Arani Halder: Designing with Empathy
Senior Graphic Designer
by Elizabeth Lavis
|17 Dec 2024
For Arani Halder, a New York City-based Senior Designer, staying open to constructive criticism is the key to growing as a designer. “Design is subjective, and not everyone will love your work,” she says. “Use constructive criticism as an opportunity to learn and grow. Criticism from others can help us identify those blind spots and see our work from a fresh perspective. Being open to criticism shows that you are committed to producing the best possible work and willing to take constructive feedback to achieve that goal.”
She also advises aspiring designers to consider the ethical implications of their work carefully. “We should be asking ourselves some essential questions such as ‘who will be affected by this design? What are the potential consequences of this design? How does this design align with ethical and moral values?‘” Halder believes that keeping design accessible and inclusive while also being impactful and aesthetically powerful is key.
Halder was born in Kolkata, India, and spent her formative years in New Delhi. Her work draws deeply on the power of knowing her roots and explores the intersection and connection between culture, pluralism, and language. “I believe that I am equal parts artist and designer in the sense that my art while being abstract and conceptual, is produced into work with a designer’s sensibility that aims to tackle the issues at hand,” she says.
"Untranslate", Arani Halder
Halder's overreaching objectives with any design are driving positive change, promoting understanding, and raising awareness. These mandates are also integral to her personal philosophy. “I believe that design has a powerful ability to communicate ideas and influence people’s perceptions and attitudes,” she says.
She also believes in the power of socially motivated design that’s driven by empathy with the objective of challenging assumptions and stereotypes. “Incorporating sociopolitical themes into design work can be challenging, but it can also be gratifying,” Halder says. “By creating work that engages with important social issues, I hope to positively impact society and inspire others to do the same.”
Along the way, Halder has had plenty of mentors and influences, but her most important and earliest is someone she’s known her whole life. “My first mentor was my dad,” she says. “He encouraged me to pursue design as a career despite its unconventionality in South Asian cultures. He’s always been both my toughest critic and biggest cheerleader.” Halder also credits Andrew LeClair, her thesis professor at Parsons School of Designs, as someone who shaped her early career and voice with support, feedback, and advice.
Over the next five years, Halder plans to collaborate on a cookbook that reclaims South Asian cuisine. “This project is a response to how other cultures have appropriated a lot of POC foods and will inversely add a South Asian flair to Western cuisines to reimagine their staples,” she says.
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