Unleashing the Core of Visual Design

CG. Please share with us how your journey into visual arts began and how you took it forward thereafter?

Broti: My journey into visual arts started at a very young age, wherein I would spend a lot of my time in school drawing and conceptualising comic book characters. This progressed into a formal design education at NIFT, Delhi, where I got to hone my skills as a graphic designer and illustrator. Since then, visual design has been a core of my work in every form

CG. What features about this genre of work attract you the most and why?

Broti: What I love the most about visual design is its ability to tell stories. You can build entire worlds with a few strokes of ink while at the core of communication design lies the ability to form narratives. Visual design, especially illustration, is a very powerful medium at our disposal for that.

CG. How do you practically achieve such minute details as in your portrayal of busy cities like Mumbai?

Broti: I spend a lot of time researching, conceptualising and sketching. I create a strong roadmap of the process I want to follow for my illustration. So, by the time I am finally drawing my cityscapes, I know exactly what I want to do.

CG. What are the core qualities you feel a visual artist must have and how can they be honed?

Broti: The ability to visualise and to keep experimenting and learning new techniques are at the core. They can be honed by constantly drawing, practicing and trying out tools/techniques/software's. There are tremendous resources available on the internet where one can learn these skills for free. You tube is one such example.

CG. What makes you appreciate black and white more than colour across your works?

Broti: My mentor used to say, "If it works in black & white, it will work in colour." This phrase stuck with me and I continue to work with it. I feel black & white also helps me build compositions better and generally lets me play with light and shadow. It also is thematically very Film Noir like, a genre of film-making I love from a visual aesthetic standpoint

CG. Having said that, how do you choose the minimal and selective use of colour when you choose to apply it?

Broti. Minimal use of colour helps me convey the the me of the illustration. So, if its needed, I use a colour palette derived from that particular theme.

CG. Please tell us about your company, Define, and your role over there?

Broti. Define is a design and strategy firm that specialises in Brand Design. We work closely with businesses and identify and develop systems for their brands, products and services. We end up working a lot with early stage start-ups and help design their brand identity from the ground-up, from both a strategic and visual design standpoint. I am a co-founder there.

CG. Where do you wish to go further as a visual artist and what kind of work are you looking for?

Broti. I am heavily inclining towards motion in visual design these days. I have started experimenting with animation for a few years and am exploring creative coding right now. I intend to use motion in brand identity work a lot in future projects.

CG. Finally, please select your own favourite works.

Broti. I would pick the guitar bot, my human figure pattern, the Mumbai skyline and a few others displayed here.

CG. What would be your words of wisdom to those starting out or interested in this field?

Broti. Never stop learning. It has never been easier to learn new things. Perseverance is key. Do not underestimate yourself and what future you will bring to the table