Sid Ghosh started drawing in childhood. As a child, he drew inspiration from what he saw at school and neighbourhood temples in his native place, Guwahati. “My fascination with figure drawing started from Durga pooja pandals.Along with drawing idols, I was fond of reading comics, which inspired me to draw cartoons and caricatures of my classmates,“ he says.
Despite his interest, however, Ghosh wondered where art would take him. After class XII, while his peers prepared for mainstream degrees, he pondered whether or not to convert his passion into a career.
“At the time, I was unaware of the opportunities artists had. I did not know that formal training in art also involved design and design perspectives and that newspapers and magazines are designed. I was under the impression that artists could only take jobs related to painting,“ he recounts.
It was on his sister's insistence that Ghosh decided to pursue art as a profession after class XII. Since there were no fine art colleges in Guwahati, he moved to Delhi in 1995 to enrol for a degree. He recalls, “I missed the entrance test of College of Art, Delhi and took another test for a BFA at a university in Delhi. I was selected for admission, but did not join because of the technical aspects of the curriculum.“ Instead, he signed up for IT training at a private institute.
In 1997, he qualified for entry to a two-year diploma course in book illustration and graphic art at Shankar's Academy, Delhi. “I was 12 years old when I had heard about famous cartoonist Shankar. I was always keen to learn about comic book illustrations including technicalities like perspective and dimensions. When I heard about the institute, I was ready to take my first `flight.'“ That is how he took his first step towards the industry. After completing his diploma in 1999, Ghosh joined a print media company as a visualiser working on infographics in Delhi.
He went on to work with more Indian and international publications before deciding to freelance as a 'visual communicator,' as he calls himself because he says design is communication.
“A 'visual communicator's' job is to interact through images, graphic design, illustrations, films, typography, etc. I learnt from daily life, going through newspapers, magazines and websites to understand others' perspectives to know how they communicate.“
In his professional journey involving salaried as well as freelance assignments, his portfolio has expanded from editorial projects to designing a logo for the Delhi Gastro Group as well as conceptualising and implementing advertorials, oneshots (standalone comic issues) and inserts for clients such as Allen Solly, Old Spice, Flying Machine, Honda and Nike, among others.
His works include a die-cut bottle-shaped innovation which unfolded as a sports calendar; a French window ad for a newspaper; and a case study narrated as a graphic novel.
“I was going through a good time. I was appreciated for all my work. When I switched to a job in an international music magazine, I tried all design elements in the magazine but my boss rejected all my ideas. At that point, I again started from scratch and became a student. My boss at the magazine taught me what a magazine is. He kept rejecting my work until I presented my best to him. I am a better artist now. I believe learning art is a never-ending process,“ he says.
In between, Ghosh wants to highlight social issues through visual communication. Recently, he made a presentation to raise awareness about breast cancer at a Guwahati hospital.