Boom Bang

"Who am I?"

This is a question that plagues almost everyone. In particular, it haunts nearly every young working professional looking to find themselves... In this short life on earth, we're all on a constant quest to find ourselves, aren't we?

As for me, I'm hanging in there too... Today I took my 'chai break' at work to think about this all-important question - "Who AM I? ".

Before I knew it, I was already reluctantly taking my last sip of chai from a cold porcelain cup.

I wasn't any closer to an actual answer.

I did however realise one thing... Sometimes life may be bitter, but at least my chai will always be sweet. Extra-extra sweet...

"Who am I?"... I am someone who likes my chai without 2tbs of sugar.

Cheeni kam, chai khatam, kaam shuru.

Work goes on.

The proverbial clock struck 7:00pm. As the busy work week came to an end, my heart felt heavy. It was perhaps the last day, I saw this place. Perhaps it wasn't.

Either way, on this fateful day, something happened that left a mark on me. Something important that brought me one step closer to answering that all important question... "Who am I?"

But before I get to that, allow me to give you some context. Let me just use my totally real, not imaginary, 'time stone' to go back 8 weeks in time... (Yes, I have possession of the time stone. Thanos / Dr.Strange from beyond the grave - Don't '@' me.)

*Time Jump*

It's the first day of my new internship at Dynamite Design, known for being one of India's premiere broadcast design studios. I'm super exited because within the first few hours of joining, I get put onto a key project that the studio is working on. My first order of business is to help come up with designs for the Indian film industry's biggest award shows. I'd even venture a guess to say that this awards show is perhaps one of the most widely viewed television events in the world and one of the most highly anticipated entertainment galas of the country. I begin work... A few hours go by and I'm showing some of my designs to my boss Sheetal... That's when it happened for the first time.

Sheetal casually calls me "Hadi".

I let it slide.

*Time Jump*

It's day 3 of my internship. It happens again; but once again, I let it slide.

Towards the end of the day, more of colleagues namedrop. Yes, another day, same name... "HADI".

*Time Jump*

It's day 5 of my internship. Another designer calls me "Hadi". I have a laugh about it and move on.

*Time Jump*

It's day 8 of my internship. Yet again, a familiar name crops up... "Hadi".

By now it has sunk in... The familiar feeling of unfamiliarity. The schadenfreude of a name that has nothing to do with me, but everything to do with me.

*Consequtive time jumps*

Week after week went by, and as I tried to find myself in this new place, every so often, I found a name. Not my name, just a name. Gracing my ears, but not tickingly my fancy.

"Hadi". The name of a client, and the name that almost every single person at Dynamite Design knowingly or unknowingly called me by... Every week, without fail.

*Time Jump*

It's 8 weeks later and I'm still here. It may be one of the last days I see this place, perhaps it isn't. But I'm one step closer to an answer.

"Who am, I?" I may still not know who I truly am, but I do know this -

I, am not Hadi.

So, my creative director, today came up to all of us and told us that we needed to take a small test. A test called "Creative Types" which aims to identify the core personality in each of us. The test's goal is to shine a light on the inner workings of different creative personalities types in a way that might help us better understand ourselves, our creative process, and our potential. Creative people have a tendency to avoid habit and routine—which means we're constantly changing. We often feel misunderstood because we see the world differently from others—and indeed, neuroscience shows that our brains are literally wired differently.

So we all took the test, it was super easy. So to take the test, you’ll need to answer 15 simple (and often abstract) questions about yourself — there are “cutscenes” between the questions that you can skip by pressing the link in the bottom right-hand corner.

Based on your responses, the quiz will assign you to one of 8 creative types: the Artist, Thinker, Adventurer, Maker, Producer, Dreamer, Innovator, or Visionary.

I was awarded the Adventurer tag.

So Much Inspiration, So Little Time.

There’s no telling where the impassioned creative quest and endless curiosity of the ADVENTURER may lead. Fueled by high energy levels and boundless enthusiasm, you’re easily inspired—and more than willing to follow your fascinations wherever they take you.

ADVENTURER types are passionate, expressive, multi-talented creative spirits with a natural ability to entertain and inspire. As an ADVENTURER, you’re never satisfied to just come up with ideas. Instead, you have an almost compulsive need to act on them. Your abundant energy fuels you in the pursuit of many interests, hobbies, areas of study, and artistic endeavors. You’re a fast learner, able to pick up new skills and juggle different projects and roles with relative ease. A true Renaissance person, you’re likely to develop expertise in a number of areas over the course of your life and career.

