ABOUT
Tanaya is a visual communication and motion designer and researcher/ educator interested in multimedia narratives along with expanded animation and illustration techniques. Tanaya is an NID (Ahmedabad) alumna. She has received her MA in Visual Communication at the University for the Creative Arts (UCA), UK as part of which she has dealt with construction and deconstruction of perspectives shaping the interpretation of image-making, human-technology exchange and experimental animation as a unique strategy to understand perceptual aspects of serendipitous experiences in post-internet context.
Professionally she has worked with notable publishing houses and collaborated with multi-disciplinary team members on projects from concept pitch till delivery. She has collaborated with organisations such as the World Wildlife Fund to create mix-media animated films, attended the SVA Illustration Residency in New York and taught visual art and design. She has also illustrated tactile graphics and children's books for inclusive education and her work has been exhibited in New York, Singapore and France.
With a constantly evolving practice, she strongly believes in incorporating global and local insights in her design process and aims for a dynamic approach driven by curiosity, learning, collaboration and constant innovation.
Select clients:
WWF-India, Tulika Publishers, HarperCollins India, Pratham Books, Tata Interactive Systems, Scholastic India, Covent Gardener Magazine London and more...
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
Speaker at AFCC Singapore
2019
Personal Journeys, Stranger Worlds, New Perspectives: Illustrating Children’s Non-fiction in India
Artist Book Exhibition
2017
Exhibited my book 'Reflections of the Forest' at All Inked Up: artist books symposium, exhibition and print fair curated by Rob McDonald at UCA Herbert Read Gallery, UK.
Book Illustrators Gallery Exhibition, AFCC Singapore
2017
Illustrations from my book 'Kasturba' published by Tulika Publishers (India) exhibited at the Asian Festival of Children's Content (AFCC), Singapore
National Tactile Book Prize
2013
Tactile graphic book 'Bo, Messy and Shampoo' created for visually impaired children won the National Tactile Book Competition India. The book was selected in the judge's best category of 'Typhlo & Tactus' France 2013.
Sir Ratan Tata Scholarship
2009
Awarded on merit for the student work produced during the first year of graduate study at the National Institute of Design, India
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Jan 2019 - Present
Assistant Professor, Visual Communication Design | Department of Design, Nirma University, India
Sept 2018
Design Assistant | Carlton Books
Feb 2018 - Sept 2018
Graduate Teaching Assistant | University for the Creative Arts, Canterbury, UK
Assisted in teaching authorial narrative and visual communication courses to Undergraduate, Postgraduate and Further Education students
July 2016 – Sept 2017
Independent Design Consultant | Scholastic India, HarperCollins India
Projects: Picture book illustration and cover designs
May 2016 – June 2016
Summer Residency in Illustration: Art and Industry Program | School of Visual Arts (SVA), New York
Projects: Illustration for editorials, posters, book covers, sequential narrative
Jan 2016 – April 2016
Independent Design Consultant | Tulika Publishers, India
Project: Author and illustrator for the children’s picture book ‘Kasturba’
May 2015 – Dec 2015
Lead Visualiser | TATA Interactive Systems (TIS), Mumbai, India
Projects: Storyboarding for brand motion graphics, visualisaSon for e-learning modules
2014 – 2015
Independent Design Consultant for publishers (Pratham Books, Tulika Publishers)
EDUCATION
2017 – 2018
Master of Arts in Visual Communication (Distinction) - University for the Creative Arts, Canterbury UK
• MA Thesis ‘Serendipity on Demand’ - exploring notions of serendipity in the age of the internet (multimodal narratives exhibited through documentary animation, projection installation and risoprinted leporello book)
• Photo essay on T.S. Eliot’s poem ‘Wasteland’ as part of the exhibit at the Turner Contemporary, Margate, Kent
• Visual narratives tracing parallels between the revival of the ‘handmade’ in India and the UK (GIF projection installation with audio-video)
https://archive-serendipity.tumblr.com/
https://www.behance.net/gallery/72071749/ANIMATION-Documentary
https://tanaya-ucaproject1.tumblr.com/post/169925570414/treatment-design-methodology-gifs-i-started
2008 – 2013
Bachelor of Design in Animation Film Design - National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India
• Graduation Film Project with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) India ‘Cities for Forests’ campaign
• Design Internship 2011 with Cartoon Network India: Character design and broadcast packaging
INTERVIEWS
STARTUPSGEEK | Aug 29, 2018
HINDUSTAN TIMES | Jul 16, 2014
https://www.hindustantimes.com/books/loving-it-sketchy/story-CW4UV1tRWcJymH7Gv7bh0O.html
GETLITT | Jan 27, 2020
https://www.getlitt.co/blog/five-mins-with-childrens-book-illustrator-tanaya-vyas/
CONTACT
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