Today we’d like to introduce you to Pearl D’souza

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?

I was always the art kid, drawing in the margins of my school textbooks and winning prizes for my drawings. I was fortunate to have parents that supported this little seed of a dream. They enrolled me some incredible art classes from grade 5 to grade 12 and under the guidance of that teacher I learnt more about design and how I could possibly study more about it. I got into one of India’s best design colleges and spent my four years there really honing my skills and tying to understand how I would fit into the larger art and design landscape in India. Post college, while I had dreams of being an independent creative I knew that I also need to learn how to run a business and how to work with clients and so I worked at some incredible studios. Through that time I also continued to freelance on the side, taking up projects over the weekends and learning as much as I could. Then two years ago, I decided to take the plunge and quit my full time job to become completely independent. The journey has been immensely fulfilling so far, and I am excited to keep learning and growing.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?

All journeys that you are passionate about have their ups and down. While I cant complain too much and have to acknowledge my privilege coming into this space, there have been a few hurdles I’ve had to overcome along the way. When you freelance you have to be the boss and the employee, and balancing those roles has been a huge learning curve for me. I have to be the one to motivate myself to work and provide myself with the necessary environment to flourish in, but sometimes I am also the employee that wants to complain about the boss you know?
Money and time are always a tough one to deal with as well. Not having a steady flow of income and not knowing when your next project is coming in has been hard to deal with at times. Work times often shift and are not always stead or fixed. So often I find myself feeling guilty for having ‘too much’ fun in my free time. But I am so grateful to have this flexibility and am learning to use it in my favour.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?

I see my work as being divided into two main things – my commercial illustration and design work, and running my small business.

In my commercial practise I take on client briefs and translate their vision into illustrations and design solutions they require. I work on illustrations for children’s books and comics, book covers, product and packaging design, publication design, website graphics, etc. I am keen on working with themes that include mental health. gender, social justice movements and the natural world. Over the years I have been fortunate enough to work with clients that resonate with these themes and my values, but not all project fall neatly under these. They are still a fun challenge to receive, and I enjoy figuring out what I can bring to the client authentically, and that will showcase my voice and their vision in harmony.

My small business on the other hand is my playground. Here I try to let go of all the rules and just have fun. My store – Paul’s Print Shop – is a culmination of fun little bits and bobs I want to see in the world. I like to experiment with mediums and work on creating stickers, art prints, zines, tote bags, magnets, etc. I have played with paper, wood, clay and cloth, and am excited to see what else I can introduce to the store in the future.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?

I was an introvert growing up, I still am. I always liked a little quiet time that I could spend with myself. I was also always a creative kid, I liked to read, draw, sing and dance, collect odd things like ticket stubs, beads and sequins. I was definitely a little odd but it just made sense to me. I was also an over achiever, always wanting to be the best at what I did. Perfection was the name of the game and if I wasn’t perfect I would quit the game entirely. I am unlearning some of these ideas now, but I think I will forever be that little odd kid with a pocket full of beads.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.pearldsouza.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pearl.dsouza/