The Creative Types quiz was developed in partnership with Anyways Creative and Carolyn Gregoire, co-author of Wired to Create: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind. It’s based on psychology research, Adobe says, and the goal is to assess your basic habits and tendencies — things like how you think, act, and see the world. It’s an assessment that can “help you better understand who you are as a creative.”  The “simple and relatable yet robust and science-informed creative personality assessment” is inspired by popular personality tests such as the Myers-Briggs and the Enneagram.

So what are you waiting for,  go ahead and check out what type of creative person are you?

Identities can be frustrating to design.  It requires an understanding and foresight of several different aspects that other design work may not. I believe that to balance this, simplicity is 🔑.

Do thorough research before starting out

Always think about the size and the scale. Size and scale can present some interesting challenges. But many of the concepts you use are just like every other project. (Good design is good design in any location.)

Consider the location, designing for the location can be tricky if a single design is going to be used in a variety of different environments. Plan your signage for the most visible and highest traffic areas first, and consider multiple versions of a similar design.

Go big with colors and graphics.

While contrast is an important part of any design project, it is especially important when you only have a couple of seconds to catch someone’s attention. Every focal point needs to be clearly distinguishable. With type, size and simplicity are key factors. With color, it comes back to pairing hues that stand out from one another.

Sign materials often break down into categories based on location (indoor vs. outdoor materials), durability and print vs. digital. Some of the most common sign designs include working on a vinyl banner, billboard (print or digital), corrugated plastic and magnetic. But the sign medium can vary depending on use. Ask right away what the sign or signs you are working with will be printed on. Get the specs before getting too involved in a project. Ask about file formats and prepress. (You are not going to be able to supply a jpg for a printed billboard, but it might be required for a digital display.) Finding out what your printer needs before getting started will save a lot of headache in the end.

Conclusion -

Sign design requires simplicity, contrast, and attention to size and scale for the most impact. Designing something on the scale can also be a lot of fun. It’s a design project that you might find yourself driving by each day or that you can share with friends and family.

When I started out with my internship, I started working on the zee cine awards projects. I was asked to explore the logo lockups and other On Air designs as per the brief, as I didn’t have much experience in design for the broadcast I was asked to work on the other projects after a few weeks when the agency started working on the Off-Air stuff I was asked to work on the project again. My creative director told me to work on the signage system and to work on creating identities that will be used for the project itself.

Identities can be frustrating to design.  It requires an understanding and foresight of several different aspects that other design work may not. I believe that to balance this, simplicity is key.

To ensure I’m as informed as possible, I took the opportunity to spend the first few days of the project to study like I (never) did in college. I looked up some references so that I could understand what’s the logic behind them.

Sharing a few references -

“As Michael Bierut puts it, a designer’s job really — is to design the space, where components can live in harmony together, without confusion on how to use them. As these components are often out of our hands when we deliver the brand to the clients, we should use simplicity to help them along the way. Keep it simple, but beautiful.”

I’m incredibly lucky to be working with such a brand and never thought I would be working on a project where I would be designing for an award show.  

Here’s my work for the zee cine award signage system - 

I was excited when one of the project managers told me that I will be working on the Netflix project.

Netflix is the world’s largest media streaming platform with over 117.6 million active monthly subscribers. Dynamite Design is one of the agencies to be selected as the Netflix Preferred Creative Agency(NPCA). With such a big responsibility we have to meet the demanding quality and standards that Netflix has set for the artworks and designs. I was working on the Miss Granny, The Calling and Music Teacher.

Initially, when I was briefed about the project I didn’t think that Netflix guidelines would be so rigid.

The agency provides you with all the resources and artwork style guide.

The process for Netflix original and Netflix acquired content is different.  

As the fans are all charged up for this IPL season, the Knights are ready too. These knights rise up to any challenges, they trust their strengths more then their weaknesses khaki KKR #HAITAIYAAR

Taking forward KKR’s ‘Hai Taiyyar’ brand voice, Dynamite design worked on their brand film, print and social media. The Team at Dynamite put together 5 second bumpers showcasing the diverse range of KKR fans who show their support for KKR in their own small ways. No matter what someone is going through, every year, during the IPL, cricket unites people. It allows them to set their differences aside and come together to show their support for KKR.

Thus the entire campaign helped the true KKR supporter take center stage with the message -

“You pray for us, we play for you” & “Aakhri dum tak, Aakhri run tak, KKR #HaiTaiyaar.”

