CHENNAI: Many of us remember a childhood blessed with Rajnikanth movies, concoctions of exaggerated action and drama, with memorable dialogues and vivid sets. City-bred designer Karthiknathan Sowbaghyanathan is no different, except that to him the Superstar’s movies were not just entertainment, but an inspiration. “I remember that when the movies began, there were flashing stars that spelt ‘Superstar’ followed by his name in solid gold. In graphic terms, it was an identity beyond his own. You knew who it was before the person even came on screen,” he recalls. This instilled a visual connection between design and pop culture in the mind of the now 25-year-old.
Karthiknathan, like many, has been drawing since a young age but only considered it a viable career option as a second-year engineering student, when he began experimenting with software for his illustrations. After a couple of design internships, he went on to do his Masters in Graphic Communication. It is, however, not his professional work but his practice on Instagram that caught our eye.
Graphical interpretations
At first glance, you may only notice the Tamizh lettering in interesting, bold fonts across his posts. However, when you observe a little closer, you might be able to recognise the elements of pop culture, particularly influenced by the Tamizh language and cinema. “Growing up in Chennai, I was influenced by Tamizh and the kind of dialects we speak, the vernacular and I always let that influence me in my design practice,” he says. An admirer of the films of the 70s and 80s, Karthiknathan would pay attention to the titles and how they were designed at a time when designers, unfortunately, weren’t even credited or documented. Thinking back on the 1991 movie Thalapathi, he says, “You see the title designed as if it were written in blood, symbolically showing the blood bond between Deva and Surya. These details have shaped my work.”
Scrolling through his posts, we see a poster of the comedy flick Michael Madana Kama Rajan reimagined as if created for a Hanna-Barbera production, a contemporary take on the original without the use of Kamal Haasan’s picture. Another eye-grabber is the universally recognisable title of The Godfather with a twist. Instead of simply translating the name, Karthiknathan replaces the text with the Tamizh gangster film Nayakan, a loose adaptation of and homage to the iconic Hollywood blockbuster.
The Tamizh connect
Preceding his interest in pop culture is his loyalty to the Tamizh culture and language. Born in a “very Tamizh ‘’ household, Karthiknathan’s parents insisted on the usage of his mother tongue and knowledge of where it came from. “I have always spoken Tamizh at home, it’s not something I actively choose while working. Irrespective of where I was my brain would automatically switch to my mother tongue when I was thinking. I have been more comfortable in that language and that is evident in my work,” he shares.
Take his interpretation of the Tamizh phrase Karattu Murattu, an onomatopoeia for something rough. “If I were to imbue the meaning in a visual, how would I do it?” While the phrase may not translate to anything, he manifested a visual representation — a background resembling cracked earth and stars sprinkled around sharp-edged letters of the words. Recently, he used this skill to create a limited edition print for ‘Chennai for Change’, an artist sale for COVID relief co-founded by him.
“The effort was about Chennai and helping the community bounce back so I came up with the idea of utilising the word Ezhuvom, which means ‘we shall rise’. I thought of how to letter this so it fits into the theme I am trying to convey,” he adds. The result is simple yet powerful blue lettering wrapping together the word with a stark red heart. While he doesn’t have a particular process or approach to his work, he shares that it is driven by the concept or content.He looks forward to breaking into collaborations with other artists and designers.
For details, visit Instagram page: @karthiknathansowbaghyanathan