Kajol Mehta

I have studied product design, and then went on to do graphic design after I realized that product design wasn't for me. Before getting onto a graphic design course, I did a little internship with a homegrown brand where I explored different aspects of design, including illustration and graphics. That's where I realized my passion for graphic design. And then, I looked for a course which taught me graphic design, but through distance learning because I also realized that practical and hands-on learning taught me a lot more, and I wanted to continue doing that while studying the theory. And fortunately, I found a wonderful course from the University of Hertfordshire. And while I pursued my BA honors in graphic design, I also took up a lot of freelance projects, where I learned how to deal with clients. I learned what processes work, what processes don't work, and a lot of other practical insights into how to actually work on a live project. And that went really well, hand in hand with the theory that I was studying.

Yes. So I've dabbled a little bit in motion graphics. I'm able to use Photoshop as well as Premiere Pro to do basic editing and also create small GIFs through Photoshop. And in Premiere Pro, I'm able to use a few of their tools to create motion and text or combine different videos to create maybe, say, a launch video for a brand. So I'm able to do a little bit of both, but I'm constantly learning. So whenever a need comes up, I always learn the software and try to give the desired output.

The main thing I follow here is to ensure the text is minimal, but when it comes from the content strategist, I'll tell them that it needs to be very precise and impactful, which makes it easier to create a bold story or static post for Instagram. So fewer words in big and bold size make it easy for the customer to read and also catch their eyes. If there's too much text, most people avoid reading a lot. The key is to have fewer words in a big, bold format that's impactful and easy to read.

Yes, so the 1st step would, of course, be to study the brand guidelines if they are minimal, which will hopefully give me an idea of the colors and fonts they use. After that, I will study all the visual designs that the brand has already created, whether it's their website or social media. This will give me a very good idea of the style they've been following. I will see whether it's minimal, whether it's graphic heavy, or whether it's more typographic. All of that will be clear when I go through their existing designs and combine that with the guidelines they have provided. I should be able to create something that will follow the same style that they have been following.

Mainly, I look for the design language they follow. And similar to my previous answer, whether it's visuals or typography, the typographic heavy approach is the main principle that I will also work on while creating a post or an advertisement for the client. So when I look at a client's social media for inspiration, it's basically to understand the style they follow, and the kind of visuals they use.

So if I have created the brand design from scratch from the beginning, which includes the logo, the brand identity, then it becomes easier because I have created their guidelines as well. And I just need to follow those to ensure that designs across various platforms or mediums are consistent. If I've picked up after the visual identity and the brand identity has been created, I make sure to study the guidelines and the style guide in-depth, and then while I create different designs, I keep going back to the previous ones to make sure they are in sync, they are consistent with each other. There are a lot of times that different products have their own color codes. So when I create something for one product, I make sure that it follows the same color code, the same proportions when it comes to hierarchy, so where the text will be placed, what kind of font is used, I'll make sure that all of these are always in sync, and similarly, the same process would be followed for any other product that I'm creating it for. It all depends on the brand and what kind of design language they're following, what differences they have in different categories. But basically, always going back and checking to make sure that it all looks like part of the same brand.

So I always follow a 3-step process whether it's for a quick turnaround or for a long project. So the 1st step is always research. This is researching for competitors, target audience, as well as what the brand has been doing. The 2nd step is concept creation, and the 3rd is development. After research, I know what the brand has been doing and what the competitor is doing. This makes it clear how to position the brand visually, which can be done quickly. Then, when it comes to concept creation, I begin that process with a mood boarding round to make sure the client and I are on the same page. This makes it easier and quicker for the design to come out as envisioned for both of us. Once the mood board has been discussed and we've agreed on a direction, the concept creation process is pretty straightforward. Once that's also discussed with the client, the steps of discussion and mood boarding ensure we're on the same page. After the discussion of the concept creation round, development is very minimal most of the time. This allows us to have a quick turnaround time and deliver something of a high quality.

So the key considerations when designing web pop-ups is, 1st, to know what the pop-up aims to do. If it is to alert a customer about a potential sale or discount, then it needs to be the first thing that grabs the user's attention. So it would use brighter colors from the brand's color palette and bolder text to ensure that it captures the user's attention. If it is to alert the user or the customer about a change in delivery timelines or in a product, then the approach would be different. And if it is meant to be running throughout their time on the website, then it would ideally be in the corner or on the top or bottom corner, and the colors would be more toned down so that the wording is still bold, but not that bright and in-your-face that it takes away the attention. So here again, the colors and font sizing, the scale will be of importance depending on how important or what the pop-up is meant to be.

A recent project that I just finished working on was for a home cleaning brand. And we started off with a totally different concept where the visuals were hand illustrated and had a sort of whimsical look and feel to it. This was the agreed direction, and that's what we began working on. But because of some challenges on the product end where the formulation changed and the way they were showcasing their products changed, it wasn't the conventional home cleaning liquid. It was the concept of having a concentrate and more sustainable, where less water is used. So when this whole concept changed, the design had to be altered significantly to match this new concept and to also communicate this entire concept without looking too cluttered. So initially, the idea was just to show, for example, if it's a floor cleaner, just to show a mop and the fragrance. But once this whole concept changed, now we had to show how this product is going to be used, how it's going to be made, along with the fact that it's a floor cleaner, so showing a person mopping, showing the fragrance because it's plant-based, so fragrance is of key importance. And I showed the client a lot of different packaging ideas for this. And once they were convinced with a different style that would work better, it was much easier to divide all these visuals and give each one its own space, so that the quality is not hampered. It's not too much information and still visually pleasing. So while the concept changed from the client's end, I was still able to convince them to go with a different packaging style, so that we could communicate everything they wanted to without hampering the aesthetics as well as the communication. This was a recent experience, and it was challenging. But the end result turned out great, and everyone was happy.