Design professional Juhi Chitravanshi has taken her passion to another level.
After turning her love for design into a part-time business, Juhi has started teaching calligraphy lessons to some interested beginners. You can't help but admire her work.
Here’s a conversation with this versatile, freelance entrepreneur and a sneak-peek into the journey her career took!
“Under ‘The Scratchy Nib’ , I take up calligraphy projects like hand-lettered posters, invites and handwritten letters. I also have an online shop where I sell printable posters and brushes for iPad Pro users.
Apart from calligraphy and design, I love working with paper, journaling, creating mail art, and collecting stationery. My workspace is generally overrunning with washi-tapes and stamps. Also, I enjoy cappuccinos, cosmology, science-fiction and horror, and sleeping till noon!
But without a doubt, my favourite part are the workshops for beginners. Sharing my love for this craft and seeing others find joy in letters is oddly satisfying!”
‘The Scratchy Nib’ is a part-time business; I am also an independent Product Designer- I design apps and websites for startups. I was previously the Head of Design at Zomato and have done projects with Juggernaut Books and Hike Messenger.
(You can find her UI design portfolio here.)
A love story that dates back ages
My love for letterforms goes back to my childhood, when I would write each page of my homework in a different handwriting.
I started practicing calligraphy when I was 15, and begged my parents to get me a calligraphy book for kids. I was immediately obsessed with it and learned every style illustrated in the book.
From passion to making it work
I went on to study communication design at NIFT Delhi and later started designing for startups; but calligraphy still remained a hobby.
After I left my full-time job and started freelancing, a friend gifted me my first brush pen and I was obsessed again. Since I was freelancing, I had a lot of spare time - all of which I spent on calligraphy.
That spare time is what allowed me to go back to calligraphy again. Also, taking breaks between projects has helped me take calligraphy to a more professional level.
I guess my biggest motivation for both design and calligraphy has been a love for craft. Before I went to NIFT, I had already been spending hours on Photoshop and HTML and even FrontPage (a really old web-design software) for years. So when it came to choosing a field, I managed to convince my father (who is an engineer) that design could be a worthwhile career. That’s how I got into this field!
Why I chose freelancing over a regular job
Besides obvious career reasons, I was attracted to freelancing as a Product Designer because of the freedom it gives you in deciding how long you want to work, what kind of projects you want to do and just the sheer flexibility in work schedule.
I'm not a morning person and one of the major stresses in my life was getting up early each day, which I consistently failed to do! Since then I've been doing projects for some 9-10 months each year. While on a project, I generally work for 5 hours a day and 3-4 days a week.
I work on some projects from home, while I work on others from the clients’ offices. Luckily I've been getting projects that are good enough to be able to sustain this kind of a whimsical schedule.”
Now, through Calligraphy lessons, trying to turn this passion into a part-time business
I have an upcoming calligraphy workshop at Antisocial Delhi this Sunday for beginners, where we will be learning how to use brush pens and explore various styles of modern calligraphy. (For more info, click here!)
What does the Sunday workshop entail?
Well, you can spend your Sunday learning the basics of calligraphy using a brush pen! Learn the tips and tricks for using this medium, then explore the various styles of modern calligraphy - possible with brushes again.
Spend time practicing the styles you like. It is great for those who’ll be trying calligraphy for the first time as well as those who want to improve their skills.
You will take home a calligraphy kit with high-quality supplies, including a brush pen, guideline sheets, and samples to keep practicing from. All you need to do is register and come!
More info at: http://facebook.com/events/1398055060288106
Tickets can be bought from: http://insider.in/brush-calligraphy-workshop-beginners-july9-2017/event