Today, we have the pleasure of speaking with Sparshita Das, a Brooklyn-based Multidisciplinary Designer, Illustrator, and Storyteller originally from India. Sparshita has an incredibly diverse background, having transitioned from a technical engineering education to earning her MFA in Communications Design from the prestigious Pratt Institute.
Her professional journey spans major projects with Rosenberg & Estis, P.C. in New York, where she serves as their first-ever Visual Communications and Design Specialist, as well as remote work with Washington, D.C.-based Glassroth Creative Strategies, Special Olympics International, Global Health Council, and FORCE. She has recently been honored as an Indigo Design Award Silver Winner in Illustration for Graphic Design, alongside recognition with the Pratt SoD Social Justice and Sustainability Award and features in VoyageLA and CanvasRebel. Throughout our conversation, we will explore her technical design process, her experience as an international artist in New York City, and her mission to use emotional empathy as an essential tool for finding accessible solutions to complex problems.
New York Art Life Magazine: Sparshita, thank you for joining New York Art Life Magazine. You describe your core mission as creating designs that have a positive impact, using emotional empathy as a tool to find accessible solutions to complex problems. Could you elaborate on how emotional empathy functions technically in your daily design process?
Sparshita Das: Thank you so much for having me. When I discuss emotional empathy in design, I am referring to a highly analytical and deeply More-Than-Human Design approach to problem-solving. Technically speaking, empathy is not just a feeling; it is a measurable metric in User Experience research. When I approach a complicated problem, I begin with extensive user studies and interviews. I need to understand the end user’s cognitive load. If I am designing an interface or a global report, I ask myself how the information hierarchy affects the reader emotionally.
Does a dense block of text cause frustration? Does a specific color palette evoke trust or anxiety? By mapping these emotional responses during the storyboarding and prototyping phases, I can create mockups that directly address user pain points. Emotional empathy dictates my structural choices in Figma or Adobe Creative Suite. It forces me to prioritize accessibility, ensuring that typography is legible, contrast ratios meet technical accessibility standards, and navigation flows logically. Empathy bridges the gap between raw data and human comprehension, turning complicated organizational goals into accessible, visually engaging solutions that drive positive impact.
New York Art Life Magazine: Your educational background is quite fascinating. You hold a Bachelor of Technology in Production Engineering from COEP Tech University and an MFA in Communications Design with Distinction from Pratt Institute. How does your engineering background influence your current multidisciplinary design practice?
Sparshita Das: The transition from production engineering to communications design in 2019 was a profound shift, yet the two disciplines share a fundamental core of systemic problem-solving. Engineering taught me how to deconstruct massive, complex systems into manageable, functional components. I learned about material properties, manufacturing processes, and logistical efficiency. When I transitioned to design and began my studies at Pratt Institute, I brought that analytical rigor with me. I view a brand identity or a website architecture the same way I would view an engineering blueprint. Every visual element must serve a distinct functional purpose.
My engineering background is particularly useful when I work with tools like Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro for video editing, 3D modeling, or structuring complex User Experience flows. It allows me to communicate effectively with web developers because I understand the technical constraints of building digital platforms. I am highly organized, relying heavily on project management applications like Asana and Microsoft To-Do to keep deliverables on track. Ultimately, engineering gave me a structural foundation, while my design education at Pratt provided the visual and emotional vocabulary to connect with audiences.
New York Art Life Magazine: You moved to the United States in 2021 and are now based in Brooklyn. New York City is known as a global hub for art and design. How has the energy and environment of New York City, and specifically Brooklyn, shaped your perspective as a multidisciplinary designer?
Sparshita Das: New York City is an incredibly dynamic ecosystem that constantly pushes you to evolve. Moving here in 2021 broadened my perspective significantly. Brooklyn, in particular, has a raw, collaborative energy that is deeply inspiring. Walking down the street, you are exposed to a rich tapestry of typography, street art, architectural styles, and diverse cultures. Working in this international environment opened up numerous doors and exposed me to a wider range of experiences than I had previously encountered.
However, navigating New York City as an international graphic designer comes with unique pressures. There is a delicate balance to strike between adapting to a fast-paced, highly competitive new environment and maintaining your authentic identity as a designer. You have to stay confident in what you bring to the table. As an international creative, you do not always have the flexibility to freely explore every possible path or take reckless risks. You operate within certain limitations that require immense resourcefulness, multitasking, and unwavering focus. New York City demands excellence, and surviving here has sharpened my critical thinking and organizational skills immensely.
New York Art Life Magazine: You currently work full-time as the Visual Communications and Design Specialist at Rosenberg & Estis, P.C., a prominent New York real estate law firm. The legal industry is not traditionally known for cutting-edge visual design. How are you navigating this environment and rebranding their design identity?
