Who are you?
My name is Nikhil Vootkur, and I am a 13 year old who somehow wound up in the world of design. I found my interest for graphic design not too long ago. It all started when I joined a robotics competition called First Lego League (FLL). We started making progress, and we even made it to nationals, but when it was time to design our team t-shirts, our current logo just was not right. So I set out to make a new one. I had no idea about Illustrator or Photoshop, or even the basics of graphic design. All I had was a computer, Autodesk sketchbook, and the need to make a new logo. I already had an idea, our team name was the Stormgears so I had the idea of two gears as clouds and a lightning bolt coming from it. As I learned more and more, I eventually found Dribbble, and then I found long-shadows (remember those?) Which led to me downloading Illustrator, just to make long-shadows. And here we are now, I know a lot more than I used to, and I now have (professional) experience with branding, UI design, animation, and I’m learning calligraphy!
What are you working on?
I work as a designer for KudosWall, a student portfolio builder that helps students K-12 build beautiful portfolios and resumes just by posting their achievements and work. We are working on a push to help potential customers understand the product more, this includes a new explainer and website. Watch the video here.
I’ve also recently submitted an entry for 50 States Apparel, and you can find it here.
Choose a favorite shot of yours. Why is it a favorite?
This shot is my personal favorite because at the time I was experimenting with a new illustration style, and I personally feel like it came out successful. I also like the colors of this shot.
Tell us about your setup. What tools did you use to create the shot (e.g. hardware, software, pens, paper, blowtorch)?
Since I’m starting out, I don’t have that much equipment. But in terms of software and hardware, I use both an iMac and a MacBook Pro and Illustrator CC and After Effects CC.
Choose a favorite shot from another Player. Why do you dig it?
This shot by Dan Draper is definitely one of my favorites. The texture and the illustration style is just so beautiful, and those colors are fantastic.
Find Nikhil on Dribbble and on Twitter.
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