Emerging Technologies such as Extended Reality are offering a completely new dimension of virtual, engaging and personalised experiences that are tapping into human creativity.
Krithika Balaraman, our next pathbreaker, Creative Technologist and Digital Designer, works independently for a mix of clients on a variety of independent projects related to crafting immersive experiences.
Krithika talks to Shyam Krishnamurthy from The Interview Portal about leveraging her background in art and illustration in a niche and growing field at the intersection of VR/XR, Digital Art and Product Design..
For students, It always important to keep an eye on trends, and think about how you can set yourself apart. The industry keeps adapting.
Krithika, can you share your background with our young readers?
I was interested in art and creative projects from a young age. I enjoyed working on scrapbooks, sketches and making fun projects at home. When I was choosing a career path, I knew I wanted to work with a visual medium that allowed for some creativity.
What did you do for graduation/post graduation?
I was interested in design, because I was drawn to visual mediums and enjoyed problem solving. At the time, design was not a popular career path. For more exposure to the field I did an internship at a small startup, and learnt more about what was expected from a professional designer.
Following this I did a bachelors in Creative Arts from Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology. After my graduation, I worked for 5 years in a variety of design roles. When I had a better idea of the field I wanted to specialise in, I decided to pursue a Master’s in Design Engineering from Brown University and Rhode Island School of Design.
What made you choose a career in Digital Design?
There wasn’t a turning point at which I selected this career. I made a series of choices that led me here. I regularly reflected on what I enjoyed about my work and what more I wanted. I recognised I liked having a creative angle to my job, but I enjoyed working with tech and wanted to work on something exploratory and adventurous.
How did you plan the steps to get into the career you wanted? Tell us about your career path
While I was in school I was interested in working as a designer. Since I didn’t have a good idea of what this would entail, I wrote to the founder of a small startup in Bangalore and interned as a designer.
I did a bachelors in Creative Arts at Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology. This helped develop my thinking as a designer and gave me space to explore different mediums.
I interned every summer through college in different fields, to get a better idea of the kind of work I could do. This included jewellery design, graphic design and creating presentations.
My first full time job was as a designer for a market research company, this was focused on UI/UX and data visualisation. I found this role around the time of my graduation. I still did not have a good idea of what field I wanted to specialise in. The role appealed to me as it had a creative element, but also called for strategic thinking. The team I was working with allowed for exploration and had a number of high profile clients. This role helped me refine my technical skills and taught me about professional environments. I grew a lot.
Kantar was newly starting an analytics branch, and had acquired a number of startups globally to be a part of this branch. I was part of a team that was formerly a Bangalore based startup, called Analytics Quotient. The team was known for unique and creative data visualisation. They called in people from different backgrounds to enable a fresh outlook, and explore new visual mediums. I worked on creating visualisations of market research data, designing custom dashboards to navigate large amounts of data easily and intuitively, and on branding and marketing collateral for their global client base.
After two years, I felt I had grown as much as I could in the role. I decided to leave and work independently. I worked as a freelancer and began taking on any work I could find. This ranged from graphic design to UI/UX to illustration. I discovered a passion for illustration, and found it was very much my strength. After a year as a freelancer, a member of the creative team at Swiggy came across my profile, and offered me a role as an illustrator on the creative team.
The creative team at Swiggy is a part of the marketing function. The team works as an inhouse advertising agency, creating campaigns to win brand love and promote offerings across platforms. I worked on the art direction and creating illustration assets for multiple print and digital campaigns, designed and illustrated merchandise, and conceptualised illustration centric campaigns- such as an in-app comic series.
After about two years, I began working as a product illustrator at Jupiter Money.
In Jupiter, unlike Swiggy, I was a part of the product team. This meant my role was not related to promoting and advertising the product, but building and improving the user experience of the product itself. I worked hand-in-hand with product designers and product managers to fulfil illustration requirements across the app. This included creating iconography to make navigating the app easier, creating unique visual identities for different verticals and using illustration to improve user comprehension and spark delight.
Following this, I decided to pursue a MA in Design Engineering. This allowed me to refine my design sensibilities, improve my problem solving skills and explore different emerging technologies. I developed a passion for emerging technologies and decided to continue working in the field.
How did you get your first break?
Since I had studied design, and completed a number of internships while I was studying, I had a portfolio of projects to show after my graduation. I sent this portfolio out to employers I was interested in, so they could review my work. I also networked a lot, and spoke to people I knew through friends, family and social media to identify good opportunities. I met one of the founders at Kantar through someone I knew, and she connected me to the head of design. I sent across my resume and portfolio, and was interviewed by them and given an assignment to complete. They made me an offer to join their team.
What were some of the challenges you faced? How did you address them?
It is important to keep an eye on trends, and think about how you can set yourself apart. The industry keeps adapting. In 2020, I was freelancing, and saw that there were a lot of requests for illustration- due to lockdown, brands that typically relied on photography had to use other mediums as well. Since I had experience in illustration, I rebranded myself as an illustrator. After a few years in the field, I saw the market for front end designers (product design and visual design) was quite saturated. I chose to study design engineering to be able to work more with research, strategy and tech.
Interest and inclination are also very important. Trends keep changing and it’s impossible to constantly upskill to keep up with these. It’s helpful to find an area that interests you, while also being relevant to demands you see.
Where do you work now? What problems do you solve?
I currently work independently as a creative technologist and immersive designer. I do a mix of client and independent projects related to VR, Digital Art and Product Design.
There are a number of technical skills required, both creative and technical. Above all else, you need the ability to learn and problem solve. I began working in VR during my Master’s degree, but tech keeps evolving, so the skills needed are never static. I set aside time each day to update myself.
I love that this job allows me to work on projects I am passionate about and interested in. The field I am interested in (Extended Reality) is fairly niche, and it would be difficult to get this kind of freedom otherwise.
Extended reality is still a relatively new and niche field, so I’ve been able to work across a larger breadth of projects. Since I have a background in art and illustration, I have been able to work on art centric projects, such as creating a VR film and making immersive content. I also have training in design research and UX for immersive spaces, so I can help companies identify ways to leverage extended reality for their work, and conceptualise and design products for them.
I find my projects by regularly reaching out to people in the space, and sharing my work for more visibility. Sharing projects I have worked on on social media, gives companies an idea of how they could utilise my skillset to their advantage.
How does your work benefit society?
I work across a range of industries, including urban design and culture, which individually create impact.
However, more broadly, I believe exploring with emerging technologies can have huge benefits in itself. Experimentation has led to huge innovation in fields such as medicine, architecture and much more.
Tell us an example of a specific memorable work you did that is very close to you!
A project I am very proud of is UrbanSculpt- a prototyping tool for urban d e s i g n e r s :
Your advice to students based on your experience?
It is important to be passionate about what you do. In-demand roles and industries keep fluctuating, so it is often not helpful to chase after a role you think will grow in importance or make you more money.
Future Plans?
I want to continue working with creative tech, and looking for meaningful and impact uses for emerging technologies such as Extended Reality. I also love working with immersive art, I have worked on VR films and installations that involve interactive experiences with my art.