QUEEN’S ROAD: Samta Kejriwal is a young designer and entrepreneur, who originally hails from Bengaluru and studied at Chitrakala Parishat. In Mumbai, she has founded a boutique agency that provides 360-degree creative solutions for a wide range of requirements. Hulahoop, her company, now has clients across sectors like manufacturing and distribution, hospitality and entertainment, luxury, publishing, sports and movie publicity.
Excerpts from an interview:
On the inception
I had previously worked in different creative spaces such as music, television, entertainment, design for print, space, and digital as well as movie publicity. I wanted to move on to a profession where I could use all the knowledge I had gained in these different creative spaces and not limit myself to just one dimension. I started as a freelancer initially, and as my list of clients grew, I decided to start my own company.
I chose the name Hulahoop Design to represent our complete circle of creative services, provided with a spirited approach towards design solutions.
On struggles and breakthroughs As I am primarily a creative director, it was tough in the beginning to also functionas an entrepreneur and lead business development. Wearing two hats at the same time is always a challenge.
My path to graphic design and advertising has been quite a crooked one. When I finished my schooling, I joined Mt Carmel’s in Bengaluru to pursue a PUC in Science and Home Science. After struggling with it for a couple of years I realised it just wasn’t for me and decided to look into the arts instead.
I was lucky to get into Chitra Kala Parishat and ended up doing a BFA degree in sculpture. During my time at CKP, I also took up courses in computer graphics and design. On graduating from CKP, I decided to pursue a career in graphic design and spent the summer putting together a portfolio.
My breakthrough moment was when ESign (now Idiom) employed me as their paid junior designer.
It was my first job in graphic design and the start of my journey. After a couple of years, I wanted more challenges. So I decided to move to Mumbai to explore other avenues. Mumbai was much tougher than I had imagined, but in time I managed to find my way.
Why companies need to stand out
In today’s world, we as consumers are bombarded with hundreds of companies promoting their brands through various media all day long. Creative inputs and design are very crucial to reach your target audience and to connect with them.
This helps you stand out amongst the noise, which is the challenge we most enjoy at Hulahoop Design. In the last couple of years I have also worked with JW Marriott for their flagship Bengaluru hotel where we provided complete creative solutions from signage systems to branding and collaterals for restaurants and spaces.
We have also worked with restaurants such as Sancho’s and Olive, and lounges such as Evviva.
Getting into the big league
In 2010, I was asked to come on board for the Indian Premier League (IPL) and provide brand extensions and collaterals for their stadium creatives. Working for the premier T20 cricket league, which is watched by millions across the world, was a very exhilarating experience. When the World Cup arrived in 2011, I worked with 8848 Sports to create the official guide for the ICC Cricket World Cup. We also helped create the first ever magazine for the Mumbai Indians. This year, we were selected to design the master campaign for the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon was my first movie publicity campaign. Since then, we have worked on the publicity design for Agneepath, Fugly, and Mad About Dance as well as provided digital design solutions for leading studios like Excel Entertainment and Dharma Productions.
For the Don 2 website, it was an unforgettable experience creating an interactive game to go with the theme of the film.