Student Journeys: From Business (and Psychology) to Graphic Designer

“Design is a powerful tool that can only be actualised if you are willing to take risks.”

As we bring yet another inspiring Student Journey to you, we must mention that this is a particularly special one. And that is because Rahul Raghav is not just another inspiring AND learner, but also a former colleague who worked with AND Academy while learning here, and an exceptional graphic designer to boot.

So, to say I was excited to meet him again and discuss his learning journey at AND is an understatement. During the interaction, Rahul disclosed his inspiration for pursuing the Diploma in Graphic Design course, along with his learnings, experiences and challenges at AND. He also did an in-depth analysis of two of his projects for us, and shared some invaluable advice for future learners looking to chart the same career trajectory as him.

Here’s a sneak peek into our conversation before we jump right into it!

Contents:

• 1) Rahul’s background
• 2) What made him pursue Graphic Design
• 3) His experience at AND
• 4) Challenges he faced during the course
• 5) Visual narrative project (Jamboree)
• 6) Type-based poster project
• 7) His key learnings at AND
• 8) Career aspirations
• 9) His advice for learners

Could you tell me a bit about yourself and your background?

Sure! But let me warn you, my background is quite non-linear; so I’ll start with what you know already. I have recently completed my Diploma in Graphic Design from AND Academy, alongside which I was also working at AND as a Graphic Designer. So I am not exactly a novice in the field and have some industry experience. However, academically speaking, I had pursued a Bachelor’s degree in Startup and Entrepreneurship Management, and also dabbled a little bit in Psychology, before making the jump to Graphic Design .

Well, that sounds like quite a transformation already - I’m all ears!

What inspired you to make the shift and pursue design?

I’ve always had a deep passion for creativity, and I believe that, unknowingly, my background in business also paved the way for me to pursue design. However, if I have to mention the one factor that truly inspired me to take action, then it has to be my admiration for Steve Jobs.

His work at Apple and the journey he had to undertake to build the company into the face of innovation that it is today were deeply rooted in his experience with design. The fact that something as seemingly inconsequential as calligraphy could catalyse a paradigm shift in technological innovation only goes to show how powerful design is.

This is the only field where you can approach one problem from multiple perspectives, with each being right in its own way. This unique approach to problem-solving is what spoke to me and why I chose to pursue Graphic Design.

Ahh, so you’re another Steve Jobs ‘inspiree’ (I just made up that word)! I can completely relate with that.

Your experience at AND was quite unique. After all, you were not just an AND learner but also an employee here. Were there any challenges you faced during your course?

Of course! As you mentioned, I was not just an AND learner but also had professional responsibilities to shoulder. And balancing the two was naturally challenging. But putting aside my unique circumstances, there were other challenges too that I faced during the course.

I am a self-taught designer and had worked with various brands before enrolling at AND. So although the course curriculum was intense and diverse, it was not the content that posed a challenge for me; rather, it was the process of developing a design-oriented mindset and approach.

There are several aspects to design and the design process that I didn’t even know existed before my experience at AND. For instance, when I worked as a freelancer, I never really used sketches to create deliverables. My proficiency in tools meant that I often took a very software-first approach to design. But the process at AND helped me understand how sketching can be used to improve and streamline the design process.

It was only after joining the course that I realised that there is so much more to Graphic Design than just software. Your choice of typography, colour or process needs to be a deliberate effort rooted in design principles in order to create meaningful deliverables. The ability to tie all these together within a common story, context and design is the hallmark of a good designer. It was in adopting this design-oriented process and mindset that I faced the biggest challenge.

That said, as challenging and intense as it was, I can’t deny that thanks to my unique circumstances I also had a bit of an advantage over other learners. I was working alongside my mentors, and this gave me the opportunity to engage and directly interact with them whenever I hit a roadblock.

That’s interesting! It's heartening to see that you found a silver lining amid the significant challenge of learning to think like a ‘designer’.

The courses at AND Academy come with a strong practical component. How was your experience with the project work?

I undertook five projects during my course. Each project introduced us to a different aspect of Graphic Design, like design thinking, design research, campaign design, logo design, etc. These were highly demanding projects that also required us to utilise skills outside the direct purview of Graphic Design. So not only did I get to upskill in different areas of Graphic Design, but the projects also helped me build key allied skills like storytelling, project management and client interaction.

“It [AND Academy] teaches students to go beyond software and understand design as a discipline. AND is probably the only institute I know of that teaches design so holistically.”

There are two projects in particular that we’ve heard great praise for. Could you please take us through them, starting with the visual narrative project, if that’s okay?

Absolutely! To provide some context, the visual narrative project revolved around Jamboree, an online design confluence organised by our sister institution, Indian Institute of Art & Design (IIAD), New Delhi. We were required to understand Jamboree as a brand and create a social media post that adhered to its brand voice, personality and guidelines.

The post was supposed to communicate one core idea from any chapter of the book The Art of Creative Thinking, by Rod Judkins. I chose the idea “Be committed to commitment”, which highlights the importance of perseverance in achieving true expertise in any skill.

Visual Narrative Project: Opening Post

Since I was going for a carousel format for the post, I initially wanted a concept that could be broken down into a few distinct takeaways. The chapter placed heavy emphasis on The Beatles, which was a four-member group. This inspired me to create a post combining the band’s success story with Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000-hour rule for mastering any skill.

Once I had a rough concept at hand, I further researched The Beatles, found a way to make Jamboree’s branding align with my concept, and created a few rough sketches before finalising the post content. The final submission was a thoughtfully crafted story, with each slide building on the larger concept of mastery and commitment. I started by introducing The Beatles and gradually reinforced the underlying message of commitment through specific images, keywords and quotes.

