Hi, you can call me Zai.
As a designer I consider myself to be a student of life. I’m endlessly interested in the ways in which we retain our humanity in an increasingly technological world. While I do enjoy the aesthetic side of design, I believe that design shouldn’t be restricted to just users and decorations, only enabling consumerism without conscience. I believe in design as a tool which can be used to improve the quality of life for everyone. To that end I am interested in design research and social design, and am keen to gain experience in a wide variety of fields in order to expand my knowledge of design methodologies.
South Asian by heritage and British by birth, I have spent much of my life travelling between Europe and the subcontinent, giving me a broad and international perspective from an early age. At school level I studied under the International Baccalaureate Diploma program — an academic system which encourages an interest in diverse areas of academic knowledge, many practical skill sets, and a variety of personal hobbies.
Following this, I initially studied Architecture at Manchester University but quickly realised that my interests did not align with the rigours of designing buildings. Instead I decided to move to Barcelona in order to reevaluate my interests. I took a gap year to learn Spanish, and then began a degree in Design in 2016. In 2018 I specialised within the field of graphic design, specifically studying interaction / digital design and the practical application of transmedia narratives.
On a personal level I’m extremely interested in the fields of cultural psychology, the metaphysical and the esoteric, as well as unusual interpretations of religion. I’m an abstract thinker who enjoys solving puzzles, writing poetry, painting, and reading voraciously. I am also meticulously organised in my external environment, directing my mental chaos to instead help me find patterns between all things which I come across, however unrelated their contexts may be. My ability to connect diverse ideas is a key part of how I develop my work as a designer.
I am quite introverted and capable of working alone, but do enjoy working as part of a group. Personally, I find that ideas flow better with more brains for them to flow between.
Available fulltime or freelance.
Read, every day,
something no one else is reading.
Think, every day,
something no one else is thinking.
Do, every day,
something no one else
would be silly enough to do.
It is bad for the mind
to always be part of unanimity.
– Christopher Morley
something no one else is reading.
Think, every day,
something no one else is thinking.
Do, every day,
something no one else
would be silly enough to do.
It is bad for the mind
to always be part of unanimity.
– Christopher Morley