Sparshita Das: You are entirely correct. The legal sector is one of those industries that is still recognizing and embracing the value of modern design. This makes my role at Rosenberg & Estis both challenging and uniquely rewarding. As the firm’s first-ever Visual Communications and Design Specialist, based right here in New York, I am responsible for collaboratively rebranding the firm’s design identity to modernize its image, enhance its market appeal, and position the brand ahead of industry trends. Because design is still an emerging priority in this space, there is a tremendous opportunity to shape the brand direction from the ground up. I have a genuine seat at the table for creative decisions. I manage all visual and design direction entirely on my own, translating complex legal prestige into accessible visual narratives.
A monumental highlight of my tenure has been spearheading the company’s 50th-anniversary campaign. We placed a massive emphasis on this milestone, and I utilized my expertise in motion graphics and video editing to aggressively drive brand expansion and elevate their social media presence. Introducing highly dynamic video content and meticulously polished promotional materials for this half-century celebration modernized their outreach entirely. It proved that even a traditional, prestigious New York real estate law firm can leverage high-level multidisciplinary design to powerfully strengthen its overall marketing strategy.
New York Art Life Magazine: Simultaneously, you work as a Lead Designer for Glassroth Creative Strategies, a nonprofit communications consulting firm. Juggling these two roles must be intense. How do you manage your workflow, and what is it like being the sole designer for this organization?
Sparshita Das: Juggling two significant roles absolutely requires rigorous project management and organization. I rely heavily on collaborative tools like Asana and Microsoft To-Do to keep my workflows streamlined. Working as the sole designer at Glassroth Creative Strategies since May 2024 has been an incredible experience. My role with Glassroth is fully remote, as they are based in Washington, D.C., which requires me to be highly communicative and proactive. Similar to the legal industry, the nonprofit sector is still discovering the full strategic value of design. At Glassroth, I utilize design to enhance the visual identity and social media presence of the company and its various nonprofit clients. I handle everything from concept to completion.
While I receive excellent support on the marketing and content side, the visual direction is entirely my domain. This level of remote autonomy allows me to maintain strict brand consistency across all touchpoints. I am able to apply my motion graphics expertise to broaden their design scope, creating visually dynamic content that elevates their messaging. It is definitely a constraint-driven environment, but seeing the direct, positive impact of my work on their mission makes the demanding schedule completely worthwhile.
New York Art Life Magazine: Speaking of your remarkable work with Glassroth Creative Strategies, congratulations are in order for your recent award. You were named the Project Silver Winner in Illustration for Graphic Design. Can you tell us about the winning project and your inspiration behind it?
Sparshita Das: Thank you so much! It was a wonderful surprise and a deeply fulfilling project. I received the Project Silver Winner in Illustration for Graphic Design for a special holiday card I created for Glassroth Creative Strategies. After a year filled with ups and downs, the holidays often call for a touch of Hygge—a chance to slow down, get cozy, savor life’s small pleasures, and enjoy a warm drink on a cold day in the company of loved ones. I wanted to visually articulate that sense of peace and comfort. To capture that feeling, I designed a simple, elegantly illustrated animation. Bringing those warm, comforting elements to life through motion graphics was a joy, and having it recognized with a Silver award was incredibly gratifying.
New York Art Life Magazine: One of your major projects at Glassroth Creative Strategies was designing the Global Report on Inclusive Health for Special Olympics International. Can you walk us through the objective of this project and your specific role in translating complex global research?
Sparshita Das: Special Olympics International is a remarkable global sports movement that advances inclusion for people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities through programs in sport, health, education, and community building. Their Global Report on Inclusive Health is a first-of-its-kind document that promotes equitable access to healthcare. The report identifies major gaps in global health systems and outlines practical policy recommendations for governments. Special Olympics partnered with Global Health Advocacy Incubator to translate very complex research into a rigorous yet accessible report. Global Health Advocacy Incubator engaged Glassroth Creative Strategies, and I led the full design and layout.
My technical role involved developing a comprehensive system of infographics and custom icons to clarify key findings without diluting the data. I had to ensure that the overall visual language supported high readability and deep inclusion, reflecting the core values of the organization. I synthesized massive amounts of data into digestible visual hierarchies, using Adobe Creative Suite to ensure pixel-perfect layouts that met all accessibility standards for digital and print distribution.
New York Art Life Magazine: Accessibility is a critical component of user experience. You mentioned that for the Special Olympics International project, you designed an Easy Read Executive Summary. How did you approach the technical and empathetic aspects of designing for people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities?
Sparshita Das: Designing the Easy Read Executive Summary required a profound application of emotional empathy and strict adherence to accessibility guidelines. The primary audience for this summary included people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, as well as non-technical audiences. Technically, this meant abandoning standard dense typographic layouts. I utilized clear, sans-serif typography at larger point sizes, increased leading, and ensured maximum contrast between text and background colors, and I also employed a modular layout in which each discrete piece of information was paired with a highly literal custom icon or illustration to aid cognitive processing.