For instance, I only used black-and-white image cut-outs to maintain a vintage aesthetic. This created a nice contrast against Jamboree’s vibrant colour palette. I also used the famous quote “No masterpiece was created by a lazy artist” to subtly re-emphasise the overall voice of the post. Since a good design should be inherently moving, I ended the social media post with a call to action for the audience. This also aligned well with Jamboree’s playful and bold personality.

Visual Narrative Project: CTA for viewers

Wow, that looks great, sounds very well thought-out, and definitely leaves me wanting more!

Could you also take us through your type-based poster project?

Sure! This was my second project, and we had to design a type-based poster that revolved around any one word from the English language. Although the brief for this project was quite simple, there was a lot of back-end effort and thought process that went into its production. The word I chose was ‘vision’, primarily because I am a very vision-driven person. But jokes apart, the project proved to be quite challenging since we were not allowed to use any direct imagery to depict the word.

This essentially meant that I had to work on several rough sketches before I could shortlist the top five designs. If I remember correctly, I tried over 30 sketches before I could reach some sense of satisfaction with my concept. I even went ahead and prepared the digital versions for each of my shortlisted sketches to get a grasp of what the final design would look like.

Type-based Poster: Shortlisted rough sketches

Since this was a type-based project, the idea was to learn to play around with colour and typography to convey the message. The type font I selected was Helvetica for the heading and DIN Pro for the body. When it came to the overall design and colour palette, I drew inspiration from the ancient Chinese philosopher, Laozi. In fact, the major crux of the poster is built on a famous quote of his- “ I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience and compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.”

If you look closely, you’ll notice that the poster utilises geometric lines as a base to define ‘vision’. Since I couldn’t directly depict ‘vision’, I had to define it in my own terms as a starting point. Laozi’s quote, in my opinion, was an excellent representation of what ‘vision’ truly implies. You need clarity of thought and action to achieve any vision, both of which can only be reached through simplicity, patience and compassion. That is why I used clean geometric lines to graphically depict clarity of thought, and through it, ‘vision’.

Type-based Poster: Design inspiration and ideation

Similarly, the colour palette for the poster drew inspiration from two paintings: one is a portrait of Laozi and the other was the famous Blue Marble picture of Earth. Light orange and light green were the primary colours in Laozi’s painting. In terms of their meaning, light green stands for peace while light orange is often used to create a calming effect.

The midnight blue I used was taken from the Blue Marble picture. There were two reasons why I chose this picture for the project. First, midnight blue is a smooth shade that evokes feelings of stability and strength in the viewer. The unique history the picture carries also provides the word ‘vision’ with a parallel definition and meaning. Additionally, the Blue Marble picture, from a design perspective, has a heavily wired layout. This served as another inspiration for the geometrical lines used to create the word ‘vision’ in the poster.

Type-based Poster: Final Outcome

What a layered approach to a simple project brief! No wonder the result is amazing!

Let us now talk about your overall experience of learning at AND Academy. What were the things that stood out for you?

I think AND’s curriculum is what particularly stood out for me. I honestly feel the institute provides one of the best and most extensive curricula when it comes to teaching design, especially in an online environment.

Design as a discipline is quite distinct in the sense that you need hands-on learning to truly acquire the skills. Every design aspirant needs this training to be able to think like a designer. This is exactly what the curriculum at AND focuses on. It teaches students to go beyond software and understand design as a discipline. AND is probably the only institute I know of that teaches design so holistically.

Another factor that contributed to my pleasant experience at AND is the established and experienced faculty. Mentors here are not just academicians, but design experts who bring with them extensive knowledge and industry experience. This, combined with the effective use of a Learning Management System (LMS) and other digital tools truly mitigated the common challenges I had expected to face in an online learning environment.

What are your career aspirations after the course and have they transformed in any way?

I would say my career aspirations have drastically changed after my experience at AND. Previously, I wanted to be a creative director but knew I lacked the skills and academic experience that the role required. That was a major realisation which pushed me to this course.

However, my experience at AND has certainly transformed my aspirations as a designer. I now understand the intricacies of design and the role which skills like storytelling, design thinking, teamwork, management and coordination play in creating meaningful design. How a simple icon can be designed into a logo and transform the branding of a company is something I’ve understood during this course.

The knowledge and confidence I discovered at AND have inspired me to take a unique approach to creative direction. I now want to work to combine my entrepreneurial background with my design skills to create design services that directly cater to the client, especially those from Tier 2 / Tier 3 cities.

Your sense of purpose and motivation is quite palpable, and honestly also quite inspirational!

Is there any advice you’d like to give future AND learners?

I guess my advice to any designer or future learner out there is rooted in my learnings at AND Academy. Design can be an extremely fulfilling career, but the journey to that job satisfaction is often frustrating. You need conviction and self-awareness to tap into your potential as a designer.

The difference between a good and a great designer is the ability to step back and allow the process to take its time. So, have patience and remember it takes time to realise your vision. Design is a powerful tool that can only be actualised if you are willing to take risks.

Just the wisdom we expected from an experienced designer like yourself!

Thank you so much, Rahul, for taking time out for this discussion. We wish you all the best for the future and hope you continue to inspire budding designers through your work.

Has Rahul’s journey inspired the designer within you?

If the answer is yes, then take a look at the Graphic Design courses at AND , which are suitable for learners of all skill levels. Moreover, the courses are stackable, i.e. you can start learning with the 16-week, part-time Certificate course and then decide to continue your learning for another 16 weeks in order to graduate with a Diploma, or carry on to earn a PG Diploma over the course of a year. Alternatively, you could opt for the 36-week, full-time PG Diploma in Graphic Design course if that works better for you.

In case you have further queries, contact our Course Advisors for assistance.

Note: All information and/or data from external sources is believed to be accurate as of the date of publication.