Friday, 15th February 2019, was a fairly astounding day, for there was a special treat for all the students at Avantika University. This time the guest was a highly renowned communication designer with superior works in branding. This phenomenal guest, (a prodigy of MIT-ID to say the least) was Amir Khan Pathan. He is a communication designer who started his own studio after college known as Amir Khan Pathan Studios, working with many brands and amplifying their business through branding. In its first few years itself, it has worked with many brands across the globe and his work has been highly praised, both in industry and academics. A MITID product, he has been brilliant in his work since day 1. With projects like ARH Design Academy, Pastel Balloon, NativeRoots, Zoomcar, Sona Agro Fresh etc., he has created a niche’ for himself and his studio. He has recently bagged the project ‘Sex, Drugs and theatre’, an upcoming web series on ZEE5 Original. This too, is to say the least. We have just begun talking about his projects.
So, the session started with a dynamic video on introduction to graphic design and its elements. He showed us what all things a designer should keep his focus on and what all things we need to ace in. So, the video was about colour, shapes, forms and textures and how important of a role they play in every design aspect and fundamental, and how we, as designers should master their attributes. Then a video about balance, layouts and compositions, made the students literally look at their assignments and go, “Oh…so that’s what was missing till now”. A great learning experience from a designer himself. Simple tricks, no gibberish and all awes. Next, it was time for his work showcase and that was the highpoint for all the students to see a designer in action, talk about his work and how he went about it. He taught us about how phenomenal the world of communication and branding can be and just how much interesting it can get through one of his college projects. It was a branding project for a pomegranate juice. Yes. Pomegranate juice. He toured us his entire thought process and decision making and how colours, textures, fonts, and identity exploration works. Needless to say, the students were perplexed and glued to their seats. He also showed us some more of his projects like branding for trucks, cranes and many more. It was like a dreamland for all the students.
He also introduced us to Indianama, an inclusive platform that curates and showcases the work of multi-disciplinary artists, across boundaries, in which he undertook a project for ‘Mustafa Barf Depot’ and gave him a brand identity by creating a personalised logo and its accessories. We were witnessing pure skill at the moment and how he harnessed it.
Then came the most exciting part of the session. We had to brand ourselves. We had to take our
initials and create a brand identity for ourselves. All the session came boiling right down to this
moment. Everyone was surging with the new techniques and inspiration given by Amir in the whole
session. It was time to give it our all for ourselves. And so, we began. People were scribbling like
frenzy, drawing initials in various fonts, jotting down their attributes and characteristics, and
incorporating it within the logo. Needless to say, everyone got first-hand help from the maestro
himself. A session to be remembered for years to come, since we learned so much in so little time.
This session is going to stick with us for a long long time to come.
Written by,
Atharva Dahotre