Design generalist People first Functional emotion

Akshatha Nagendra

In the end, people carry emotions, memories, and experiences with them, not just the object itself.

I work as a generalist. Brands, objects, spaces, food, imagery. The medium keeps changing, the intent never does: design that works beautifully for the people experiencing it, felt before it is explained.

Visual archive

Hand-illustrated tarot card titled Unfold the Within, an all-seeing eye in a marigold border
01

Unfold the Within

Tarot / illustration / print
Rattan and wicker living room with warm afternoon light filtering through sheer curtains
02

Rattan Sanctuary

Interior / material / ease
Three artisan granola packages, Unsalted by Maia in kraft and glass
03

Small Batch

Packaging / craft / brand
Painting of an arched window opening to the sea, flowers in the foreground
04

Window to the Sea

Gouache / place / longing
Single tropical leaf backlit by raking sunlight against a warm terracotta wall
05

Leaf Light

Botanical / surface / shadow
Forest-green velvet cake with a sweeping gold leaf panel and fresh red berries
06

Gold Unfurling

Sculpture / material / surface
Tarot card titled Visionary, a telescope under a crescent moon and stars
07

The Visionary

Tarot / illustration / night sky
Moorish arched dining room with hanging lanterns and carved niche details
08

Ritual Rooms

Interior mood / atmosphere
Editorial poster of green mangoes with Kannada script typography
09

Mavinkayi

Typography / cultural signal
Jaipur market at dusk, a vendor holds plastic cups against a purple-gold sky
10

Jaipur Hour

Street / dusk / culture
Illustrated brand mark of matcha being poured, framed by an arch
11

Matcha Ritual

Identity / illustration / concept
Portrait in a striped tee, sitting in a garden
12

Garden Morning

Portrait / ease / green
Moody kitchen with dark cabinetry, warm under-shelf lighting and rattan bar stools
13

Imagined Kitchen

Space / atmosphere / vision
Oval painting of a red house in a pastel lake landscape
14

Little Red House

Painting / landscape / calm
Dense field of stargazer lilies in bloom with a fan palm trunk blurred behind
15

Before the Bouquet

Flora / light / field
Dark floral sticker design with the name Maya in serif type
16

Maya in Bloom

Illustration / sticker art
Abundant festive gift basket with sparkling wine, sweets, ribbons and fairy lights
17

Fully Dressed

Gift / occasion / abundance
Acrylic painting of oversized magenta tulips on a warm coral ground
18

Material Memory

Surface / object / detail
Illuminated Rajasthani palace facade at night with a full moon rising behind
19

Night Palace

Light / scale / spectacle
Baroque gallery room with floating jellyfish-like light installations
20

Jellyfish Palazzo

Light / spectacle / scale
Chocolate cake with a sculpted yellow drape
21

Cocoa Drape

Chocolate work / form
Red ice-cream truck parked against a pink colonial building
22

Softserve, Parked

Street / found colour story
Deep purple cake with sugar sails, gilded shards and a gold Love topper
23

Love, Amethyst

Sugar work / celebration
Dark business card in violet light under palm shadows
24

Shadow Play

Print / identity / mood
Dark intimate alcove with hand-painted Rajasthani murals and carved cane seating
25

Mural Alcove

Interior / craft / shadow
Blush pink entremet with dark berries and a chocolate sail
26

Quiet Entremet

Patisserie / precision
Illustrated still-life composition with botanicals and everyday objects
27

Illustrated Hours

Drawing / still / composition
Sunset-ombre cake in red and gold with sprigs of baby’s breath
28

Sunset Tier

Buttercream / gradient
Styled poster of a brass chai kettle and glass tumblers at Tapri Jaipur
29

Chai Always

Ritual / place / warmth
Pale blush cake with miniature ice cream cone motifs and gold leaf flecks
30

Gilded Cones

Detail / material / craft
Brand system flat lay with tablet, cards and colour palettes
31

System, Assembled

Identity system / guidelines
Oil painting of red roses in a jug alongside pomegranates and grapes on a dark ground
32

Crimson Still

Painting / composition / depth
White cake with a diagonal cascade of blue sugar-glass shards
33

Glass Bloom

Sugar glass / structure
Vivid red street-art print of a surreal mushroom tree at a night art market
34

Art Corner

Street / graphic / night
Cream-frosted cake with translucent blue blown-sugar shards
35

Sugar Objects

Food styling / tactility
Close painting of a strawberry with golden seeds
36

Strawberry, Studied

Painting / detail / food
City highway at dusk with towers and clouds glowing overhead
37

City Exhale

Street / dusk / motion
Indigo gradient business card with serif monogram
38

Indigo Card

Identity / print
Hands presenting a hat-box cake crowned with an oversized sugar rose
39

Hand Delivered

Cake / occasion / care
Vivid abstract painting hung on a dark wall
40

Colour Study

Painting / abstraction
Portrait wrapped in a soft green shawl
41

Wrapped in Green

Portrait / quiet / texture
Lotus pond stretching to a temple pavilion under monsoon clouds
42

Lotus Season

Travel / monsoon / stillness
Galaxy-toned unicorn cake with a twisted gold horn and piped florals
43

Galaxy Horn

Sugar sculpture / whimsy
Digital illustration of a serene moon-face amid lilies and stars on deep indigo
44

Moon Memory

Illustration / indigo / bloom
Terracotta service page with playful team illustration
45

Advisory, Warmly

Brand collateral / illustration
Portrait on a lawn with a small white dog
46

Good Company

Portrait / joy / companionship
Golden sunlight streaming through a Mughal arched doorway with sheer curtains
47

Golden Threshold

Architecture / light / transition
Trio of kraft pouches with hand-illustrated botanical labels
48

Pantry Uniform

Packaging / shelf presence
Styled gifting table with curated products, ribbons and seasonal foliage
49

Gifting Table

Brand / occasion / warmth
White cake painted with pink, blue and gold brushstrokes
50

Painter’s Crumb

Buttercream / brushwork
Corner gallery of bold Colombian screen-print posters in vivid primary colors
51

Printed Energy

Color system / graphic rhythm
Gold botanical mark and serif wordmark on dark silk
52

Silk Marque

Identity / wordmark
Lush urban garden courtyard with a grey daybed surrounded by dense climbing vines
53

Green Inhale

Space / texture / foliage
Portrait in a red silk saree, oranges at hand
54

Red Silk

Portrait / culture / colour
Golden high-rise towers catching late sun above a harbour promenade
55

Gilded Grid

Street / light / geometry
Holiday gift tag sheet with playful usage instructions
56

Tag, Gifted

Print / holiday system
Woman behind a dessert table under hanging white wisteria installations
57

Wisteria Hour

Event / ritual / staging
Gingerbread figures and snowflakes dusted with powdered sugar on a clay tray
58

Sugar Snow

Seasonal / texture / craft
Painting of a halved blood orange cross-section against a deep black background
59

Dark Fruit

Painting / drama / detail

I care about the full encounter: the object, the surface, the way it is held, the memory it leaves behind, and whether every part of the experience behaves with intention. My work sits between visual direction and functional systems, where feeling and usability have to support each other.

Brand systemsIdentity, packaging, voice, visual rules, and applications that hold together across touchpoints.
Experience thinkingDesign decisions shaped around how a person moves through, receives, remembers, or shares the work.
Visual researchCurated references, material studies, color cues, and cultural signals translated into usable direction.