Pooja Jagadeesh — “We aren’t just fulfilling the client’s need but [trying to] broaden their horizon about what might actually be the problem to solve.”
Pooja is Design Director at Varana Designs, with a background in Brand Design. Her work encompasses a wide range of disciplines, while remaining connected to her visual design roots. On Instagram, she shares her effortless and enviable style. Some excerpts from our interview below.
Fill in the blank: Being a designer is NOT fashionable.
Fill in the blank: Being a designer IS about being responsible.
What is the most valuable (design) lesson you’ve learnt from someone who is not a designer?
Not going into whom from, but I think the idea of empathy, and compassion. Design is essentially all about being able to think for somebody else, right? You’re trying to put yourself in somebody’s shoes constantly, or think through the eyes of somebody else because you want to get to design solutions. I think lessons of empathy usually come from people who are non-designers.
When you think of an “Indian” design language, are there any characteristics that you see commonly that come to mind?
No, I think any sort of design coming out of India that takes cognizance of diversity or represents regionalism in some way without being overtly ethnic or wearing the vernacular language on your sleeve, not necessarily flogging that, but which can find a balance doing that and still talk to a very modern contemporary sort of global audience — I think that would define Indian design. It still borrows from the Indian-ness. I think that represents the diversity of India.
When we apply design as Indians in the international context, how does is it different from when we practise design in our own country?
Given my background as a communication designer, I think it’s far more challenging designing for India. Global modern contemporary language is fairly homogenous. If you had to design for the world, the solution that’ll work will be fairly homogenous. But if you have to design for India, the challenge is the fact that there is so much diversity and you have to talk to all of those various sets in one language and to then create that language — I think that’s far more challenging.
Being creative is largely about having the courage to fail repeatedly. Could you give an example from your own experiences of a project that didn’t go as planned? What went wrong, and what did you learn/take away from that experience?
I think many times what the client thinks or aspires for is not necessarily the best solution for the project. It’s probably not what they need, but it comes from their own sort of personal prejudice or the need to fit in or trying to be somebody else. I think sometimes we end up trying to answer that brief and miss the whole point of what might actually be the real need or real solution on a project. Maybe that’s where we come across our responsibility as designers. We aren’t just fulfilling the client’s need but [trying to] broaden their horizon about what might actually be the problem that they’ve set out to solve.
Usually when someone hires you as a designer they don’t expect to be taught something. How do you persuade them to think differently?
I think as designers you have to be extremely patient and have the tenacity to handhold your clients and help them through this process. That also comes from being open to letting go of a project. Probably you’re not the right person, or it might not even be a design problem at all to begin with. It might [need] some other kind of intervention. We need to have the courage to let go and tell the client that this is not the right thing to do. When you display that you have that conviction and state it, most people listen. I think you just need to stand your ground most of the time.
Do you have a pet peeve?
Often, you might have come up with the most amazing design solution, but everything falls flat when it’s not implemented properly. You sometimes feel like you’ve lost control after you’ve handed over that set of digital files or brand guidelines to your client. You just don’t know if it’ll actually see the light of day like you intended it to be. You don’t have control over a lot of functions and what happens when the design is out there. That’s extremely frustrating, but it’s something that you learn to deal with. You find ways to connect with the client and make him understand the responsibility or the importance of good implementation. Also, I think as a designer you need to have a level of detachment because you can’t control everything [beyond] a point.
And finally, to wrap up — How do you spend a perfect Sunday in Bangalore? Any specific recommendations or must-trys?
I think a Bangalore thing to do on a Sunday is a beer and biryani lunch at home — I think we’re fairly lazy. Meeting up with people and catching up with friends.
Follow Pooja on Instagram @poojajagadeesh
Varana Design on Instagram @varanaworld
Varana Design Website: https://varanaworld.com/
This interview is a part of a series of conversations with designers from Bangalore called ADI Diaries. You can find more interviews here.
Participate in Bengaluru Design Week at http://www.blrdesignweek.com/
