The SkillUp Teams site goes live today. Single-page, responsive down to mobile. Designed and developed by yours truly.

Version 2 of my blog Hidden Logic went live today.

Still some work to do though. Fingers crossed.

Korg PA50 — best keyboard I’ve played on so far.

After two very fruitful years, the time has come for me to leave Dotahead and Synapse. Today was my last working day here.

I have already written about the great culture at Synapse, and I can highly recommend it as a good opportunity for designers, copywriters and project managers. Some of the brightest people I know have spent the best part of their careers at Monte Carlo.

A special thank-you to Gourav Jaswal, for taking a chance on me. Many thanks to my mentors, Dileepan Ramanan and Udaya Lakshmi for teaching me all I know about design and business. Hat-tips also to Gurpreet Singh and Piyush Goel for their inputs and guidance during my first year.

To all my other colleagues — thank you for making the most memorable years of my career. I will miss each and every one of you. Please accept my best wishes for the coming year.

To success, and the road ahead!

Actually, it’s been more than a year — thirteen-and-a-half months — that I joined Dotahead as an interaction designer. Just a few notes about why I love this place and see myself working here for many years to come.

A sea of talented people

They say the best thing you can do for your career is surround yourself with people smarter than you. And when I look around where I sit, I see some really smart people. People who are serious about making a difference to our clients’ businesses. People who eat, breathe and live digital — sharp thinkers, project managers, designers and technologists.

As a designer, this means I will always have unbiased critical feedback on my work. Does it communicate what it should? Is it aligned correctly with the client’s brand? Are the layout, colors and typography up to snuff? Will it make the desired business impact?

If not, it needs to be changed, or sometimes even reworked entirely. Sure my ego takes a beating, but the final product is worth all of it.

Diverse work, great clients, unique culture

You’d better be bringin’ it when you turn up for work every morning, because we’re dead serious about the work we do. Over the last year, I’ve had the opportunity to work on various projects for clients like Microsoft India, IDG, the Landmark Group, Tata Communications, Pragmatix, McKinsey & Company… I’m totally name-dropping here.

Desktop sites, mobile sites, Android apps, Windows Phone apps – I’ve got great exposure on many diverse platforms that has helped me grow immensely as a designer. The Synapse culture is hard to explain in a few lines; but it’s great to work at a place that values discipline, honesty, innovation and responsibility; in an environment that rewards hard work immensely, and addresses shortcomings gently.

Monte Carlo

Monte Carlo is the plot that houses DotAhead and the Synapse group of companies. Located on top of the Dona Paula plateau in Goa, our office space is beautiful. Have a look for yourself.

Don’t feel like working at your desk? Try the ​“huts” outside! Or our partly-open conference hall. Nothing beats the peace and quiet at Monte Carlo. There’s also a volleyball court, a ping-pong table and plenty of greenery: what more could you ask for?

Just awesome

This past year was awesome, and I can hardly wait to see what the coming year has in store. Just a quick shout-out to all my colleagues at DotAhead and Synapse—you guys are awesome!