Bhavani Balasubramanyam
mdes communication design
Glasgow School of Art
Graduates: 2024
Specialisms: Storytelling / Illustration / Creative Direction
My location: Glasgow, United Kingdom
Bhavani Balasubramanyam
First Name: Bhavani
Last Name: Balasubramanyam
University / College: Glasgow School of Art
Course / Program: mdes communication design
Graduates: 2024
Specialisms: Storytelling / Illustration / Creative Direction
My Location: Glasgow, United Kingdom
Website: Click To See Website
About
I am a visual storyteller and facilitator from India based in Glasgow. My clients include Lucy and Yak, The Singapore Art Museum and The Improv Company.
My practice strives to spark joy in the viewer, melding authentic, evocative storytelling with humour and fantastical elements. I use narrative structures and world-building to bridge the gap between the everyday and the extraordinary.My work revolves around the themes of mental health, my south asian identity, and most importantly, my cat Kevin.
I have an MDes (Communication Design) from the Glasgow School of Art and a B.A (Architecture) from the National University of Singapore.For my MDes thesis, I wrote and illustrated “Avial” - a comic book that explores specific South Asian stories while hitting the universal emotional cores that make human beings tick.
In my BA, I focussed on the intersection between digital modelling, simulation and the built environment using BIM and motion-tracking techniques.
Avial is a 32-page comic book that tells the story of several people living in a building complex in India, told through contextual sound. It weaves the story of a person making the dish Avial*, along with smaller glimpses into the lives of the different people living in the same building complex. Through various visual storytelling techniques, I explore connection, loss, and societal pressure in a South Asian context and how to find universality in the specific. It is supplemented by an audio file that gives you a soundscape while reading the book. *Avial (n) – A South Indian thick stew of different vegetables commonly found in the Western Ghats, seasoned with coconut oil and curry leaves.
Competitions
