Born and raised in Pakistan, I was the only student in my high-school class to take art as a subject. It was a challenging and lonely endeavor with few peers to turn to and rely on. I nurtured my fascinations with music, movies and LEGOs, letting them breathe through my work and turn tedium into excitement. In those long stretches of solitude, I would dream, looking inward for answers I couldn’t find outside myself.

That experience helped me discover digging deep as a problem-solving tool. It also made me aware of my resilience in the face of hardships and set-backs. When there’s a wall in front of me, I know that with time, effort and a little bit of luck, there’s a way around it. Today, this perseverance helps me in my work as an art director to delve deeper and to keep on keeping on.

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Résumé

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Summary of Professional Skills

Art Direction and Branding
  • Developed brand visual identities for clients in the United States and Pakistan
  • Interpreted strategy and research into design from initial concept to final execution
  • Implemented copywriting and visual storytelling to create captivating brand campaigns that meaningfully engage audiences
Graphic Design and Production
  • Generated visual content for products and services in print and digital formats, including presentations, logos, environmental designs, illustrations, marketing collateral, etc
  • Crafted on-brand assets, templates and layouts for websites, events, packaging, publications and campaigns based on exisiting brand and marketing guidelines
  • Created high quality 2D and 3D designs based on project objectives, feedback and industry trends while adhering to timelines and meeting deadlines
Leadership and Collaboration
  • Lead marketing teams on visual design of social media campaigns on Facebook and Instagram that increased audience metrics and engagement
  • Organized, mentored and evaluated undergraduate students in design research methodologies and practices tailored for Entertainment Design
  • Presented pitch decks to creative partners, internal stakeholders and audiences to convey concepts simply and effectively

Experience

01.2023–Present
Assistant Professor (Part Time) | ArtCenter College of Design, Pasadena, CA
‍
05.2022–Present
Freelance Art Direction and Graphic Design | Pasadena, CA

09.2021–12.2021
Teaching Assistant | ArtCenter College of Design | Pasadena, CA

02.2019–08.2020
Freelance Graphic Design and Illustration | Lahore, Pakistan

03.2018–02.2019
Graphics Illustrator | Patari, Lahore, Pakistan

Education

09.2020–04.2022
MFA Graphic Design | ArtCenter College of Design, Pasadena CA

09.2013–06.2017
BA Art, BA Philosophy |University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA
Graduated with University Honors and Distinction (Magna Cum Laude)

Digital Skills

Advanced knowledge of: Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, After Effects, Premiere, Acrobat), Figma, Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo, Webflow, Google Suite (Docs, Slides, Drive), Microsoft Office Suite (PowerPoint, Word, Excel)

Familiar with: SketchUp, inVision Studio, FontForge, Cinema 4D, HTML, CSS, Wordpress, UI/UX

Craft

Sketching, acrylic painting, illustration, letterpress, woodcut and linoleum printing, bookbinding, kinetic sculpture

Awards and Recognition

02.2022
Graphic Design USA, “Students to Watch in 2022”

05.2021–04.2022
H.B Edwards Endowed Scholarship

2013–2017
UCSC Dean’s Honors List

Awards and Recognition

01.2020
The Happieee Place Daak: Edition One | Lahore, Pakistan
Series of postcards

01.2020
Artbook Depot Festival | Jaipur, India
Series of postcards

Languages

Fluent in English and conversational in Urdu

Education

09.2020–04.2022
ArtCenter College of Design
Pasadena, CA
Masters of Fine Arts in Graphic Design

09.2013–06.2017
University of California Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, CA
Bachelors of Arts in Art
Bachelors of Arts in Philosophy (with honors)
Graduated with University Honors
Graduated with Distinction (Magna Cum Laude)

Experience

01.2023–Present
ArtCenter College of Design
Pasadena, CA
Part-Time Assistant Professor

Organized, instructed and evaluated undergraduate students in design research methodologies and practices tailored for Entertainment Design

05.2022–Present
Freelance Art Direction and Graphic Design
Pasadena, CA

Designed brand visual systems, generated print/digital content and developed style guides for clients based in the United States and Pakistan

09.2021–12.2021
ArtCenter College of Design
Pasadena, CA
Teaching Assistant

Moderated discussions and evaluated participation of 14 graduate students for Graduate Seminar 03 taught by Professor Michael Neal.

02.2019–08.2020
Freelance Graphic Design and Illustration
Lahore, Pakistan

Created digital illustrations to promote brands on social media. Illustrated a children’s storybook for a start-up’s public launch. Collaborated with fashion designer Saman Arif to create scarf patterns for an exhibition in the UK.

03.2018–02.2019
Patari
Lahore, Pakistan
Graphics Illustrator

Generated illustrations and animations for a Pakistani music streaming company with a team of 3 designers to promote the company’s social media. Cooperated with a 3-person marketing team to promote branded content on social media platforms. Assisted visual redesign of social media to retain existing audiences.

Digital Skills

Working knowledge of:
Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign,
After Effects, Premiere, Figma, Affinity Designer, Webflow, PowerPoint, Word

Familiar with:
SketchUp, Krita, inVision Studio, FontForge, Cinema 4D

Craft

Sketching, acrylic painting, illustration, letterpress, woodcut and linoleum printing, bookbinding, kinetic sculpture.

Awards and Recognition

02.2022
Graphic Design USA
“Students to Watch in 2022”

05.2021–04.2022
H.B Edwards Endowed Scholarship

2013–2017
UCSC Dean’s Honors List

Exhibitions

01.2020
The Happieee Place (THP) Daak: Edition One
Series of postcards
Lahore, Pakistan

01.2020
ArtBook Depot Festival
Series of postcards
Jaipur, India

Languages

Fluent in English and conversational in Urdu