overteandcookies-blog

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It's pouring illustration. Week 4 of my time here has surrounded me in sitting with my laptop and pen tablet for hours on the end. But here’s the thing, this is exactly what I’ve been looking forward too. Since assignments in school almost never require a full illustrative job to be done, I’ve wanted to work on something that does for the longest time. Of course I draw at home, but venturing into a live illustration project is something I’ve wanted to do for so long. And that chance is here. I’m illustrating a series of posters that will be put up in the elevators here at the Taj Lands End, Mumbai, where the store I’m working at is also situated. I’d been given free reign over this one, just as long as the posters looked like they belonged to the company. Immediately I thought of pattern, looking at all the beautiful, peculiar pieces garments that are produced here in house. I wanted to highlight the pattern and the fabrics of these garments, and I knew I wanted to add a lot of colour, while still maintaining that luxurious brand image for the final outcome. I’ve been working on these posters for about a week now, and I can say they’re coming out just great. And what’s better than to pair them with some hot, freshly deep-friend onion pakodas as it rains cats and dogs outside?

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SURROUNDED BY PATTERN.

A new year, a new internship!

This time it’s four months, and I can say working at a luxury fashion company has been surprisingly nice. I was more than disappointed and bummed when I didn’t manage to acquire the kind of illustration based internship I wanted for this span, and it really put me down. Then, this internship opportunity walked in and it turned into... something, a little after I started working here.

Store situated in the lobby of a five-star hotel, colours and patterns and luxury screamed out at me the moment I entered the store. At this point I still didn’t know what I had to expect. The talking and the interview happened, and I decided to take some time to think over my options. I guess it was the mystery of the kind of work that I’ll be doing was what interested me, and before I knew it, I had confirmed the internship.

Working here has been great so far. I’m surround by artists alike, who so far understand the way us creatives work in their own way. I am the only graphic designer in this office, hence I’m usually hunched over my laptop while the fashion designers scramble about the whole time talking measurements and patterns and fashion terms I don’t fully understand. Yet, there’s a homely feeling.

Day one, and I was put on a task to do something I have zero knowledge about. Researching on POS systems for the new website that they want to build. My mind was going red alert, but I tried to maintain a cooler exterior. I had some help, and to be honest I’m still trying to figure that part out, but the rest of the week was loaded with fun and new stuff.

Including getting started on a new logo for the brand and also applications for it (which, actually did take me like forty different variations to land on one that’s almost been finalised), working on new invoice designs, and then finally, the project that got my inner illustrator tingling. Designing the border of a sari! A whole border! God, was it fun. I was given a sample embroidery pre-stitched and was asked to make a pattern out of it. The idea came to me instantly. I broke the embroidery into small parts digitally, and mix and matched and duplicated them to create my pattern. In the end, I had something I’m extremely  proud of, and I’m probably going to scream when it gets turned into a sari!

All in all, it’s been a great week and a half, and although each day I never know what to expect, I think I’m slowly blending into this internship.

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Two weeks went by and I didn't post. I'm probably going to get into trouble for this. So I think I'll have some daily posts coming in. But working on this project has been so cool. I had to do everything from scratch, design for a FinTech tour- the logo, the illustrations and then also the applications. I have some free time on my hand right now since today is the presentation and very honestly I'm horrible at those, my regular minor stutter just increases ten fold but I had some friends calm me down so I'm hoping it goes really well. And I know my stuff, so that helps. But a ton happened in two weeks, and honestly the environment here is really chill. I didn't feel any kind of pressure and I had all the freedom to take this project in any kind of direction I wanted, and when I was feeling frustrated and my mind was blank, I tried to befriend Fifi. Didn't work. She really is the grumpiest cat I've ever met, but she's still cute as a button. Today she let me pet her for a little and it's been a while. Last weekend was really good, I finally met up with two of my closest school friends after two weeks, and it felt as though it had been months. I figure it's probably because we're so used to being with each other all the time. But we went to a Korean restaurant and had some really good food and just chilled, it was fun. Back to the work stuff though, I'm really happy with what I've produced and I couldn't be more satisfied with where my internship is going. Three weeks are already up and I only have two and half left, and I guess I'll be a little sad to leave. When I was first given full freedom to work with, I didn't know what to do. There was a brief but I could take any direction I really wanted. That sometimes doesn't happen in school. And it was new, but a good experience. Now I beat hope this presentation goes well and then I treat myself to some ice cream.

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It’s weird to say that I impatiently waited for replies from at least one of the countless places I had applied to for this summer internship. Alas, the only good things that came out from the wait was my new habit of refreshing and checking my mail every three hours or so, and getting to intern at a place that checks all my boxes for work environment. Relaxed, laid back, and free. I’m a hyper person by nature, so I keep moving and shifting around, and even though I do not want to stereotype anything or any place, I was worried about getting into a place where I’d have to sit stiff like a block and work. Here, I get to pet a cat every two minutes (insert heart eyes emoji)! The first thing that I saw when I entered Isosceles was the neon green walls that screamed to me, and then the lazy, fluffy cat lying smack in the centre of the table. Her name is Fifi. She’s two years old. And then I realised that it’s just that room, and that’s it, the work place. I couldn’t make much out of it but then I sat down and the normal interview stuff happened, showing my portfolio, explaining what I learnt in year two, yada yada. And then I was suddenly told about the project they’re working on, and what they’d like me to do. I was like, “that’s it?” And I voiced that. I got a yes, I said I could start the next day, but it was a Friday so I was told to chill for a longer weekend instead and start on Monday. I left happily, with eyebrows raised. School told us to study the hierarchy at our work place, but here, me, my employer and the cat were all at the same level. Cool. Monday rolled by and I reached early (in your face, school, I can make it on time), and I was immediately smothered by Fifi climbing up on my desk and staring at me like I was an extraterrestrial. I stared back. My employer fed the kittens outside the office and then shared the files for the current project, and I started working on the illustrations for it after understanding the brief and the look of it and all that stuff. Fifi found a cosy place to sleep on my maroon, soft, laptop sleeve and it was the cutest thing ever. Yes I will mention her in each of my blog update. Mom had packed the world’s food for me and half of my bag was full of edible items, but then the sweet auntie working in the office kitchen walked in every half an hour with a new treat. Coffee and juice during morning, salad and buttermilk during lunch time, and mangoes a little later. I sat on my desk and worked my ass off, had fun, and using my phone from time to time wasn’t blasphemy. I could turn around in my wheely chair when I felt restless because I needed to move around, despite it making squeaky sounds, played tons with the cat, worked (a lot), and loved the freedom. It felt like home, basically. And, no cat scratches on any of my items, though can’t be promised for the future.