QUICKSAND - Key Persons
Aditya is a design researcher at Quicksand. He holds an undergraduate degree in Economics with a double minor in Philosophy and Math. His personal interests lie in exploring humour, drinking coffee, sketching, writing fiction, and creating static/dynamic visuals. He also authored a book titled, 'The Dogs Were Always Out'.
Akshay is a 2D concept artist and has a Diploma in Game Art and Entertainment Design. Apart from Digital art, he likes to build things, from scaled-down models to huge installations/effigies. In the past, he has worked for events like the Goa Carnival and the International Film Festival of India. At Quicksand, he works as an illustrator and concept artist for games.
Job Titles:
- Design Researcher and Strategist
Alifiya is a design researcher and strategist at Quicksand. She practices participatory and speculative methods, grounded in lived realities for social equity. She's motivated by social innovation that centres community building and ecological sustainability, at the pace of care. Having an entrepreneurial bent, she co-founded Local Forecast, a storytelling platform and online store for artists and designers exploring creative culture in Sri Lanka. She holds an MFA in Transdisciplinary Design from Parsons School of Design and a B.Eng in Mechanical Engineering from Monash University.
Anish is a designer and researcher at Quicksand with an undergrad in Product Design. His pursuit is to bring the perspective of inquiry to design and work in the realms of human emotion, behaviour and social interaction. On the side, he enjoys exploring the areas of science, evolution, art and critical design.
Anush is a design researcher at Quicksand. He holds a Masters Degree in Social Work from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, and is a Teach for India alumnus. He has had the opportunity to work with a diverse range of stakeholders including farmers, project-affected people, teachers, school leaders, and people living with paraplegia. He holds a keen interest in Education, Environment, and Identity and is always open to collaborate. In his spare time, Anush enjoys football, troubles dogs, watches terrible shows, and thankfully does not refer to himself in the third person in actual conversation.
Job Titles:
- Project Manager and Researcher at Quicksand Design Studio
Aparajita is a project manager and researcher at Quicksand Design Studio. Since her post-graduation in History of Art from the University of York, she has been working in public art with a focus on the emergent street art scene in India. She is interested in looking at art interventions in public spaces and its implications on local communities.
Arshmeen is a Senior Associate at Quicksand. With a background in computer science and a fellowship in liberal arts (YIF), she has eventually found her interest in HCD and Behavioural Science. She loves chasing one of her many creative pursuits- creating digital art to indulging in philosophy, in her free time.
Job Titles:
- Design Strategist, Researcher and Artist
Avinash is a design strategist, researcher and artist, and one of the co-founders of Quicksand. With a natural inclination to build entrepreneurial projects in the arts and design, Avinash has been tinkering with design processes and collectives for over 15 years. He presently anchors Quicksand GamesLab, and is also the co-founder of acclaimed electronic arts collective BLOT!
Ayush is one of the co-founders of Quicksand and leads the studio in new business, strategy and project management. Ayush is a strong advocate for transformative roles for design within public policy, international development, social enterprise and innovation, for which he was also granted the prestigious Yale World Fellowship in 2012. He is also an avid triathlete!
Ayushi is deeply interested in exploring an HCD approach to solve complex problems. Her background is in economics and she has on-ground experience as a Teach for India fellow. Her interests are in education, experiential learning, interdisciplinary studies, design thinking, systems thinking, public policy, and social entrepreneurship. At Quicksand, her work is centred around Design Research.
Babitha, a partner in Quicksand, believes in the strength of interdisciplinary approaches; her prior work in education prompted her to actively think about non-traditional roles of design thinking, subsequently leading her to steer Quicksand's social innovation projects. Babitha anchors Quicksand's Bangalore studio and is also on the Advisory Board of the Victor Papanek Foundation.
Job Titles:
- Product Manager at Quicksand 's Venture Design
Bhavesh is a Sr. Product Manager at Quicksand's Venture Design practice. With extensive product management experience, Bhavesh is responsible for building software products at scale for Quicksand and its strategic partners. Bhavesh also has a background in market research and economics.
Deepti is an animator and illustrator. She enjoys traditional mediums of animation like hand-drawn animation, and stop-motion, and likes to work with mher hands. She cares about sustainability, animals and also loves working with music. She hopes to work on short films and music videos.
Job Titles:
- Public Health Communications Specialist
Faith Gonsalves is a storytelling and public health communications specialist. Her work has spanned campaigns, fundraising, and creating mixed media and films on issues related to gender equity, children's rights, and mental health. She has more than a decade of experience also as a social entrepreneur and non-profit leader, having founded 'Music Basti' in 2008. She is a recipient of Forbes Asia's first 30 Under 30 list for Entrepreneurship (2016), the Karmaveer Puraskaar National Award for Social Entrepreneurship (2011), CNN Real Hero Award for Youth (2011), and member of World Economic Forum's Global Shapers (2013-2018).
Fiza Ranalvi Jha is a culture writer and editor. A Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology graduate, she has worked in art, production design, and fashion retail. After her time as a Young India Fellow at Ashoka University, she worked as a journalist with the digital news publication ThePrint. She is currently working on kickstarting her own podcast.
Job Titles:
- Researcher and Creative Strategist With a Masters
Jigeesha is a Researcher and Creative Strategist with a Masters in Communications from MICA. Her background is in Advertising and Market Research. She has also been an entrepreneur and co-founded The Bicycle Trip - an initiative to promote bike tourism in Goa. She is culture curious, enjoys uncovering insights and studying a variety of topics - Futures Thinking, Design Thinking and Colonial History.
Job Titles:
- Design Researcher and Visual Communication Designer
Jyothi is a Design Researcher and Visual Communication Designer with a degree in Graphic Design from the National Institute of Design. She is passionate about research and social innovation, especially in the field of education. She enjoys origami, paper engineering and any kind of tinkering with paper, colours and textures. If she is not working, then she is probably dancing or learning something new.
Jyoti a designer by profession and a storyteller by passion. She enjoys conducting research and seeks to find hidden narratives in the subjects she studies. She is a strong advocate in experimental and experiential design processes, and execution of technology at the right place and at the right time.
Kapil is a filmmaker and photographer, and one of the co-founders of Quicksand. Kapil possesses a unique flair for the arts - whether it be music, visuals or moving images. Kapil's playful spirit and aesthetic philosophy has been supremely influential on the culture of the studio, and best represented by his photography initiative - Blind Boys.
Neha is a designer and one of the partners in Quicksand. She is a pivotal actor in the sustained progress of the studio and provides creative direction across projects at Quicksand. Neha has been keenly exploring ethnographic research and rich-media storytelling as tools to uncover insights and engage audiences. She has over 14 years of experience in the fields of design research, product design and design for communication.