Star in the Making!
Karan Gujar hails from Baramati, Maharashtra, where awareness about the field of design is nearly zilch. Despite all social pressures, Karan stuck to his will and joined MIT Institute of Design. The journey through undergrad school was not a cake walk either. While struggling to cope with the design culture, he was asked to pack his bags and leave by the faculty. This setback shook him. Instead of accepting defeat, he doubled down and hit back with flying colours.
Choosing the field of communications and visual design came naturally to Karan, as it is something that strongly interests him.
Apart from branding and identity design, Karan has undertaken projects of visual experimentation in 3D/2D, Motion, UI and Product Design.
Karan throws light on the process he follows before taking up any project. First gets a complete grasp on the client’s requirement, and thoughts on the brand. For this he creates multiple questionnaires, surveys, mood boards, reference boards, strategy charts, etc.
This leads him to the final design creation and exploration stage. Through this process Karan has observed that the clients are usually satisfied with the final result. The journey and regular interaction helps gain clarity and create relevant designs.
An important landmark in his career was the opportunity to work with Adobe while studying design. Karan worked on a self-initiated project from which a project named Wave Reel got featured on Behance. And after a year the Art Director of Adobe reached out to Karan regarding collaboration. He helped rework a frame within the given guidelines. Karan successfully completed the task, and now the artwork is being used as the splash screen for Adobe audition CC 2019.
Later many of his projects like Food Avadansh, Tathya, Nandini and Shodh got featured on different platforms. This gave him exposure and brought in more collaboration and freelance opportunities.
While touching on the challenges of work, Karan believes the design market is too versatile, with one of the biggest problems being a low budget. Many clients don’t value the work a designer does, and sometimes expect projects to be done without pay. A few clients expect the designer to be available round the clock with endless changes, thus do not adhere to work ethics.
Fortunately for Karan, his international clients have helped him learn more about being a professional freelancer. Looking to the future, Karan plans to work with an organisation that will help him grow and reach his potential. I would also like to eventually pursue a Masters degree in design and set up a successful design firm.
Looking to the future, Karan plans to work with an organisation that will help him grow and reach his potential. I would also like to eventually pursue a Masters degree in design and set up a successful design firm.
