Shruti Jeyakumar is an Interdisciplinary Designer for Design Army with a simple bit of advice for aspiring designers: be adaptable. “I believe that the ability to transition smoothly between roles and design tasks is an essential skill for a designer,” she says. Designers often juggle multiple projects simultaneously, covering areas like art direction, typography, motion design, and storyboarding, sometimes all within a single day. Each project caters to a different audience and has unique demands, so it’s crucial for a designer to be adaptable, quickly understanding the needs of both the project and the team to shift focus as needed efficiently.”

Jeyakumar noted that adaptability is particularly important in a field like design, where desired skills are always changing, and that it’s vital to learn and explore new things constantly.

Jeyakumar was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, but currently lives and works in the United States. Both homes remain a considerable source of inspiration for her. “My design journey is a fusion of diverse cultural influences from the authentic art forms and crafts of Chennai to the eclectic design realms of the United States,” she says. “This cross-cultural journey has transformed me into a design generalist who appreciates the power of design in a global context.”

From a young age, Jeyakumar had an aptitude for and interest in design. “I was always captivated by design, even before I knew there was a word for someone who could be so fascinated by visuals, colors, patterns, and creating things,” she says. “I was the happiest kid in the world whenever I was drawing something or making something. The process of giving life to my imagination always felt magical.”