My journey started with a degree in Social Development and Policy where I uncovered societal fractures interwoven in the fabric of routine lives. I particularly found my interest in the dearth of creative expressions to signify the social challenges that marked the dawn of my inquiry and exploration of Communication and Designs.
To nourish myself further, I completed my Postgraduate degree in Muslim Cultures and Civilizations which further braced my knowledge with the artistic legacy from Muslim Traditions and unearth the importance of art in lives. Thus, expressing life through Art has become my curiosity ever since.
Below are a few highlights to some of my work for social and commercial settings. I hope you enjoy it.
Logos
A tree with 12 leaves was designed to celebrate Golden Jubilee Year for a community education centre. Each month a leaf was assigned a unique value that the centre delivered to the students.
Innovations was a home-based boutique start-up.
Timeless Threads was launched under Inspired By Her (IBH) Academy program. It won the best project award by IBH team. It represented the value of senior citizens in the society and celebrate their wisdom.
This is my own logo.
This Logo was created for the academic conference that was held at Aga Khan University on June 9th, 2019, by Ismaili Tariqah & Religious Education Board.
This Logo was created for one of the Habib University's club, Mind Boggle in Spring 2017.
These were designed using:
Posters
These were designed using:
Kachra Kahani
A Design thinking solution to Karachi's waste problem!
A Project by Anusha Rayani, Soha Randhawa, Syed Ali Arshad, Areba Rehman Khan
The project focuses on addressing the waste crisis in Karachi, particularly at the household level, through a trans-disciplinary design approach. The team, comprised of individuals from various study majors, seeks to understand the waste management problem using design thinking methodologies, emphasizing the cultural context and local solutions. The project recognizes waste management as a "wicked problem" requiring a human-centered approach involving compromise among stakeholders.
The research explores the historical roots of waste management, tracing the shift from traditional, ecocultural practices to modern consumerist behaviors. The team investigates contemporary waste generation patterns, identifying the disproportionate amount of waste from high-income households. Stakeholders, including senior citizens, homemakers, and waste management experts, provide insights into traditional waste management methods. The project aims to catalog this traditional knowledge and proposes interventions, including a social media campaign and an organic-waste-based workshop in the Orangi community.
The design intervention involves creating a comprehensive waste management catalog based on traditional practices. The catalog serves as a basis for a social media campaign targeting the youth and homemakers, utilizing Instagram to promote sustainable waste management solutions. Additionally, the project plans an organic-waste-based workshop in the Orangi community to raise awareness and provide context-specific solutions, such as promoting composting activities. The prototype phase involves refining the design elements, including content, color scheme, and language, before the final implementation. Overall, the project strives to bridge the gap between historical waste management practices and modern challenges in Karachi, fostering a more sustainable and conscious approach to waste.
Interactive DIY booklet for the project designed by Anusha Rayani
To view the PDF in full screen, click here
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These were designed using:
Mapping Violence
By Anusha Rayani
For the course: Maps as Media in 2019
Karachi is a city shaped and transformed by its migrants, is a diverse yet contested city for many of its people, especially those that are in minority. In the last two decades, there were numerous blasts in the city of Karachi, with the highest number of blasts in 2014. These blasts were used as a means of ethnic cleansing and targeting different religious groups. On 28th December 2009, there was an attack on the Procession of Ashura, following the destructive fire on many shops on that route.
This project carries personal relevance to me. I clearly remember the evening of 28th December, when there was a blast on the procession, followed by the looting and the burning of the shops. My father’s shop, located in Denso Hall, almost fell prey to the deadly fire. I not only remember the tense energies within our house, but also the fact that our shop was closed for a week. Even after ten years, every year during Ashura procession, I still feel the fear of things going wrong like that day.
The project, which was carried out in 2019, uses the blast of 2009 as a starting point, and primarily as a case study, and maps the impacts of this blast on the Shia community. For this project, both historical facts and the stories of the people were visualized. In total, three maps were created.
**Note that the term Shia is used here only for the Shia Ithnashiris (Twelvers) community.
Sneak Peak of the Past
This map provides a sneak peak of the past 10 years (2009 to 2019) highlighting the impacts of the blasts. It also highlights the color scheme from the year of blast compared to the years after that. The headlines used in the map emphasize the increased security as years passed. Moreover, the procession route and the entry points indicate that there has been only one entry point after the blast. Even after 10 years from the blast, these strict security measures indicate the remembrance of that blast in the minds of the community and the authority figures.
The pictures used in the map were taken from news sources. For complete list of reference, click here.
Digitalized Flip Book
This is a digitalized version of a flip book, showing the timings of the procession, and the time of blast. This was originally a hand drawn. The pencil sketch of the background, along with the black and red paint used was intentional and in-line of the larger theme of the project. Using black, gray, white and red colors in this map not only resonates with the color scheme of 2009 from the above picture, but also aided to create the violent affect.
