Hello! I’m Nikita Parmar, a Graphic Design Graduate. I have always been creative in different ways, be it music or baking or doodling, I just love to play around with colour, shape and flavour, it’s just who I am. I enjoy learning new skills and techniques and I often find myself scrawling the internet for tutorials on all sorts of things, from origami to clay pot making. Interestingly I didn’t start a formal education in art and design until after college, my education up to that point was purely academic. Making the choice to take a step back and decide to follow my love for art was the best decision I have made. I am now graduating with a BA(Hons) Graphic Design degree and am excited to learn from other creatives and immerse myself into the creative industry.
- How do you define your work?
I would describe my work as playful and bold, I love integrating illustration into my designs and I believe that every piece should have a personality. I enjoy working across disciplines such as editorial design, branding, animation etc but I think I would define myself as an illustrator, I am always finding ways to work illustration into a project.
2. Where/ how/ who do you get inspiration from?
As cliché as it sounds I really do draw inspiration from everywhere, from the views from my bedroom window to online communities, there is an abundance of material of which to draw inspiration from. There is a wealth of online creative communities that I think it a great resource for creating and sharing ideas, platforms such as Behance and Pinterest are great examples of what I use.
3. Best career decision you have made to-date?
My career hasn’t necessarily started yet as I am currently graduating with a BA(Hons) Graphic Design degree. Making the choice to follow my passion for art and design and emerging myself within creative communities has been the best, pre career decision I have made.
4. If you could have done something differently in your career to date, what would it be?
N/a
5. Any advice for young designers / creatives?
Be involved! Make yourself known, sign up to free online workshops, talk to other creatives in groups and on platforms. Don’t sit around and wait for work, create your own briefs, follow your interests, learn new skills. What is important to remember is that everyone starts out new, everyone understands the position that young designers/creatives are in, have confidence but also remain honest when it comes to your work , know when to finish a project and let it be, and know when to push yourself more. It all takes time, patience and perseverance, don’t let set backs get you down. You will always be growing and improving along the way no matter how far along you are into your career. Another snippet of advice is that you don’t have to follow the ‘always be design hungry/always be designing’ idea, you are allowed to take a break from art/ design from time to time, find out what works for you and what makes you, well you.
