aesthetics

/iːsˈθɛtɪks,ɛsˈθɛtɪks/

noun

• a set of principles concerned with the nature and appreciation of beauty.
• the branch of philosophy which deals with questions of beauty and artistic taste.

Art and Design have been a huge part of my life ever since childhood. I still remember when I used to come back home from school after exams, I’d take out my drawing book and paints and just illustrate for hours on end. It was my way of expressing that I’m free. Even in school, I knew academics weren’t my best suit. But it was the complete opposite when it came to art. Marks never mattered. People have always asked me whether marks ever affected my growth in terms of being successful, but it never has. Marks are just a reflection of one's performance in the subject and not the core talent.

Talking in terms of design and taking pictures, grades should never define anybody’s ability to be creative. The presentation and understanding of the work can be graded but not the talent one possesses. There is no particular bound for one to be creative. It's unlimited. The important thing to remember is, each and every one of us has a different way to express ourselves or have different aesthetics. Every artist has a different meaning associated with design. It’s important to be respectful and understanding of the other artist’s work and vice versa.

I was introduced to aesthetics well into my second year of college. I started to slowly figure out my sense of style in terms of design and photography. Every artist has their own set of rules for aesthetics or some simply don’t.

For me, aesthetic is balance. When I look at a visual through my camera lens, I try to make symmetry and uniformity in terms of lines and curves. The visual should suggest a certain kind of organized aspect for it to make a perfect composition.

I have this constant need to organise the things around me. It’s more about sorting the tangible items. And that gets followed into my designs and photographs as well. I try to be symmetrical, make the visuals fit in a particular box. Make a layout for each of my frame and artwork. I’m in awe of negative space when it comes to frames. I try to make my frame clean so that the focus is solely on the product rather than the composition. The composition should complement the product being showcased. Aesthetics are not something you can learn to acquire, they inch slowly into your sense of design while practicing or experimenting.

After graduation, I wanted to hone my graphic design skills. Get a more professional hands-on experience for the design language I wanted to create and establish. When I was briefed about the job description at The Mavericks, it fit perfectly with my expectations for a job. I was encouraged to explore in terms of different mediums and that made me even more confident about my design aesthetics.