The World Through Sketches

The world through sketches Allen Shaw is a traveling artist, illustrator, designer and storyteller. Through his ‘sketchbook travelogues’ he engages in conversation with the spaces, places and people he meets on his journeys.

- Allen Shaw

What was your introduction to design?

AS: I was always interested in drawing, sketching and making things but design as a career was never on the scheme of things when I was looking at the future. Like most Biharis I also went to Delhi after school. Joining St. Stephen’s College was the turning point; within the first few weeks I was designing posters for most of the 50 plus college societies. I figured that finally my drawing skills were being put to some use. In my second year one of my batch mates gave me an article to read about NID; the place sounded like a dream. I applied to study Communication Design and got through, so I quit college to pursue a career in design. NID was a different world, with its ‘no exams, no marks’ policy, and making presentations for assessment by juries really helped me look within. The most important thing I learnt from NID was to become an individual. Courses like ‘Design Process’, ‘Design Management’ and ‘Environmental Perception’ really changed the way I looked at things.

When do you think your design journey really began?