We had the pleasure of catching up with Karishma Kusurkar who is the woman behind creating all the fantastic branding for ‘DIG DEEP’.
Can you introduce yourself?
I'm a multidisciplinary designer, podcaster and lover of all things creative and entrepreneurial. In my spare time, I play in two bands - Alumna and Stubborn China Doll.
What do you do at Karishma's World?
Karishma's World is my business and I do many things through it: create new products and podcasts, design for clients and facilitate design workshops. I'm also Co-Director at Belfast Design Week, Co-Lead of Ladies That UX and Co-Founder on other projects including Small Town Big Dreams.
When did you start your own business? I started my business all the way back in 2014 after graduating from my MFA in Multidisciplinary Design. Its initial focus was in Textiles & Fashion accessories and was more product related. Since then, my work has become more multidisciplinary encompassing digital design and podcasting. I also collaborate with those working in other parts of the creative industries.
What was the inspiration behind the "DIG DEEP" branding?
For the Dig Deep branding, I collaborated with Christine and Esther who are co-founders of the programme. They had collected inspirational images and initial thoughts which they shared with me. From that, I developed the design concept.
Too often, designing for business products can mean that the end result is slick, minimal and serious, which is appropriate in some circumstances of course, but there isn't really any divergence from this status quo. When it comes to human-centred design, if you want different kinds of people to take part in programmes and projects, you have to look at what and how you are designing for them.
I wanted to create branding and design for Dig Deep that was warm, approachable and inviting to those outside of traditional business backgrounds as well as those in the creative sector. I wanted to make the brand rich, colourful but sophisticated and I used a mixture of hand-made textures and vector graphics to come up with initial brand elements and then the design of the Womenfolk Dig Deep 2020 Journal.
What is one thing you wish you knew when you started your own business?
That it takes time for it to build and become successful and to have the patience as well as the reserves to make it happen. And also the networks and the know-how of course. Sometimes timescales shown to those starting a business are unrealistic as everything takes a lot longer to do than expected in reality!
What piece of advice could you give to people starting their own business?
Always think about the end-user of what you are creating and whether your product helps solve their problem.