Animator and Graphic Designer Vikas Tiwari interivewed by BananaBandy

Vikas Tiwari, also known as Vicasso is a 23 year old designer. Hailing from a village in western Uttar Pradesh, he is currently based in Hyderabad. He is also one of the founding members of ‘What A Story‘. An agency that not only creates designs and videos for their clients but also partners with them in their marketing campaigns. Their clientele includes a mixture of start-ups as well as well-established businesses.

What are you working on at the moment?

Presently, looking for ‘pearls’ a.k.a artists who share my passion for making “What A Story“ one of the leading creative studios in the country.  Also, we are in the process of developing the website for our company and of course there are some interesting new projects which I am working on.

Where do you gather the inspiration for your works?

In the real world around us, there are lots of elegant designs. I don’t just focus on the digital world for design inspirations nor do I hunt for inspirations. However, if I get an idea which excites me, I close my eyes and try to visualize it. For keeping myself posted on the latest market trends, I usually browse online to view other artist’s work.

What is your preferred medium and why?                       

I prefer to work on videos, both live action and animated. I love watching videos. Sometimes, even when I’m working on a tough deadline and I get an alert, “A channel uploaded a new video”, I impulsively click on “Watch” button.

I carry the same passion while shooting and editing my videos. I use a Canon camera, Adobe Illustrator, After Effects and Premiere Pro in making my videos and of course, for my non video work I have to use the master software- Adobe Photoshop.

Do you have a favourite artist? If yes, what draws you to that person’s work?

I can’t think of one specific artist as a favourite. However, there are some studios such as:

Sandwichvideo, Thinkmojo, Bureaurabensteiner and Soulgrafix whom I really like.

I like their concepts and the manner in which the videos and designs are created.

Have you ever stepped out of your comfort zone and tried out a new genre of art? How did that turn out?

Yes, actually there’s a funny story related to that. When I embarked on my career in graphic designing, I made a resume using icons and infographics, which wasn’t the trend at that time. When I showed this resume to a friend, he laughed at me and suggested that I should create resumes in the standard fashion. Now dozens of people are using that design. Lately, the same friend called me and said “Can you please make my resume with the same design that you once showed me?”

Do you have a fun story or an experience involving your artwork?

Yes, this incident happened when I was a beginner in the industry and I had done only one freelance work. I accidentally misspelt my client’s name. When he brought it to my notice, I retorted, “What’s in a name?”

I lost that project because of my mistake or probably because of William Shakespeare. :’D

Though honestly, I learnt that one should avoid making mistakes and double check work for errors and if it does happen; one should own up to it, apologise, rectify it, learn from it and move on.

What would people be surprised to learn about you?

Professionally: I have worked with more than 120 clients spread across more than 10 countries.

Personally: I always wear my lucky wrist watch even though it’s not working from last two years.

What are your goals for the future, in terms of both work and life?

My dream is to build a top-notch creative agency where we create not just a design or a video but create stories; stories that our clients can be proud of and which make the audiences say, “what a story!”. I also plan to educate the people of my village about alternative career opportunities and motivate them to discover their interests and pursue them.

Do you have any tips for the budding artists in our community?

Try to look for inspiration from nature rather the than the internet. Also, it’s essential for designers to market themselves well. A good marketing strategy helps you position yourself against competition and win great clients. I have noticed that most designers are not able to market their talent effectively. It is an essential skill to cultivate if one hopes to become successful in this field.

 

A good design isn’t the one which conveys a message, but the one which brings out a reaction.

Fast Five Questions:

Your Favourite Hexadecimal Colour Code?

FF9900

Favourite Font?

Not Comic Sans 😛

Most annoying cliché that you’ve observed?

Even though my portfolio is freely available, every client would request for a sample design/video. It is a very time-consuming exercise.

Coolest project that you’ve seen on BananaBandy?

5 iconic types of landlords by Prasad M

If you were not an artist then what would you be?

An army man.

 

BananaBandy has given a wonderful platform to Indian artists to showcase their talent and has one of the best collections of work that I have ever seen.