Design Hero is a multimedia project celebrating the work of Badal Patel, a brand designer and creative director whose bold and stunning work tells nuanced stories and celebrates culture. When asked to choose a designer who inspires me, I chose Badal Patel because her work and philosophy deeply resonates with me and encapsulates who I want to be as a designer. She explores unique narratives, telling stories through thoughtful and vibrant visual systems, incorporating pieces of herself into her work. Through this project, I wanted to design a branding system that demonstrates my in-depth understanding of her work and emphasizes the way she incorporates culture and meaning into design.
Timeline: January 2025 - April 2025
Role: Sole Designer
Skills: InDesign, Illustrator, After Effects
Print Design, Poster Design, Motion Design, Branding and Visual Systems
Booklet
This 16-page booklet allows the audience to understand Badal Patel's process and philosophy by highlighting projects that incorporate aspects of a vibrant culture and depict how she approaches telling these stories through her design choices.
Read about my process here!
Video
Through an interview with Badal Patel, I learned more about her design philosphy, the importance of representing your culture and how to do it in a way that is compelling and genuine. The video is a visual representation of her philosophy, her work and the process behind it.
Read more about my process here!
Poster
For the poster, I created a custom typeface in Gujarati which is Badal Patel's native language. Since so much of her work is grounded in the real world and turns into tangible material such as packaging and signage, I wanted to bring out this aspect of her work in the poster. I photographed construction paper in a limited color palette, which was brought out across all the deliverables, in various compositions. I combined the photograph with the typeface and a line going through it with multple of her inspiring quotes.
Read more about my process here!
Reflections
Learning how to tell a story through a visual system was my biggest takeaway from this project. I wanted this project to be more than a biography of a designer. My goal was to emphasizing the importance of culture, diversity and identity in design by highlighting a designer whose work is not only beautiful, but informative and makes people want to learn and discover something new. I have learned so much about branding, and creating guidelines for a system that make every part cohesive, but also allow you to be creative and grow within it.
Special thanks to Badal Patel for our wonderful and insightful conversation and for being an inspiration to everyone, especially young South Asian creatives!
Thank you for visiting ❤