– Tsering Namgyal
I was born in Tibet and grew up in TCV like many other Tibetan students my age. After twelve years of life in TCV, I was excited to join college but something was bothering my mind at the same time. Things like, do I need to go to college? What will I do in college and what after college? Where exactly does my interest lie? These were questions my mind was grappling with around that time. So to clear my mind and understand what my heart really desired I took a gap year after finishing high school. Along with my younger brother, I joined the Shambhala Art School in Kullu Manali. Earlier, we were in separate schools and used to miss each other’s company, this was also a way to rekindle that sibling bond that I missed so much. Here, we learned Tibetan Thangka Painting and also used the opportunity to ponder over our future plans. The Art School proved to be a great learning curve for me, apart from being a good foundation for art study it helped me reorient my focus and purpose to pursue a formal degree in art.
About a year later, having decided what I wanted
to do in life, I prepared for the entrance exam to get enrolled in Delhi College of Art. I cleared the exams and joined the college for a degree in BFA in Visual Communication. Few years in and I realised the four years of the college education was coming to an end. In the final year soon after the midterm, I thought of exploring jobs/internships to gain exposure and professional experience. I believed an internship in my area of study to be ideal and I would get to learn a lot too. I had come to know about ENVISION Fellowship from one of their career workshops that I attended earlier. So once their Fellowship 2016 was announced for 2016 I applied, well ahead of time. Luckily my application for ENVISION Fellowship was selected.
For my Internship, ENVISION not only approved Fellowship but also helped recommend me for the Internship at Ishan Khosla Design Studio – ishankhosladesign.com. Ishan Khosla Design (IKD) led by artist Ishan Khosla is one of the best contemporary graphic design studios in the country. The three-month (18 July-18 October 2016) internship at the studio was such an amazing exposure to the world of art and the possibilities therein. I learnt so much and experienced a lot during this internship period. My desire to learn was rewarded handsomely by my superiors who gave me all kinds of tasks and exposure. At the studio, I was in the team working on designs for packages, books, bus shelters advertisement posters, stationaries and website templates. All of these were elite clients with high budget projects and therefore consumed a lot of our time at the studio. Apart from these assigned tasks, I also worked on many illustration projects, also designing the logo, typography and assisted in photo shootings.
Ishan the founder and Director of IKD get invited to various design workshops and functions and he often take his interns and staffs to these events. I was lucky to accompany him to a few where I met Indian designers, industrialists, and young emerging talents. One of the highlights of my three-month internship experience at IKD was the opportunity to attend e-Kyoorius Design Award 2016 ceremony at Fairmont, Jaipur. This award is considered the highest design awards in India with famous designers in attendance including Indians as well as designers from abroad. I was inspired by each one of them and their accomplishments in the f
ield of design.
One of the perks at IKD was the interesting collection of design books in the studio library, amassed from all over the world. I read a lot of these books when I had the time. Through these books and later in my room revisiting the work described in these books, the inspiration/techniques behind these artists and their work led me to aspire big. I believe it has helped increase my knowledge and also my understanding of design/art immensely especially graphic design in today’s’ technologically advanced environment.
To sum up, I would like to thank Empowering the Vision office for the Fellowship, the staff especially for their help and support throughout my Internship period and beyond. Through this Internship, I got many opportunities to learn, practice and grow. I now know how to approach/deal with prospective clients; how to give priority in handling multiple projects; how to file design works digitally and excel in designing with new concepts and ideas. I am confident I can handle any kind of graphic work clients would want me to do for them.
I know I have miles to go before I can claim to be an accomplished graphic designer but I am happy that I could explore, experience and learn so much from those who are so skilled and have accomplished so much through their hard work, creativity and innovation in Graphic Design.