aikyam fellow '24
An Eid morning in a house in Kozhikode, Kerala. A bunch of children manoeuvre through a remarkable variety of mango trees with the same destination in mind: 11-year-old Femina’s house. She nips off the tip of one mehndi cone after another, design ideas sprouting in her mind as instantly as the brown paste spurts off the cones. It was not long before she found herself drawing intricate designs on the hands of neighbourhood brides. However, not once then did she consider her gift for designing as anything beyond a hobby.
It was in class 12 that she considered the possibility of pursuing a Bachelor’s in Design. A couple of internet searches and conversations with seniors later, the idea of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) beckoned. After her schooling, she toiled for a year in a hostel, preparing herself for the entrance test. In 2018, she joined the Bachelor’s in Textile Design course at NIFT, Bhubaneswar.
In the three years that followed, Bhubaneswar taught the soft-spoken girl to navigate life alongside academics. Femina, who found comfort in handicrafts and drawing, soon stumbled upon digital design. Although initially daunted, she was not one to buckle down easily. She sought the aid of friends to learn design tools and applications that she had never known before. Hours of learning and practice ensued, and she finally scaling what seemed to be unscalable mountains. Meanwhile, every undergrad assignment pushed her to learn new handicrafts, from macrame and embroidery to jute bag making.
“Although I did not fancy doing such a course in my childhood or early teenage, nobody who knew me was surprised at my choice, much to my own surprise!” says Femina, the shadow of a smile forming on her face. “Come to think of it, my passion for design has been growing with me. I have been deriving comfort from calligraphy and from drawing flowers and trees for the longest time. Besides, it runs in the family; my mother has filled our house with bottle art.”
Once her Odisha days came to an end, she worked at Atlas Exports, an export house specialising in home furnishings, for six months. Developing designs based on themes and prompts, Femina explored her creative inclinations. “While established brands require us to stick to their standard patterns and designs, export houses allow tremendous creative liberty,” she says. “I enjoy this scope for exploration as it augments my learning.”
Deciding that she had more to learn in the academic realm, Femina returned to NIFT. This time, to the Panchkula campus’ Master’s in Design program. Haryana had in store for her a whole new experience; the academically intensive course shook her resolve greatly. What came as a wave of relief was a professor’s constant appreciation of her work. Her minimalist designs caught his eye, and he chose her as one among six students whose works were to be displayed in college after the first year. Encouraged, she retrieved her lost motivation and flung herself into the course. “Now, I have learned to keep at my work despite how tricky it gets. I often have trouble aligning my personal style with specific project requirements. It is the thought of procuring the final result that makes me stick to the chase,” she says.
Femina reveals her interest in the scope of design in social impact, “Creating designs that cater to people with different needs or are environment-friendly is an area I’d like to work in. Accessible design has tremendous potential to ease the lives of many people.” As an intern at aikyam, she worked with making e-commerce accessible to NGOs and created an online store for WeLive Organics, a project under the aegis of Ramya Sundararajan's WeLive Foundation. She also worked with artisan societies to understand why they lack an online presence, thereby taking the first step toward bridging the gap between original producers and potential consumers.
Femina is passionate about exploring traditional designs with a twist. “I dream of starting a clothing brand. I seek to create designs that fuse authentic Kerala style with my minimalist style. Another area I am interested in is reaching out to school students inclined toward design. The concentrated focus on science-related courses makes it difficult for students to explore other interests. I, for one, received little guidance from my school. Everything, starting from recognising my passion, would have been a lot easier if design as an academic or career path had been introduced to me earlier on,” she says.
“What is a work of art that you absolutely love?” I ask my last question.
She smiles and shows me her phone’s wallpaper. Her love for it brings more stars to her eyes than Van Gogh painted in his night sky!
Femina Fathima is a Master’s student in Design at NIFT, Panchkula. At aikyam, Femina designed a website for a small NGO and conversed with artisans to study the reasons behind their lack of an online presence. She is delighted to explore impactful design, and you can connect with her here.
