A Different View Point

Graphic designer Kritika Trehan finds her creative output is often a reflection of how she views the world at the time

- Kritika Trehan

What role has formal design education played in your career?

KT: I pursued a Bachelor’s in Information Arts and Information Design Practices from Srishti Institute of Art, Design & Technology (majoring in Visual Communication + Information Arts). My design education taught me to focus on the process. More than picking up skills which can only be built over the years - we were taught how to think and to put communication at the forefront, and that is something that drives most of my work today. I feel as long as my work is saying something I can always figure out a way to say it; for me, the ‘what’ is more important than the ‘how’.

What made you branch out into your own practice?

KT: I wanted to work on my own because I primarily wanted to focus on building skills and reinvent my own work, which was becoming increasingly difficult to do with a full-time job. I wanted to work on projects at my own pace and moving cities also made a huge impact on this decision at the time. I didn’t enjoy the pace of Mumbai (where I was working with a design studio) and thought that moving back to Kolkata would allow me to build my dream of a studio steadily.

What kind of work do you do?