Conversations With A Designer

While Ram Sinam, founder of Wari Watai, a multi-disciplinary design studio based in Bangalore, prefers to work in an informal set-up, he is very focused when it comes to creating design that transcends mere function

- Ram Sinam

What has been the highlight of your design journey so far?

RS: I would say the sheer variety of projects that I have handled makes it a worthwhile journey. From participating in museum projects to designing installations, exhibitions, interactives, books, identities, and designing for hospitality projects, corporations, NGOs and institutions. And now I am getting into designing furniture, an idea I have harbored since I was studying visual communication at NID.

How did NID impact your career?

RS: Formal design education at NID made me aware of myself and the fact that what I liked was not as trivial and as dismissive as mainstream education and general society made it out to be. Within this new appreciative environment, the materiality, skills, and ideas that I grew up with became an asset. It allowed me to build and pursue those innate qualities and also learn newer skills to expand my thoughts. It helped me form friendships and bonds and reinforced liberal ideas. I also tried to connect my liking for design in a colloquium paper, ‘design - a way of life’, without much appreciation from the jury members!

What took you to advertising?