Hello. I’m Vinayak Varma, a writer / editor / illustrator / designer / musician based in Bangalore, India. (Yes, yes, I know, this is one of those annoyingly multimodal descriptions that sends every hipster alarm bell ringing. The short explanation is that I spent a good decade-and-a-half all-trades-Jacking-about, sans map or compass, until I found my own patch of life to settle into. Longer explanations, links and things, below.)

You’re currently on my personal site, where I mostly share stray bits of writing: poetry, short fiction, random journalling, angry rants, that sort of thing. None of this may be relevant to my professional life, in which I do the following:

As a publishing consultant, I write, edit, commission, illustrate, and art direct children’s books, YA stories, publications, and anything else they throw at me. I have done this since roughly 2003 or so, for all the leading Indian publishing companies. (This isn’t a boast — publishing in India is just that tiny and incestuous, and once you’re in it, you tend to spread around pretty rapidly, not unlike a fart in a lift. It’s the getting in that’s usually the tough part. Unless you’re savarna or relatively well-connected, of course. I’m lucky to have been both. If you’ve been denied the same opportunities because of your community, religion, gender, physical disabilities, or financial circumstances, follow the asterisk — *) I also dallied with journalism for a few years, during which time I got to edit a local newspaper supplement and start a national science magazine, neither of which remains in existence now. Ah, well.

As a design consultant (and this is probably my core area of knowledge, if there is such a thing — I have an educational background in fine arts, design and filmmaking), I’ve specialised in branding for the craft beer and hospitality industry since 2013. I’ve created identities, designed collaterals, signage systems and environmental graphics, and helped create long-term promotional strategies, for microbrewery / F&B brands like Geist, Brewsky, Big Brewsky and Big Pitcher. (Disclaimer: the two Brewskies have recently been redesigned by a few friends of mine, post a management change, so what these brands currently look like — which is brilliant and sexy, of course — is not my work. My old designs, also moderately brilliant and sexy, can be seen on my other website.)

For the rest of my time, I play music. I’ve had a love affair with the blues since my adolescence, and I sacrifice an unhealthy amount of sleep listening to, reading about, singing or playing the blues. I’ve played harmonica for a few years now, and I’ve been learning to play some guitar of late, and when the world isn’t beset by riots and goddamn pandemics, I sometimes get to play that beautiful old-timey music on stage with a bunch of other musicians. And that’s when I’m at my happiest.

—

Want to know more about my work? After wading through all that text? For real? Fine, boss, knock yourself out:

You can have a look at some of my design and art here.

Look up / buy the books I’ve worked on: here and here (though I’d be most grateful if you could order them via your local bookstore).

Read some of my writing: here.

See press and publicity about my work here.

And know more about my career: here.

—

*A pledge:

As I said, that elevator can seem rather full if you’re not lucky enough to have been born into the right caste, religion, gender, or economic strata in this country. If you’re a struggling Indian illustrator or designer from an under-served background and are looking for a break in the publishing industry, hit me up. I can e-introduce you to editors and art directors I know. Or I can try to help you with any advice or directions you might need to get to your goals. It’s literally the least I can do.