Today we’d like to introduce you to Angad Singh.
Hi Angad, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Growing up, I had never really planned on becoming a graphic designer, let alone know what that even meant. That was until 2015, when I was in the final year of my undergraduate program in Mumbai, India. We had a class called Advertising/Design, where the term project was creating a fictional brand. I had a lot of fun making a fictional sports brand and quickly realized that this was what I wanted to do. After getting my Bachelor’s in Mass Communication, I joined Ogilvy and Mather in Mumbai for a three-month internship where I learned the inner workings of the advertising industry as I saw it. The rapid pace didn’t suit me, so I found another internship at Fitch in Mumbai as well. This is where I really started to grow as a designer, and I was able to learn the basics from some wonderful friends that I made along the way. I did however feel the need to get a formal design education, and I found and applied to ArtCenter College of Design. Just a few months later, with an acceptance letter in my hands, I took off for Pasadena. This was my first time in America and living away from my family, so I was definitely nervous. But the nerves soon went away once I got into my classes and found a rhythm.
The three years I spent at ArtCenter have been and will always be the most fulfilling years of my life. I learned so much from the incredible faculty and classmates that I have the honor of knowing and being friends with. Soon after graduating in the spring of 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, I found myself employed by ArtCenter and GoNoodle, where I still work today. I’ve had the pleasure of teaching some of the same classes I took as a student, and it has been an extremely enriching experience. In GoNoodle, I found a company with a mission that inspired me every day. Their work and efforts toward the betterment of schools and their students fill me with joy and help me be the kind of designer I want to be. In my ideal world, I want to make sure my design work has a significant impact on the people it touches. And at GoNoodle and ArtCenter, I have found that to be true. Coming to America felt like a reset that I didn’t know I needed, and I am glad and proud to be doing what I do every day with my little corgi assistant by my side (had to shout out Scooter, my two-year-old Corgi!).
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
One of the main struggles has been visas and work permits. While I was a student, I didn’t need to worry about that too much, but I did have to almost immediately start thinking about it when I graduated. In the last three years, I’ve applied for a work visa and a permanent residence card, and I am happy to say I have been granted both. This was not easy, but I am very grateful to all the people that helped me along the way with the process. I truly could not have done it without them.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a graphic designer, educator, and self-proclaimed meme expert. While I was in school, I was able to learn multiple skills ranging from branding, typography, editorial design, and motion design. I feel that as a designer, I have a responsibility to assess the needs of my clients and shape my work based on that. So, I don’t really have a style other than what the project requires and calls for. My graduate thesis was a study of memes as an alternative language. This was something I had been interested in ever since I can remember, and I was fortunate and grateful to be able to work so extensively on it. I created a fictional news website that would provide you with the news but use memes as the primary language to test my hypothesis. This was a fun and interesting experience, and I still get a lot of questions about it. I am most proud of my ability to shift and learn new skills as a project requires and use these skills to succeed.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
The one thing that I have learned has absolutely been my comfort in working remotely. I find that I am more productive and focused than I would be when I’m at an office. I am a very social person, so I love chatting about random things with people so working at home helps me focus and get stuff done. I also get to spend all my time with my dog, which is a treat.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.singhangad.com
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/singhangad-01051994/
