Today we’d like to introduce you to Suraj Barthy.
Hi Suraj, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
“What is the purpose of life?” A friend asked me this once, and I’ve heard variations of it in classrooms, design critiques, and late-night conversations. I don’t claim to have an answer, but I do know that my work—whether in design, art, or technology—is shaped by an ongoing fascination with time, memory, and connection.
I grew up in Chennai, India, coming from a family of silk saree designers. My grandfather could sketch intricate motifs in seconds, weaving stories into fabric with a skill that felt almost instinctive. My aunt carried that tradition forward with Tanjore and Mysore paintings, techniques that required patience, repetition, and a deep understanding of materials. I didn’t realize it then, but everything I do now—whether in interaction design, computation, or textiles—is, in some way, a continuation of that lineage.
But I didn’t start out as a designer. I studied Chemical Engineering, a world of equations and logic, only to find myself drawn to interaction design—where human intuition meets systems thinking. At the National Institute of Design, I explored the ways in which digital and physical interactions shape how we experience the world. Even then, my work revolved around bringing people closer—whether through sound, motion, or the traces we leave behind.
There was a moment in my life that shifted everything. Losing a loved one suddenly made me rethink time, presence, and the fleeting nature of everything we build. I started appreciating every second I had, seeing inspiration in even the smallest things. That perspective is what led me to start my Everydays project—an ongoing commitment to create something new every day.
What began as a way to process time and mark each day with something tangible has now continued for the past 10 years, shaping the way I think about creativity, discipline, and iteration. Through it, I’ve learned to embrace imperfection, stay present, and find meaning in the act of making itself—one day at a time.
The farther I go from home, the more I find myself making work about it. My explorations have led me to projects that merge textiles with computation, cultural memory with generative systems, and ancient philosophy with digital media. Whether it’s weaving interactive fabrics or pairing Thirukkurals with Kanye West lyrics, I keep coming back to the idea that the past and future are always intertwined.
I have always been fascinated by clocks—not just as instruments that measure time, but as objects that distort it, loop it, and challenge our perception of it. My work explores what it means to be present, what it means to leave behind a mark, and how time is both universal and deeply personal.
If there’s one thread that runs through my work, it’s the search for connection—between the past and present, between the digital and the physical, between people who may never meet but share a moment, a sound, a memory. I don’t know if there’s a single purpose to life, but I do know that every project, every sketch, every clock I make is my way of exploring that question—one day at a time.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It hasn’t been a smooth road, but I don’t think it was ever meant to be. Every challenge has shaped the way I approach design, art, and problem-solving, pushing me to adapt, iterate, and rethink what I create and why.
Losing my father suddenly made me rethink time, presence, and the fleeting nature of everything we build. I started appreciating every second I had, seeing inspiration in even the smallest things. It’s what pushed me to continue my Everydays project—not as an exercise in productivity, but as a way to stay present.
Moving to a new country for my master’s at NYU ITP opened doors to new ideas and collaborations but also came with uncertainty, financial constraints, and the challenge of building a new network from the ground up. Balancing work, creative practice, and life in a new environment wasn’t easy, and I often found myself questioning how to bring everything together. Over time, I realized they didn’t have to be separate. My industry work could fund my creative explorations, and my creative explorations could inform my industry work.
Another ongoing challenge is visibility in the digital art space. Algorithms often favor virality over consistency, rewarding immediate engagement rather than long-term, process-driven work. I’ve had to shift my focus away from numbers and toward what really matters—persistence, iteration, and making work that stays meaningful even if it doesn’t go viral.
Through it all, I’ve realized that persistence is key. Whether in creative practice, career shifts, or personal growth, the most important thing is to keep making, keep learning, and keep adapting. Every day is a step forward, even when it doesn’t feel like it.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I work at the intersection of design, art, and technology, exploring how we connect across time, space, and media. My practice spans interaction design, creative coding, textiles, and physical computing, often weaving together the digital and the tactile.
In my professional career, I’ve designed interfaces and experiences for companies like Microsoft, where I led the design of Viva Learning, and now at Quit With Jones, where I’m building a habit-formation system to help people quit nicotine. My work focuses on human-centered design, making complex interactions feel intuitive, personal, and impactful.
