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Mira Malhotra: Global Design + Image Making from a South Asian Feminist lens

Mira Felicia Malhotra is the principal designer and founder of Studio Kohl, a boutique design house based in Mumbai. Armed with an M.Des in Graphic Design from the esteemed National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, and a B.F.A. in Applied Arts, her 17 year work experience spans branding, editorial, illustration and design thinking. Her focus of interest is building visual languages that make for memorable brands, and to craft meaningful images informed by an involved and conscious understanding of context, culture and content. Studio Kohl's aim is to use image-making in unconventional and challenging ways for a new India, with a global outlook.

She has worked with clients such as Meta, Snapchat, Nike, Whatsapp, Spotify, Levi's, Marriott, Facebook, Oxfam International, Harper Collins, IPL Mumbai Indians, British Council, Godrej Properties, Junglee Pictures (Times Group), Sony Music, Penguin Random House, JSW (Forma), Dasra, Levi's, L'Oreal, Breakthrough.tv, TISS, Hike Messenger, and Deloitte. She served as a jury member on the prestigious Drum Awards for Design 2020 and 2022.

Mira is a member of a South Asian collective of woman-identifying graphic storytellers from the Indian subcontinent, the groundbreaking Kadak Collective.

In this talk, Mira will showcase her studio's work over the past 6-8 years. Studio Kohl's practice champions issues that require a great deal of sensitivity, specifically gender and mental health issues, and adheres to feminist ideals that inform its practice. The ambition was to present a South asian perspective, on global platforms, authored by South Asians themselves. This rightful taking back of the narrative helps create a unique approach, explored through multiple projects. Through the lecture we explore a landscape fraught with many problems: successfully balancing client expectations, a fluctuating, demanding market, a rapidly growing design landscape, and a fervent dedication to the design problems at hand.

May 17, 2023 02:00 PM in Vienna