Akanksha Negi is a Graphic Designer, who started her journey as a freelance graphic designer while still wandering the uncertain streets of teenage career existentialism. She eventually found her path at Raffles, Mumbai with a degree in Visual Designing. With her love for designing and art, Akanksha leapt with faith and started her own Design Studio called “Akanksha Negi Design”, in Vadodara, Gujarat.
Her brand provides a 360-degree event stationery solution to her clients. Furthermore, the brand is not just limited to event stationery. They are into print and digital media services as well. They also have a wide variety of customized stationery for daily and occasional purposes. Read more about the creativity, thought and journey of Akanksha in this conversation with Storiyaan.
5 Min Bit With Akanksha Negi
Interview
Questions and answers
What were the initial challenges that you faced when you began adulting and what were the major life lessons that you acquired over time?
The major challenge when I began adulting was to decide my goal in life. Having been an average kid in school, I wasn’t sure with my career options. Now that I have had my share of ups and downs, one of the major life-lesson is to keep on persevering. I believe things will fall into place and if they haven’t,
that means that isn’t the final destination yet.
From visual designer and photographer to opening your design studio, how did you find yourself evolving as a person?
I have been into photography since I was a teenager. I knew since then that photography is something I enjoy doing. This made me drop out of my college to pursue designing, to widen my work scope. Finally, opening my design studio was a daunting task, but I refused to give in to the pressure and soon “Akanksha Negi Design” will complete 5 years this September 2021.
What was the most appealing aspect of designing aesthetic event stationery and how were you first introduced to the art?
In 2016, a friend contacted me to design his wedding invitation. Although I was hesitant initially, due to my lack of experience with invitation designing, but decided to explore it nonetheless. I enjoyed the entire process and eventually through word-of-mouth and some of the biggest wedding blogs in India, I started getting more event stationery projects.
How do you deal with clients who do not agree with your designs and find flaws with them, even though their designs might not be as attractive?
You have to be patient. I try to understand their thought process and then blend
their feedbacks with my ideas. It is all about finding that middle-ground that keeps my clients and I satisfied with the final output.
During the lockdown, what were the major obstacles that your business encountered?
Since a major portion of my revenue comes from the wedding industry, the finances hit rock-bottom. Having to give back the advance payments to the clients and sustaining the studio for a whole year on minimal work was difficult. But thankfully, we are slowly finding our grip back and I hope things will get better soon.
Can you tell us a bit about the most difficult project that you have worked on and the grind that went behind completing the project?
Every project is exciting, difficult and different in its ways. The significant factor for me has always been to ensure consistency in my work and getting better with every project. I wholeheartedly take up the challenge to outdo my expectations and surprise myself.
Where do you draw your inspiration from when creating bespoke designs for your clients and add your personal touch to them?
My inspirations are my clients. Every person has his/her qualities, likes and dislikes. I try to create a beautiful fusion of their stories and experiences in their wedding cards. Each card is unique and I make a new design entirely from scratch for every client.