“To be nobody-but-yourself — in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else — means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight.”

- EE Cummings

The creative pursuit is a thrilling roller coaster ride. We live, work, and create while being inspired or intimidated by the noise around us. The creative “calling" is often said to be “killing” before it proves to be a saviour. This seeming chaos can both drive or destroy our own ability of finding our voice – a voice that is inherently ours – one that opens eyes, drops jaws and touches souls.

The 2020 virtual edition of Kyoorius Designyatra (#KDY20) themed aptly around ‘Your Voice’ caught many stellar creatives from the world of design and visual arts in a moment of self-reflection. Comprising venerated and aspiring names from a range of disciplines including illustration, type design, product design, speculative fiction, and street art, each speaker took the audience through their creative journey, shared the rewards and drills of their incredible practices, and reminded everyone to embrace their own pace.

STIR, the exclusive Media Partner for Kyoorius Designyatra 2020, spoke with five design contrarians from the event to get unmasked insights on what it takes to live one’s voice.

“I learn a lot by simply paying attention.”
Paula Scher
Graphic Designer, Painter, Art Educator | Pentagram

“Do the obvious, then do the opposite.”
Hyesu Lee
Illustrator, Artist, Muralist, Educator

“I am not crazy. I just like to create stuff that makes people smile.”
Frank de Ruwe
Street artist, Industrial Designer, Innovator | Natwerk

“There is value in the real escapist world.”
Anita Fontaine
Speculative Future Artist

“Work hard and save your money.”
Seymour Chwast
Graphic Designer, Illustrator, Type Designer

Recap #KDY19, Goa, India: Last year, STIR presented unboxed conversations with seven design rebels who gave us a peek into their idea of what the word ‘box’ means to them when they are called out to 'think outside the box’, the ingredients that make this box’s walls, and ways to demolish it. The series titled Conversations on the Contraryincluded dialogues with graphic designer David Carson, illustrator Timothy Goodman, stop motion animator dina Amin, and industrial designer Tej Chauhan.