Meet Nimran Kang | Graphic Designer, Creative

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nimran Kang and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nimran, how do you think about risk?
Through many phases of my life, I find that I have always viewed risk taking through the lens of opportunity rather than danger. This has played out in many ways, the result not always being as desired, but with the collateral always being resilience and learning. For me, taking risks always came from a place of curiosity, mildly fueled by impulse. A question that often crossed my mind was ‘but what if I tried?’ and that has driven me to make decisions that I never thought I would.

As a student in high school with no mathematical inclination whatsoever, I argued my way into allowing the school to let me take a coding class, not because I wanted to be an engineer or developer, simply because I was curious. While I didn’t necessarily excel academically in the class, I most definitely learnt a lot. It was a risk for many reasons, college applications, transcripts and grades were all on the line. But I have no regrets looking back. I then proceeded to apply to prestigious art institutions to study graphic design on the other side of the world (in New York City), with the most minimal knowledge about what being a graphic designer really entailed, and close to no hard skills in the field. August 2017, I took a leap of faith and moved across the world to pursue my dreams of being a Graphic Designer at the School of Visual Arts in New York. Until that moment, it was nothing but a dream to live in New York, let alone pursue my degree and career, embarking on a journey thousands of miles away from everything I had ever known before. A big risk, investing my time, energy and money into this passion, accepting the journey of being an immigrant in a foreign land, and a woman of color in a field uncommon in the world I grew up in.

At the very root of it all, the decision to be an artist and pursue it full time was a risk. It was an unconventional route at the time, and felt like a journey I would take alone, something to figure out by myself, that my parents wouldn’t necessarily be able to guide me through. Had it not been for the curiosity within me that pushed me to take risks, I would not be anywhere near where I am today. Against many many odds, I am working a job that enables me to think creatively, I am somehow still in New York City, 7 years after I first got here as a naive teenager. I have taken risks to get myself out of situations that didn’t serve me in my career, and I have taken risks with clients to disagree with their ideas and often stand my ground on creative direction and concepts that they might not fully understand, yet I see the vision for, and have succeeded in changing their perspectives. Without taking chances like this one would find themselves stuck in the confines created by establishments and society. Had I not chased my curiosity I wouldn’t be where I am today, learning, growing and expanding my creativity every day, in the city I had always dreamed of being in.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what my intention as a designer and creative is. It isn’t necessary that you always create with intention, but when you do get into creative problem solving and design, I find it extremely helpful to be able to anchor my thought process to something. After a lot of workshopping I landed on this ; I seek to reinvent the ordinary, and deliver the unexpected. It may feel broad and open ended, but when you work with this intention, it drives a certain sense of inspired decision making and gives you the ability to take risks with your work as you know you have a strong reasoning behind it. While this may sound like I have a very clear approach, the creative journey so far has not been easy. being 3 years into the real world after graduating still feels extremely fresh, I continue to absorb knowledge and grow more with each passing day. I haven’t had the smoothest journey, but every single bump in the road has taught me something valuable and new. If anything, a lot of my experiences have showed me what I’m good at and where I need some serious improvement.

As a creative, if you don’t feel like you’re being challenged, you’re doing something wrong. I’ve been in roles that have been extremely challenging and have pushed me to think outside of the box, think unconventionally to solve problems that can only be solved with certain tools and assets. Working within the confines of preset rules and guidelines also pushes you to think differently, it’s a unique form of creative problem solving to create within confines. It has been challenging to go from being a student where there are no rules, to the real world where nearly everything you are tasked with comes with restrictions on how much you can do with it. I think this change has pushed me to be really good at learning the rules in order to break them the right way!

When I think about my career so far, I’m really proud of how far I’ve come! I’ve had the opportunity to contribute across various industries; right from brand strategy, to marketing and social, advertising agencies and startups. This has given me more insightful learning opportunities than I would have gained from being in one consistent role / field over the past couple of years. I have worked with so many different kinds of creatives and learnt from different leaders and mentors across the field, each with their own unique flair added to what they do best. I’ve been through the ringer when it comes to dealing with applications, interviews, rejections and acceptances. Made some good decisions and some that weren’t great, but have learnt to trust my gut instinct through it all. Each experience, no matter the outcome has made me more empathetic, and resilient. Even when I was completely burnt out from applying to jobs and getting one job rejection after the other, I persevered. Ultimately, you could get a thousand no’s but you just need one yes, and that is what kept me going every single day.