Beyond industry work, I maintain a deeply personal artistic practice. My Everydays project, now in its 10th year, is an ongoing commitment to create something new daily. What started as a challenge to learn and experiment has become a meditation on discipline, iteration, and the evolution of ideas over time. It has shaped the way I think about design—not as a means to an end, but as an ongoing exploration.
I’m particularly drawn to clocks—not just as tools that measure time, but as objects that distort it, loop it, and challenge our perception of it. My Knit Clock, for instance, is a textile-based timepiece where pulling on a thread unravels the fabric, allowing participants to leave their mark in time and physically interact with its passage. Another piece, Chase, explores the feeling of being caught in a perpetual “almost”, with a minute hand that resets at 11:59, never quite reaching midnight.
At NYU ITP, I explored the connections between textiles and computation in my thesis, Fabric of Time, creating interactive woven pieces that embedded stories across generations. My work often pulls from my cultural roots—the farther I go from home, the more I find myself making work about it, whether it’s through textiles, Tamil language explorations, or blending tradition with emerging technology. One example is a Twitter bot I built, which pairs Thirukkurals with Kanye West lyrics, drawing unexpected parallels between Tamil philosophy and contemporary pop culture.
What sets my work apart is its interdisciplinary nature. I don’t see a divide between design, art, and technology—they all inform each other. Whether I’m working on habit-formation design, speculative installations, or generative art, I’m always searching for ways to create experiences that feel intuitive yet thought-provoking, deeply personal yet universal.
Ultimately, my work is about connection—between people, between time periods, between physical and digital, and between the past and the future.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
The next 5-10 years will bring massive shifts in creative technology, interaction design, and digital media, with emerging tools reshaping the way we create, connect, and engage with the world around us.
1. AI-Augmented Creativity
AI is no longer just a tool for automation—it’s becoming a collaborator in creative work. From generative art to adaptive interfaces, AI-driven tools will continue to push the boundaries of design, storytelling, and interactivity. However, this also raises questions of authorship, bias, and sustainability, especially as large-scale models consume enormous computing resources. The challenge will be finding ways to balance AI assistance with human intentionality, ensuring that technology enhances creativity rather than diluting it.
2. The Rise of Tactility & Material Computation
As our interactions become increasingly screen-based and digital, there’s a growing counter-movement toward tactility and material-based interactions. Electronic textiles, interactive installations, and hybrid digital-physical interfaces will become more prevalent, offering multi-sensory experiences that go beyond the visual. My work in weaving computation into textiles has been part of this shift, and I see it expanding into smart materials, kinetic interfaces, and adaptive environments.
3. Personalized & Adaptive Interfaces
User experiences will move toward context-aware, adaptive design—interfaces that shift dynamically based on behavior, environment, and emotional states. Whether in habit formation, learning platforms, or artistic installations, the way we interact with digital systems will become more fluid and responsive, making design less static and more alive.
4. Decentralization & Open-Source Collaboration
Creative communities are increasingly moving away from centralized platforms in favor of open-source tools, decentralized networks, and collective ownership models. With the rise of blockchain-based provenance tracking and open-access design systems, independent creators will have more control over how their work is distributed and monetized. This could redefine ownership in digital art and design, breaking away from walled-garden platforms toward more sustainable creative ecosystems.
5. Sustainability in Technology & Design
The environmental cost of digital production is often invisible, but it’s becoming harder to ignore. The next decade will see an increased focus on sustainable design practices, from low-energy computing to biodegradable materials in product development. As someone who explores the intersection of traditional craft and digital fabrication, I’m particularly interested in how we can use heritage techniques to inspire more mindful, sustainable technological futures.
The Hybrid Future:
Ultimately, the future of creative technology is not just digital or physical—but hybrid, fluid, and deeply personal. The boundaries between art, design, computation, and craft will continue to blur, allowing for new ways of storytelling, interaction, and meaning-making. My goal is to keep pushing the boundaries of these intersections—to create work that is both innovative and deeply human.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://surajbarthy.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/surajbarthy/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/surajbarthy/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/surajbarthy
- soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/surajbarthy
- Other: https://barthysuraj.com/
