The first weekly session of iConnect conducted on Friday was the one wherein students of communication design were in for a treat. We had Mr Sanjay Reddy, the founder of REDTIN STUDIOS and an avid storyteller. He took us along a journey with him to his Alma Mater in Uttar Pradesh's technical Institute. He spoke about how he doodled through his bachelor's in engineering only to have a revelation later that designing was what he wanted to pursue. He also got into the prestigious Istituto D'Arte Applicata e Design in Italy. By attending university overseas, Sanjay says he didn't just benefit from studying transportation design but also learnt a very different culture amidst the Italians.

The walk down memory lane ended as Sanjay introduced his venture REDTIN STUDIOS, a Delhi-based creative studio integrally focusing on illustrations, best known for their doodle bowl campaign with Swiggy and personality illustration work. His drive for design lit up the room bright, he pulled up the colours red and yellow, one the screen to allude passion and creativity respectively, and everyone could see these qualities radiating from him.

Sanjay portrayed immense sensitivity as he elaborated on one of his projects for the CEO of V Green, a media company. In just a couple of months, he was instrumental in picking up such characteristic details about the personality which he later turned into elements in the illustration, making it even more meaningful.

The session was further conducted on the success mantra of achieving success by focusing on 5 simple questions; What Why Who Where and When. He explains that this way one can produce a truly purposeful and impactful design, be it an illustration or a product this is fundamentally for all design-related streams. However, Sanjay stresses that being present in the moment is even more important, as inspiration for the design is omnipresent and spontaneous. Designex is another one of Sanjay's start-ups. This one is catered towards conducting design workshops. Designex has a target audience that ranges from student design aspirants to corporates.

The next focus was on "what makes a conversation?' Students get more exploration over the attributes of conversation and ways of communicating through illustration. This concept was further explored as Sanjay unveiled a three-part illustration series that depicted his metamorphosis from engineer to designer and how that impacted him. These illustrations titled The Heart, The Mind and The Soul were the highlights of the session as the viewers were taken on a visual rollercoaster. Every stroke, motif, colour scheme picked with immaculate mindfulness that the message was beautifully communicated. The iConnect ended with an exercise where students were asked to represent contrast by drawing a snowman that was a. Old/Young b. Zoomed in/Zoomed out. This way we understood how to properly tackle design prompts.

Summarizing the session as a fun-filled, a small virtual trip to Italy, exploration on designing, the importance of communication as well as the importance of doodling and illustration. This session was very motivating and inspirational for attendees that give them a spark for exploring the ways of enhancing communication skills.