fades away and the designer begins.

Tune into Learning.

Sushant starts his day with a browsing session mainly on his favorite platform: Pinterest; this has opened up his mind to various trends in the industry and hence developed his style. Learning and unlearning is part of his design process, something that tends to block his creativity at times. Ditching technology, riding his beloved bike and indulging in the simplicity of his dog's behaviour is his mantra to avoid the dreaded block.