A place to belong.
A reason to
keep growing.
Co-founding Madrasters is one of the most meaningful parts of my journey as a designer.
It began with sharing what we knew. It grew through people willing to show up, ask questions, and help one another.
Read the story
We wanted a place
to share.
So we made one.
I co-founded Madrasters in Chennai in 2011 with other designers who wanted a place to exchange knowledge.
The community became part of my practice: organizing gatherings, sharing experience, and speaking at events in Chennai and Bangalore. It gave learning a social setting—people could bring their questions as well as their expertise.
That experience stayed with me when I moved to China in 2014. The location changed, but the idea of bringing designers together remained.
A new country.
The same
curiosity.
I arrived in Shenzhen for work without speaking Chinese. Finding a creative community became a way to connect.
Language-exchange meetups introduced me to people and a café. I asked the owner about hosting designers there. Our first gathering began with six friends; a WeChat group gave the conversation somewhere to continue.
I created Madrasters groups on WeChat, connecting local and international designers. We kept organizing gatherings, inviting people from different disciplines to share what they were learning.
A meetup is more
than a room
and a speaker.
The community was open and free to join. It brought people together around shared interests rather than a single discipline.
I organized events, invited industry speakers, and worked with volunteers. Our conversations ranged across UX, branding, typography, industrial design, 3D printing, IoT, and virtual reality.
As participation grew, we moved into larger venues and brought in sponsors. The work behind each gathering mattered: finding the space, connecting speakers and participants, and making people feel able to contribute.
Figures documented in my community archive, reflecting that chapter of the journey.
One evening. Different ways of seeing.
The 13th Shenzhen meetup brought more than 60 participants together in Nanshan. Speakers explored social-product UX, lessons from gaming, and personal branding. Those different perspectives were the point: a gathering could connect people whose day-to-day work looked very different.
Keep asking
“Why?”
A community can create space to question how design is done—not only to learn another tool.
In April 2017, TechNode interviewed me for its Now in Shenzhen series about design in a city known for manufacturing. I spoke about the need for creative education, international perspectives, and a stronger focus on the people using a product.
My message was that designers should question decisions: why this colour, why this placement, why this form? That curiosity helps a team move beyond following instructions toward understanding the problem.
The interview captured what I wanted Madrasters to encourage: open conversation, shared learning, and the confidence to challenge assumptions.
Interviewed by Eva Yoo · TechNode, Now in Shenzhen · 6 April 2017When the circle
gets wider.
Organizing communities opened doors to other creative and startup spaces.
In Shenzhen, I participated in Startup Salad, Startup Grind, and Techstars events. My wider community work also included mentorship through Startup Weekend, the European Innovation Academy, and Shenzhen University.
It brought opportunities to meet people across design and technology, including Peter Vesterbacka and Tim Cook. These photographs are personal moments from that journey.
A community
in pictures.
More photographs from my original story. Open a photograph to see it in full, then move through the archive.
The most lasting thing
we build can be
the community itself.
Madrasters connects the different chapters of my career: sharing knowledge, bringing people together, and staying curious about how others see the world. It is a contribution I’m proud to carry alongside my product work.
Back to the homepage