Ta da!

Meet Diya Dasgupta!

This, my lovely peeps, is the young designer who won the 'An Indian Summer' logo design contest! You can see her hard at work above. And below, here are a few of the designs she deftly created for An Indian Summer. And up there, you could see the new banner, while towards the right, you could see the new widget for An Indian Summer. As you look through more of her designs in the post below and in her portfolio, you would figure why I feel like an art curator showcasing the work of a brilliant designer in a gallery :)

Calling colour, pattern and print as her greatest loves, Diya's goal is to design a visual language. Her core design philosophy addresses the notion of (cultural) identity through the medium of design, and thus her work is an infusion of her Indian upbringing and her experiences of other cultures, places, people etc that she has come across in her life so far.

Sketches and paintings - couple of many techniques used by Diya in her textile and graphic design work

 

This is a part of Diya's final year project - The Tactile Manifesto, and is a reflection of her personal design philosophy. The Tactile Manifesto examines whether the homogenizing effect of globalization curbs individuality and thus, creativity, or whether it is possible for designers to maintain their (cultural) identities and creative spirit in a globalizing environment. One of the designs from this project is already being used by a furniture supplier in Sydney.

Diya's project where she designed a concept for a screen/room divider that is inspired by Indian Mughal architecture.

In Diya's words:

I moved to Australia in 2007 to study and have recently completed a Bachelor's degree specialising in Textiles and Graphics/Media at the College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales in Sydney. I completed high school in Berlin, Germany, middle school in Kathmandu, Nepal, primary school in New Delhi and pre-school in Belgium. Although I feel somewhat like a nomad, I consider myself very lucky to have been exposed to different cultures and ways of thinking from such an early age. It has framed the way I see the world and heavily influences my work.

A series of textile concepts designed by Diya, for an Oriental boutique hotel

Diya was one of five finalists in the 2009 Rug Up competition organised by Designer Rugs. The shortlisted design 'Hope' is the first one in the image above.

Diya and I had a great time developing an identity for An Indian Summer. While it was a really tough call trying to select from the many incredible designs that came in, I felt Diya was able to put on paper the essence of what I had in my mind. I wanted a distinct 'motif' that captures the exuberance of this blog, and yet, is simple enough so as to not overpower the brand. 

Like Diya's work? Well, the good news is that she is open to freelance work and exciting projects and I can't recommend her enough! You can reach Diya at this email ID.

Over the next few weeks, I'll try and clean up Mr. Blog to make it more reader friendly. Any one who has tried to clean up a boy knows what a task it is going to be! ;). Drop me a comment / email if there are changes you would like to see. And do tell Diya and me if you like the new logo! 

[All images copyrighted to: Diya Dasgupta]