I had to ensure that the visual flow naturally guided the eye without causing sensory overload. I storyboarded the reading experience, continually asking if a layout decision might cause confusion. By stripping away decorative elements that did not serve a functional purpose, I created a streamlined, accessible document. This process heavily relied on my User Experience research and user testing methodologies, ensuring the final product empowered readers rather than alienating them.
New York Art Life Magazine: Let us discuss the design process for that same report. You developed four cover page mockups based on their existing brand guidelines. How do you balance adhering to strict corporate brand rules while pushing the creative envelope?
Sparshita Das: Balancing established brand guidelines with creative innovation is one of the most exciting technical challenges in graphic design. Special Olympics International provided its comprehensive brand guidelines, which served as my structural foundation. I began by thoroughly reviewing their previous annual reports to analyze their historical design approach. I then developed four distinct cover page mockups. Each concept was carefully engineered to balance its established visual style with my fresh interpretation of the report objectives.
Three of these concepts incorporated their signature dynamic curves element to ensure immediate visual recognition and alignment with their global brand language. I also created two alternative layouts for the internal pages to illustrate the document’s flow. I presented these options with built-in flexibility, making it clear to the stakeholders that elements from different mockups could be combined. This modular approach to client presentations builds trust. It shows that I respect their legacy brand identity while offering them a safe, structured pathway to modernize their visual communication.
New York Art Life Magazine: Another monumental project was the website and brand refresh for Global Health Council. What were the primary challenges with their previous website, and how did you resolve them technically?
Sparshita Das: Global Health Council is a leading membership organization that brings together advocates and policymakers to advance equitable health systems. Their previous website had served them well for years, but it had become visually dated and less aligned with their modern goals. The primary technical challenges were navigation and readability. Many pages were extremely text heavy, increasing the cognitive load on users and making content difficult to absorb. The navigation structure lacked clarity. Visually, the color palette, while reflective of Global Health space, created contrast issues and lacked bright accent colors for calls to action.
The site relied heavily on parallelogram shaped graphics and icons, with very little photography. I shifted the design paradigm from a text and icon heavy layout to a highly visual, photography driven experience. Photographs create a much stronger emotional connection and humanize the content, which is vital in global health. I executed a structural update to simplify the user experience, improved the typographic hierarchy, and refreshed the color palette to ensure web accessibility compliance while introducing dynamic accents.
New York Art Life Magazine: In addition to the website structural update for Global Health Council, you also refined their brand elements, including a new wordmark. Can you elaborate on the nuances of typography and visual identity in a brand refresh where a full logo redesign is not in scope?
Sparshita Das: When a full logo redesign is out of scope, refining a wordmark requires incredible precision. The goal is to make the brand feel contemporary and forward looking without losing the established recognition it holds within the global community. For Global Health Council, I focused on the micro typography of their wordmark. I adjusted the kerning and weight to improve legibility across digital platforms, particularly on mobile devices. I selected updated typefaces for their broader visual system that complemented this refined wordmark. Beyond typography, I completely overhauled their illustration styles and iconography.
The new visual system needed to seamlessly integrate with the photography driven approach I was implementing. I created comprehensive brand guidelines for this refreshed identity, detailing exactly how the new colors, typefaces, and visual elements should interact. This ensures that any future content they produce remains cohesive. It is a highly technical exercise in restraint and subtlety, proving that you do not always need to tear down a brand to significantly elevate its impact.
New York Art Life Magazine: You played a vital role in the 25th Anniversary campaign for FORCE, an organization dedicated to hereditary cancer support. This included a social media campaign and a specific recap video. How did you approach the storytelling and video editing for this sensitive and impactful subject?
Sparshita Das: FORCE, which stands for Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered, does profoundly important work supporting individuals affected by hereditary cancer. For their 25th anniversary, as the lead designer on Glassroth Creative Strategies’ team, I designed a comprehensive social media campaign. The centerpiece was the anniversary recap video. I was provided with core content, existing assets, and deeply moving testimonial footage. Because the subject matter is so sensitive, emotional empathy was my primary guiding principle.
I needed to honor their 25-year legacy while looking forward. I took inspiration from a video created for their 20th anniversary, but elevated the production value, and I carefully selected the underlying music to set a tone of resilience and hope. Using Adobe Creative Suite tools, I developed the edit, incorporating refined animations and smooth transitions to enhance the narrative flow. Shaping the story required iterative content adjustments and careful pacing. The technical execution of the motion graphics served entirely to uplift the human stories being told, resulting in a dynamic video that truly resonated with their community.