My story is only getting started, I have so much more to learn and so much more to give. I am so excited to continue to bring my perspective and influence to every team I get the opportunity to be a part of it. I always remind myself how important it is to stay true to who I am as a person and an artist, authenticity is always appreciated and it goes a long way.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I believe that New York is the ideal place to simply let the city happen to you. There have been countless times that I’ve stepped out of my house with not a single plan or commitment, and have had the most wonderful, and adventurous day one could imagine. Closing in on the 7 year mark of my time in New York, I’ve accumulated quite the list of recommendations, that can serve the purpose of any kind of tourist. If it were up to me, (weather permitting) I would spend my time like this:

The right way to start the day is with a classic bagel from Edith’s – one of the best you’ll ever have – followed by an iced Matcha and some baked goods from Ceremonia Bakeshop. You will not regret trying these spots. Once you’re fueled up, it’s time to head over from Williamsburg to Manhattan, if you’re feeling adventurous, you could walk across the Williamsburg bridge and soak in the cinematic skyline while you do so. An afternoon in the east village, exploring the thrift stores, record stores, poster houses, and vintage goods that the city has to offer can never go wrong. I would then head over to Downtown Brooklyn, walk through Cobble Hill and take guesses as to how much each brownstone would cost, down to the water near Brooklyn Bridge park Pier 5, grab a Citi Bike and bike along the piers by the river through a crowded yet beautiful path all the way to Dumbo. If you’re lucky and you time everything just right, you’ll be on the ferry back to Williamsburg right around sunset after which you can head to the water tower bar at Williamsburg Hotel for some views and drink to go with it. They say New York is the city that never sleeps for a reason, there’s people having a whole days worth of adventures once the sun goes down! If you know what you like, the city has every type of musical event you could possibly want to attend, and for those who are up for an adventure, Bushwick is probably where you want to be.

The city never fails to provide a wide range of free activities you can do, that’s really what I love the most. You could be walking down the pier and stumble upon a silent disco and spend the rest of your night dancing every thought away (based on true events) or you could do the infamous ‘Broad City’ walk, and cover the length of manhattan from top to bottom hitting all the best coffee shops, stores and pop ups that come along your way. I personally love the grand bazaar on the upper west side for unique finds and endless browsing. The ‘Artists & Fleas’ collective is another really cool place to meet & support small business owners in the City. On some days, you might even find yourself at the Lot Radio by Mccarren Park, another spot to hang out and listen to some guaranteed good tunes! The list could go on and on and on, this doesn’t even cover a part of what I have, but I think this would be a good start to experience the City in my shoes, and live a day, week or weekend in my shoes. (comfy shoes, suitable for lots of walking)

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I am today, a culmination of all the people, experiences and things that have shaped me over the years. It goes without saying that when it comes to my career, there is no place other than the School of Visual Arts that I can thank for setting me up for success in the big bag world. I am grateful to the professors who were patient with me, who were excited to teach, who put in the work to ensure we left each class inspired (and mildly sleep deprived) every week. Looking back at my time at SVA, there isn’t a single professor that I didn’t take away a valuable lesson from. My professors were so incredible, they made me fall in love with things like typography (I never thought that would ever happen). I was pushed to answer the ‘why’ behind every single decision I ever made, which really shapes your creative process to be well thought out and intentional. Beyond academic interactions, my parents believed in me and supported my risky decisions every step of the way, as unknown as it was for me, navigating this new world I was thrown into, it was twice as intimidating for them, yet they trusted me and encouraged me right to the end. I would never have gotten this far without a rock solid support system, keeping things moving and motivated behind the scenes.

Over the course of my career, I’ve had the pleasure of working with some incredibly talented individuals. Some that have showed me what a real good leader should be like and others that have showed me the definition of an outstanding colleague. I have jumped around and worked at various organisations in the span of 3 years and it would be nearly impossible to name everyone, but I have taken all the feedback, critique, notes and edits and carried them with me until now and will continue to do so as I move forward. I find that people who are fiercely passionate about what they do always make for the best teachers and mentors, I’ve had the privilege of being amongst many such people, right from my days at SVA to all of the organisations I have been a part of over the years. While there are some people that exist on the internet, who also inspire me yet, don’t even know of my existence. A few years ago I stumbled upon this book titled ‘Women Don’t Owe you Pretty’, by Florence Given. Upon further investigation I learnt that Florence is an illustrator, writer, creative of sorts who wrote, designed and illustrated this incredible book to help women embrace their authenticity and never serve the unrealistic standards set by society. I find out truly uplifting and was able to implement alot that she touched upon in many aspects of my life, helping me further strengthen my sense of self as a woman in todays world.

At a time in my life where I felt completely lost and creatively run down, one of my best friends handed me a book titles ‘The Creative Habit’ by Twyla Tharp. As I navigated the book page by page, it guided me through a series of exercises and thought provoking insights that helped me break out of the biggest creative rut I had ever felt in my life. To any creatives struggling, I cannot recommend this book enough.

Website: https://nimrankang.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nimruns.this/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nimran-kang-749667201/

Image Credits
Amoozing product shots taken by Akshay Gill