Creative Gaga

Design is a vastly misunderstood field. When a child shows a talent for sketching, well-meaning people around them often say, go into art, go into design. But what they rarely mention is that design, at its core, is thinking. It is not just making something beautiful. It is making something that makes someone question, feel, or see differently. Every considered design carries within it an argument, a point of view, a provocation.

Most websites are designed for one kind of user. Bharat Connect isn't. Every day, banks, NBFCs, billers, payment apps, aggregators, technology service providers, and businesses rely on the platform for completely different reasons. Some are looking for onboarding information; others need technical documentation, ecosystem insights, operational guidelines, or product updates. Yet they all arrive at the same destination. That made Bharat Connect's website a unique design challenge.

"Can we get on a call for the briefing tomorrow?" "We've had a slight change in the brief." "Our CEO is travelling next week. Can we present this Friday instead?" “Do we have the resources? Can we get more time?" "Who's taking the printouts of the moodboard?" "Can someone check slide 10?" "Let's do one final dry run at 8 a.m." If you have worked in marketing or an agency, you have probably heard some of these before. This is what a pitch sounds like.

Q If someone only knew you as a UX Designer, what would surprise them most about your journey through illustration and visual storytelling? A Many of my colleagues recognise me primarily as a UX designer, so they are often surprised when they discover my Instagram art account or my illustrated books. It’s incredibly fulfilling when someone reaches out to say, "I saw your work and loved it; please keep posting." Q You have worked across children's publishing, animation, illustration and UX.

There is a point in product design when familiarity starts working against you. A smartphone has become such an established object that its basic form is almost predetermined. It needs a screen, cameras, a battery, and a shape that fits comfortably in the hand. So when every phone begins to resemble another, the interesting design challenge becomes: how do you make a familiar object feel different? The POVA 8 Pro approaches that question through its visual language.

It's a significant moment for India's illustration and comics community. Illustrators Charbak Dipta and Anand RK have been nominated for the 2026 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards - widely regarded as the highest honour in the world of comics and graphic storytelling. While both artists work in the same medium, the stories that earned them recognition couldn't be more different, highlighting the incredible range of contemporary Indian illustration.

Product branding has always been about more than attractive visuals. Every image on a product page communicates quality, trust, and personality before a customer reads a single word. In today's crowded e-commerce landscape, where buyers compare dozens of similar products in minutes, visual consistency has become one of the strongest competitive advantages. For years, producing those visuals required professional photographers, studios, models, post-production teams, and significant budgets.

Tuhina, a New Delhi–based visual artist, builds her style through instinct and self-learning. Growing up around architecture and design shaped her way of seeing both structure and culture. Instead of following tutorials, she explored tools like Procreate on her own, allowing her visual language to evolve naturally. Her work is driven largely by colour, often rejecting realism in favour of bold, unexpected palettes.

Sunayna’s illustrations are deeply rooted in storytelling, Indian culture, and personal memories. Inspired by people, expressions, attire, and everyday life, she creates cheerful characters and relatable moments that instantly connect with viewers. Her work often revisits childhood experiences - playing with friends, eating pickles with grandma, picking mangoes, or quietly observing nature.

Building Beyond the Moment Most creative work today is still built around moments - pitches, presentations, launches. But Museum of Momentum (Mumo) approaches design differently, focusing on what happens over time rather than in a single instance. Biim Suncare. A bold Gen Z-focused identity for BIIM Suncare, designed to stand out on TikTok through striking visuals and packaging.