Indian Creative Discovers The Nine Lives He Wants To Live During The Quarantine

At a time when social distancing is becoming the norm, artists and creators are using this time in solitude to hone their craft and merge it with their quarantine experience to create art. Slowly but surely, the world is realising that there is a dire need for art to get us through these tough times.

In the graphic design world, Kunel Gaur, founder of Animal, is creating ripples with several projects surrounding numerous brands like his reimagined design for a packet of Maggi or the Kinder Joy egg.

In a recent interview with Homegrown, he bares it all, including his secret vices (though we seriously doubt if it counts as one, you’ll know what we mean).

Picture Credits: Kunel Gaur

About his project:

His quarantine project titled, The so many things that I want to do in life takes us through his journey of discovering the nine things he wants to do in life. Like most of us, his list includes photography, film-making and owning a coffee shop. While there is a lot of back and forth between the film-making option, the series perfectly encapsulates the innermost desires of the artist.

“Like many cats out there, I’ve had nine lives. Make sure you use this time to find yours.” says the caption of his image post.

Picture Credits: Kunel Gaur

Who or what has influenced your work over the years?

I’ve had different influences throughout my career, the latest being brutalism. Brutalism in digital design is a style that intentionally attempts to look raw, haphazard, or unadorned. [...] Both in architecture and digital design, Brutalism is seen as a reaction against artificiality and lightness. Proponents praise it for its honesty and daring.

Has your work or style of work or even the way you work gone through a shift considering the present circumstances?

Not so much the style of work, but my way of approaching it has changed a little.

Picture Credits: Kunel Gaur

How do you spend your time in quarantine?

By thinking a lot. Planning a lot. And hopefully, working a lot.

Is this the beginning of a ‘new normal’? What do you plan on doing once the lockdown situation is over?

Indeed. We’re already building some digital products that will be useful and hopefully solve for some of the problems that we faced in the pre-COVID era. These products target two of our favourite industries – Design and E-commerce.

Do you have a favourite piece of work of yours?

I love re-visiting the Generic Brands series I started last year and is still on-going for the same reason. It’s a pleasure going back to it from time to time and make some new pieces.