A few late nights and some extra time going through those tutorials really helped, I had a lot of fun working on this project getting to know a lot of thing and experiencing how cricket is just not a sport in India but it is also worshipped. Hindu? Muslim? Sikh? Christian? When it comes to Cricket we are all Indians! Cricket has the one thing that every Indian loves. Drama,who wants to watch boring Saas Bahu serials when you have I.P.L?

Initially I was given the task to explore the idea of using purple and lighting which are the two main elements of the campaign, the exploration led to the final poster look that my senior designer created. Later on I was working on their tour bus branding and creating skins for their social media

Here are some the pictures of the work that I did -

Bus Branding -

Social Media -

“We enjoy looking and using aesthetically pleasing design because it satisfies our senses, it gives us pleasure.”

And why not when things are aesthetically designed or are aesthetically presented to someone they feel excited and intrigued about it.

       Ohk so bringing things into to context have you ever thought of cutting your birthday cake aesthetically, I am pretty sure you might not have thought about it and who even thinks about it while celebrating his birthday but my assistant creative director, Jeldon Craig thought about it while he was cutting his birthday cake.

      So he got a marzipan cake to be honest which I had seen or heard for the first time, although he had described It to us what the cake was and how is it going to taste.

So what exactly is marzipan you ask?

Marzipan (mah-zuh-pan) is a confection primarily made of sugar and almond meal. It is also often scented with vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and other sweet spices. It's almond fondant that's super chewy and sweet, and it makes any sweet pastry seem 10x fancier.

This was the cake before it was cut into pieces, and this was when it was cut aesthetically

Check out the KKR 2019 Film that the studio has done. 

As the knights have started this season by achieving an amazing victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad and King XI Punjab, I feel proud to have worked with such an amazing team. Check out my next blog to see the work that I have done for KKR. 

The team at Dynamite consist of the wild culmination of like-minded individuals who possess invaluable creative repertoires that will painstakingly create a Visual Language that is right for your company and brand.

The team consists of creative directors, designers, editors, motion designers/ animators and 3D designers (for which there is now a vacancy) who are not just good but they are extremely talented at what they do.

Meet The Team - 

Apart from office work these people have an interest in not so weird things like Jeldon is interested in gaming and he has Gameboy, Nintendo, PSP etc.

Nikhil Sekar who is one of the graphic designer and copywriter likes working on his photoshop skills and tries to experiment with the visual medium. He is currently working on his new side project called reimagined portraits.  

Check out his Instagram page for more work. His Instagram handle is @nikhilsekar

Sherwyn likes his music and creates model sets, he is our brand ambassador for Ali Express, for those who don’t know whats Ali express is, it’s an online retail service based in China that is owned by Alibaba.

Nainesh who is the senior designer and my mentor in his free time he likes drawings, making music posters and he illustrates as well.

Talking about my team interest and hobbies their is one thing which I realized is that we talk a lot about inspiring careers, but what often gets neglected is all the cool things people are doing after their day job, i.e. the side projects and the interest they are pursuing outside of the 9-to-5. This is what keeps me going and this what should make you keep going as well.

Hey, my name is Hatim, I am just another intern at Dynamite Design.Tv and here Is my story.

(Background music - I see my future coming like the rising of the tide.)

Before I start taking you guys on my roller coaster journey of what happened with me on that day let me tell you guys a bit about the place that I am working at -

Dynamite Design.tv is a full-service broadcast design and branding agency based out of Bombay. The help channels brand themselves, their shows, and related properties. Their fundamental ethos and principle: 'Design that is Simple, Relevant & Aesthetic'.

So now coming back to the first day, On Monday 28th Jan 2019 I had to report to the office and I reached on time with butterflies in my stomach, I felt like a child who was excited and nervous as he is on his first day of school, where he meets new students and teachers. I was asked to join the Monday morning meeting where I got introduced to the whole team, and my boss introduced the whole team to me. She briefed me about their upcoming and ongoing projects and I was put on to one of them. As I got settled into the studio space which seems like a huge flat to me, I noticed that we have quirky things which are placed around the whole office.

The studio is quite lit as we have huge French windows opposite the entrance that allows an ample amount of light to enter the studio, where we have our plants and the dining table. Most of our bonding happens while everyone is having their lunch as we discuss the latest shows, music, news and other relevant and irrelevant topics. The team consists of a talented pool of people who have a lot to share and from whom I have a lot to learn.