Karthi Subbaraman

5 tips to stay consistent at anything you pick

Do you binge watch and munch a box of brownies all evening because you missed your run for the day? Do you stop writing entirely because you didn't write your blog or morning pages for one week? If yes, you are not alone. Consistency is hard for a

A smarter way to get hired as an entry level designer

The world of designer hiring is evolving rapidly. Companies are starting to realize that inbound methods of hiring is somewhat outdated. Putting out a job post in LinkedIn and other job boards to attract the right talent is turning out to be slower and inefficient compared to the growing design

Greatness, a new definition

Here is an AND equation for greatness 1. One who has a heart to accept (self) mediocrity + 2. One who keeps working on the craft despite being mediocre + 3. One who creates great tonnage (day after day, week after week, month after month and so on) + 4. One who knows

5 types of credibility designers can bank on

Credibility is a quality of being trusted. It does play a big role in our career success. It is easy to trust a credible person than otherwise. Typically when we start our careers all of us have zero credibility. Over a period of time, some designers master the game of

How to design for civic engagements?

Today I got vaccinated as a part of our community drive. I had to travel exactly 2 mins (to the club house) to get the vaccine done for me and my entire family. While I am very grateful to have vaccine come to me, the designer in me was critcal

10 apps that changed my life

If you care about digital minimalism, then this post is for you. Modern tools and emerging technologies are enabling makers like me push the limits of current workflows. A few long term decisions of recent times just blew my mind. Adopt if it makes sense to your workflow as well.

LIFE, a simple definition

As a rational mind, I prefer a formula or an equation than an explanation. Here is my simplest definition of life. Life is what happens between Birth (B) and Death (D). Now the next question would be "what is a good life" then? Well, that depends upon the

An ode to Stepmothers

Today she is no more 😢 Thanks to the 🦠 This year I have heard 50+ death news from my second circle, third circle and larger community. This is the first time I am grieving a death in my inner circle. The texture of the pain is very different. The emotions are

One underrated quality that makes you a 10x better designer

A typical question that comes multiple times in my career clinic is, "what is that one thing I must possess to have a competitive advantage in the industry?" My answer to that question is TASTEFULNESS. We hardly talk about this one virtue or aspect or faculty or sense

Designer hireworthiness, a perspective

Among the five elements of life (you, health & fitness, relationships, career and finance), career gets enormous attention, time and energy in an adult life. If you observe closely, you'll see that in a 24 hour cycle of our day, one-third (or more) is spent on our work.