Sujata Keshavan (born 1961) is an Indian

graphic designer A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming ...

. She is a co-founder of Ray and Keshavan, a brand design firm based in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Early life

Keshavan was born to an engineer father and a painter mother.

Education

Keshavan graduated from the

National Institute of Design The National Institutes of Design (NID) are a group of autonomous public design institutes in India, with the first institute established in 1961 in Ahmedabad. The other NIDs are located in the cities of Kurukshetra, Amaravati, Jorhat and Bho ...

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

in 1984. Subsequently, she obtained a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...

degree in graphic design at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

in 1987. While at Yale, she studied under designers

Paul Rand Paul Rand (born Peretz Rosenbaum; August 15, 1914 – November 26, 1996) was an American art director and graphic designer. He was best known for his corporate logo designs, including the logos for IBM, United Parcel Service, UPS, Enron, Morni ...

, Bradbury Thompson,

Matthew Carter Matthew Carter (born 1 October 1937) is an English type designer.A Man of Letters

, and

Armin Hofmann Armin Hofmann ( HonRDI) (29 June 1920 – 18 December 2020) was a Swiss graphic designer and design educator, considered one of the most influential figures of Swiss design. Biography Hofmann began his career in 1947 as a teacher at the Allgeme ...

Career

After graduating, Keshavan began her career at the advertising agency Response, founded by Ram Ray, where she worked for six months. Following her graduation from

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

, she returned to

and in 1989, co-founded ''Ray Keshavan'' with her former employer, Ram Ray. Their clients have included companies such as

Infosys Infosys Limited is an Indian multinational corporation, multinational technology company that offers business consulting, information technology, and outsourcing services. Founded in 1981 in Pune, the company is headquartered in Bengaluru. On ...

Kotak Mahindra Bank Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited is an Indian banking and financial services company headquartered in Mumbai. It offers banking products and financial services for corporate and retail customers in the areas of personal finance, investment banking, l ...

, the Himalaya Drug Co,

Bharti Airtel Bharti Airtel Limited is an Indian Multinational corporation, multinational Telecommunications in India, telecommunications company based in New Delhi. It operates in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa, as well as the Channel Islands. ...

, Reliance,

Hindustan Lever Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is an Indian fast-moving consumer goods company, headquartered in Mumbai. It is a subsidiary of the Anglo-Dutch company Unilever. Its products include foods, beverages, cleaning agents, personal care products a ...

, ITC,

Wipro Wipro Limited () is an Indian multinational technology company based in Bengaluru. It provides information technology, consulting and business process services. It is one of India's Big Six IT services companies. Wipro's services include cloud ...

McKinsey McKinsey & Company (informally McKinsey or McK) is an American multinational strategy and management consulting firm that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. Founded in 1926 by James O. McKinsey ...

, Dr Reddy’s,

Dabur Dabur Ltd is an Indian multinational consumer goods company, founded by S. K. Burman and headquartered in Ghaziabad. It manufactures Ayurvedic products and fast-moving consumer goods. Dabur derives around 60% of its revenue from the consumer c ...

Max Group Max Group is an Indian Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New Delhi, operating in the fields of life insurance, real estate and independent senior living. It was founded in 1985 by Analjit Singh. Max Group companies include ...

, TVS,

MindTree Mindtree Limited was an Indian multinational information technology services and consulting company, headquartered in Bangalore. Mindtree was acquired by Larsen & Toubro in 2019, before being merged with L&T Infotech (LTI) in 2022 to form L ...

, and several airports across India. In 2006, Ray + Keshavan was acquired by the

WPP Group Plc WPP plc is a British multinational communications, advertising, public relations, technology, and commerce holding company headquartered in London, England. It is the world's largest advertising company, as of 2023. WPP plc owns many companie ...

. In 2016, Keshavan co-founded Varana Design Ltd., an artisanal luxury fashion brand, along with entrepreneurs Ravi Prasad and Meeta Malhotra.

Awards and achievements

*Keshavan has twice been named Graphic Designer of the Year at the annual Advertising and Marketing (A & M) awards. *She won the Eastern Press Award and the Schickle–Collingwood Prize. *She received the Outstanding Woman Professional of the Year, 2007, awarded by the

Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

(FICCI). *In 2006, Keshavan was named among India's 30 most powerful women by ''

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media, Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' laun ...

''. *In 2011, she was placed 18th on ''

Fortune India ''Fortune'' (stylized in all caps) is an American global business magazine headquartered in New York City. It is published by Fortune Media Group Holdings, a global business media company. The publication was founded by Henry Luce in 1929. The ...

'''s list of most powerful women in business. *She is a member of the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

Global Agenda Council on Design & Innovation. *Since 2016, she has been a Member of the Governing Council at the

, Ahmedabad. *In 2019, she was presented the Design Icons 2019 Awards in The Graphic and Communication Design category by India Design Forum. Keshavan has been invited to speak at international conferences including Design Indaba in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and the International Design Center at

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. She was a jury member at ReBrand 100 at the

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase th ...

and a member of the Design Jury at the

Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (formerly the International Advertising Festival) is a global event for those working in creative communications, advertising, and related fields. It is considered the largest gathering of the ...

. She served as the Chairperson of the jury at the Business World Awards for Design Excellence, and Chairperson of The Design Yatra Awards for Excellence in South Asian Design.

Personal life

Keshavan lives in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

and is married to the historian

Ramachandra Guha Ramachandra "Ram" Guha (born 29 April 1958) is an Indian historian, environmentalist, writer and public intellectual whose research interests include social, political, contemporary, environmental and cricket history. He is an important autho ...

. They have two children.

References

External links

Ray and Keshavan Design
Indian graphic designers Indian women graphic designers 1961 births Living people National Institute of Design alumni {{graphic-designer-stub