We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ishika Datta a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Ishika thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

Being a Visual Design student, I have worked on a wide range of projects including the fields of brand identity design, packaging design, motion design, ux/ui, film making and more. While each project has it’s own learning journey and challenges, there was one project which has been etched in my memory. During the 3rd year of our course, we had a module called Design for Social Responsibility (DSR). This module required us to form a group of six and explore one of the topics given to us. Each topic was connected to social responsibility and awareness. The topic we chose was ‘The Preservation of Cultural Heritage Sites’. We were required to create a documentary film on this topic, for which we would have to visit the heritage sites of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, and shoot our film. The first week of this project was packed with classroom work, where we had to conduct secondary research, make moodboards, write a script, brainstorm for sub-topics and a lot of heavy studying. From the second week we started visiting the sites.
While we explored the historical sites, we discovered beautiful hidden gems, hidden stories, emotional and cultural values of the people, structural beauty of architecture and so much more. As a team we learned to divide our work according to our skills and carry out all tasks in an organized way. We perceived the old city in an eye opening new way. I learned more during that project than I ever could sitting within closed walls. Other than learning to work on the field, I also learned the value of teamwork, thinking on the spot and supporting eachother. It was truly a wonderful experience and the project was definitely a success.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Ishika Datta and I am based out of Kolkata, West Bengal, India. I grew up in Bengali family – a family of Engineers and Doctors. Thus my career path had already been predicted to be in that similar direction. However since childhood I had a superpower – art. I have been an artist at heart and expressed my art through paintings, sketches and drawings. However this was considered more of a hobby. The trajectory of my life completely changed when I took the risk of choosing fine arts as a subject when I stepped into high school. My art teacher was the one who urged my parents to consider design as my future career. My parents were extremely supportive, they explored the field with an open mind and supported my decision to become a designer. And that is how I became the first person in my family with a creative career.
My father used to tell me that I should choose a career which falls at the intersection of a Venn diagram where the 3 sections are – what you love to do, what you are good at and what will help the world. And that’s exactly what I did.
I shifted to Gandhinagar, Gujarat for my college. I have studied a 4 year course in Visual Communication. During this course I have studied multiple modules such as illustration, typography, brand identity design, packaging design, motion design, film making and more. My skills and interests developed most in brand identity design, packaging design, illustration and motion design. Apart from academic projects, I have worked on multiple freelance projects and have interned in 3 creative agencies.
The project I am most proud of is a packaging design project for a haircare brand called Moxie, which was an entry for a renowned design competition called Kyoorius Young Blood Awards. I was the youngest contestant to be shortlisted in the first round of the competition. It was truly an amazing experience and was a great boost to my confidence.
I aspire to gain industry experience in a renowned creative agency after my graduation. Being a visual designer has truly been a dream come true and has unleashed the creative potential within me.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

The greatest resource for design inspiration is a fancy grocery store, or maybe an ornate book store with beautiful hard bound books. What I mean is, the greatest resource is the world around us. Everywhere we look, there is design, thus we need to have keen eyes to explore. This is something I learned from the book ‘Steal like an Artist’ by Austin Kleon.
In terms of digital resources, there is an amazing site called brandstyleguides.com where you will find brand kits of famous brands such as Discord, Bose, etc. For typefaces, my go to websites are Fontshare and Befonts. Pigment is a great site for finding great colour combinations. As for design inspiration, sometimes I like to step away from pinterest and behance, and look at the work done by creative studios or winning projects in notable design competitions. This helps me understand the standard of work being done in the industry and how they benefit the consumer. Afterall design is more than just visuals, it’s about solving problems.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I aspire to achieve many goals in my creative journey, however my greatest goal is to establish my own creative studio once I gain ample experience and understand of the design industry. I would love to collaborate with my peers and friends who are also in the creative field and start our own studio. My mission is to land my dream clients, work on meaningful projects and truly make a difference in the design world as a powerful creative agency.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ishikavisualdesign.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/create_crxzy?igsh=MWR4ZDhmd2IweHMzZQ==
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ishika-datta-781515237?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=android_app

Image Credits

Kamal Mittal