DRISHTI | दृष्टि
DRISHTI MEANS SIGHT OR VISION IN SANSKRIT, A LANGUAGE OF ANCIENT INDIA.
THE ORIGIN STORY
Drishti began in the hot, muggy summer of 2006, on a road trip to New York City, where I fell in love with photography armed with a digital camera from our neighborhood Costco. From there, it grew from hobby to passion to part-time profession as my style and taste evolved and grew.
As a life-long lover and practitioner of the arts, I’ve always been fascinated by the many ways that my life revolves around creative pursuits. And so, it was a no-brainer to combine photography, illustration and design into one cohesive platform where visuals, color and texture play together to evoke, transform and elevate. Heavily influenced by my South Asian origins and colorful cultures around the world - whether it’s their food, fashion, or art - Drishti is my both my lens into my world and my way of staying connected with the things that I love most.
THE LOGO
When designing my logo, I knew that it had to be bold, vibrant, and of course, meaningful. After many sketches and trials, I created a logo that features one of my favorite tropical flowers, the gulmohar, also known as the royal poinciana. Native to Madagascar and a ubiquitous sight all over India, I absolutely adore the gulmohar’s bright green, fern-like leaves and flaming orange-red flowers.
The logo features shades of red, along with cream and gold. Inspiration for the colors and the shape of the logo came from botanical drawings of gulmohars and ferns, the Madhubani tree of life and other tree motifs (which are incredibly detailed and common across the many cultures in India), Indian block print motifs, Bengali alpona patterns, and of course, my favorite color (which is - you guessed it - red!). Red and white are often associated with West Bengal, my home state in india, and the combination of red, white, and gold often features in Bengali sarees and other textiles across India, making it the perfect tie-in to my culture and heritage.
THE INSPIRATION
2. Kalpavriksha - The boon-bestowing tree of life
3. Royal Poinciana, Flame tree, Gulmohar. Delonix regia [as Poinciana regia] Fleurs, fruits et feuillages choisis de l'ille de Java -peints d'apres nature par Berthe Hoola van Nooten (1880)