The Cries within the Silence
This is a sound map, where the members of the community share their memory of the day of blast, and their response in the following years. This map specifically highlights the emotions of fear and anger on that day and in the years after. The pictures used in this map were taken from web.
These were designed using:
Timeless Thread
A project by Anusha Rayani, Rimsha Aslam and Shajia Mithani
Timeless Thread, a collaborative initiative as part of Inspired by Her (IBH) Academy, focused on fostering connections between youth and senior citizens to bring positivity to aging. Recognized as the 'Best Project,' it successfully bridged generational gaps, creating a heartfelt journey that celebrated positive aging and left a lasting impact on all involved. I was part of this project from ideation to its execution. I was one of the cofounders, as well as the creative director of the project.
Targeting senior citizen homes in Karachi, the project facilitated interactions between youth (aged 16-25) and the elderly, gathering their stories and experiences to be compiled into various media formats for preservation. Utilizing a participatory approach, the project emphasized engagement and collaboration among participants. Despite challenges such as participant commitment issues, the project successfully conducted sessions where participants bonded with senior citizens, exchanged stories, and shared experiences. Leveraging social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, the project effectively marketed its goals and activities, garnering positive responses and participation. Lessons learned led to adjustments in project outcomes, shifting from youth-written stories to journal entries reflecting participants' experiences. Despite limitations in scale and participant attendance, the project had a significant positive impact on both the seniors and the participants, fostering lasting connections and mutual understanding.
Testimonials
I had an aim, which was to be the reason behind someone's smile. That is what attracted me to become a part of such a great initiative. ...I saw a very old lady. I was fascinated by the wrinkles on her face and hands. While shaking hands, I could feel the bulging veins and rough texture. I asked her a question: Can you sum up your life experiences in a few lines? I was completely moved by her response. She told me that she didn’t want to sum up her life because she loved every bit of it. I was speechless by her sweet and short reply. At that moment, the little ups and downs in my life looked like a small wave in front of the ocean of her great wisdom. I got a lot of lovely advises with the lively ladies there and the best thing I would always remember being there was that beautiful smile on their faces.
~ Shayan Malik
Never give up on life... This was one of the most essential lessons that I have learned from one of the senior citizens who I met in the Senior Home. There are times when life give you many reasons to quit, but when you listen to a life experience of a person and you get captivated by it. All you do is then remember your grandparents, and what they used to do and say... After meeting them I came to know that it's not the age gap that keeps us away from our seniors, but the communication gap that comes in between.
~ Shayan Shams
When I met them and spent some time with them, I realized that they have spent their golden age while serving, but at this stage when they deserve to be serve, loved and cherish they really don't have anyone. Beside it, I can't describe my feelings when I met them. They are so wonder- ful and loving and they have so much experience. I have learned so many things there and they had given me so many advises about how to spend my life.
~ Mahnoor Bhatti
Our Team
Anusha Rayani
Creative Director and Co-founder
Rimsha Aslam
Marketing Manager and Co-founder
Shajia Mithani
Content Manager and Co-founder
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These were designed using:
Rakhwalay
A social initiative by Anusha Rayani, Ali Jawed, Fatima Durrani, Novaira Khan and Shanil Khowaja
Rakhwalay is a non-profit social enterprise which aims to address the widespread problems of climate change and social exclusivity in Karachi. This platform was launched as part of the world merit team 2030, where our aim was to work on any SDG. We as a team worked on SDG 13, climate action.
As part of our initiatives, and the task given by the team, we showed a documentary by SIMA regarding climate change in one of the schools to start a conversation about climate change. We also planned and executed a plantation drive.
Some of the snaps from our facebook and instagram page
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Videos
Cyber Harassment: This is a digital storytelling project created for a course. My role in this video was recording and editing the video.
Symbol of Marriage in Ginans: This was an informative video that can also be used as teaching material was made for a course.
New Student Orientation: This was created for the Office of Student Life, Habib University, while I was working there as a student employee.
Education system of Canada: This was initially created for the course, education policy. This video was later posted on Youth Center for Research Forum (YCRF) page. The videos and information used in this video was taken from openly accessible web and news sources. Intext citations are provided in the video.
These were designed using:
Illustrations
This work is the illustration of a small piece of text taken from the book, Alice in the wonderland. In this work, the character of Alice is recreated.
The initial sketches of Alice was transfer and then illustrated using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.
This is the design of the book cover for a sequel for the Alice in the wonderland, where Alice is magically transported to Egypt. This was illustrated using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.
Timeless thread cycle poster. This was illustrated using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.
Ella’s perfect world: These were illustrated by hand for a course titled illustration as narration. These were later compiled into a comic form.
To view the PDF in fullscreen, click here.
These were designed using:
Research Papers
Below are the abstracts of some of the qualitative research papers produced during my graduate and undergraduate studies. The themes of the following papers are art and architecture, learning spaces, differentiated learning and instruction, analysis of the literary works, green spaces and gender representations in media.
For full access to the papers , and to know about my other writings contact me.