New York Art Life Magazine: The FORCE campaign extended beyond the recap video. You also designed a logo evolution video, conference banners, and interactive Linked By Our DNA cards. How do you ensure consistency across such varied media, from print to motion graphics?
Sparshita Das: Maintaining consistency across diverse media is a true test of a multidisciplinary designer. For the FORCE campaign, I was jumping between static print design for large scale conference banners, interactive physical media with the Linked By Our DNA cards, and digital motion graphics for the logo evolution video. The technical solution is rooted in a highly rigid asset management system and a deep understanding of output specifications. I established a core visual language early on, defining exact color profiles for both print and digital outputs, as well as specific typographic hierarchies. When designing the Linked By Our DNA cards, I considered the tactile experience and how attendees would interact with them to share their personal cancer journeys. When animating the logo evolution video, I ensured the motion curves matched the emotional tone of the physical banners.
I use tools like Adobe After Effects for rapid iteration of the layout concepts and Adobe Creative Suite for the final high-resolution production. By treating every deliverable as a connected nodein a larger communication network, I guarantee that whether an individual is watching a digital video on their mobile device or walking past a massive printed banner at a live conference in New York City, they experience the exact same brand resonance and emotional impact.
Technically, this requires a deep understanding of file preparation, color space management, such as shifting precisely between RGB for screens and CMYK for physical printing, and accounting for material properties when designing large scale environmental graphics. For the Linked By Our DNA cards, the tactile quality of the paper and the spacing of the typography were crucial to ensure the interactive element felt inviting and dignified. The success of the FORCE campaign stems from this meticulous attention to cross platform technical specifications, combined with a profound respect for the community it serves.
New York Art Life Magazine: Before stepping into your current prominent roles, you operated extensively as a freelance graphic designer between 2019 and 2021. During this time, you managed a highly diverse portfolio, including clients such as Your Retail Coach, Healthpad Inc., and Sashin Foods. How did balancing international financial firms and local restaurant brand identities develop your project management skills and technical adaptability?
Sparshita Das: Operating as a freelance graphic designer was an incredible crucible for developing both my technical versatility and my project management capabilities. When you work independently, you do not just serve as the designer; you are the account manager, the strategist, and the production artist. For Your Retail Coach, I coordinated with a team of three interns and led the design of the website for Digital Finance Xperts, an international financial firm launched in 2021. Leading a team required clear communication, delegation, and strict oversight of the digital architecture using tools like Adobe XD for wireframing and collaborative layout planning. We had to ensure the financial platform communicated security, trust, and global competence.
Conversely, my work with Sashin Foods involved establishing brand identities for three distinct restaurants with three completely different themes under a single business umbrella. This required rapid context switching and a deep exploration of color theory, typography, and cultural visual cues to ensure each restaurant had a unique voice while remaining operationally cohesive. For Healthpad Inc, I completely refreshed and rebranded the organization through its website and social media presence, ultimately maintaining a consistent image that boosted its digital reach by fifty percent. I used platforms such as Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, and Wix to build these digital spaces efficiently. Balancing these drastically different client needs taught me how to scale my design process, manage client expectations, and utilize tools like Asana to keep multiple complex projects moving forward simultaneously.
New York Art Life Magazine: Your resume also highlights significant internship experiences, such as your time with Changing The Present and Varroc Engineering Private Limited, as well as a robust list of soft skills, including teaching, leadership, and critical thinking. How did these foundational experiences prepare you for the demanding, high stakes environment of New York City design agencies?
Sparshita Das: Every experience, no matter how early in my career, has compounded to build the professional foundation I rely on today in New York City. My internships at Varroc Engineering Private Limited in 2018 and 2019 were closely aligned with my production engineering background. It required intense precision, critical thinking, and proficiency with complex software such as Autodesk Fusion 360 for 3D modeling. That experience taught me how to conceptualize objects in space and understand the structural integrity of a design. Later, my graphic design internship with Changing The Present, a prominent nonprofit organization, introduced me to the specific visual communication needs of the philanthropic sector. This was instrumental in preparing me for my current part time role at Glassroth Creative Strategies. Furthermore, teaching and leadership are skills I deeply value.
When you teach a concept, you must first deconstruct it to its absolute core and communicate it with absolute clarity. This translates directly to how I present design concepts to stakeholders at Rosenberg & Estis, P.C., or when I am collaborating with marketing teams. You must guide your clients through the visual strategy, educating them on why certain typographic choices or user experience flows will achieve their business goals. The high stakes environment of New York City demands not only technical excellence but also the ability to confidently articulate the value of your work. These early internships and soft skills equipped me with the resilience and communication prowess necessary to thrive here.
New York Art Life Magazine: Your creative depth is further evidenced by the awards you have received. You were honored with the Pratt School of Design Social Justice and Sustainability Award for your project, Cattle Conversations, in 2023 as a Change Agent and Activist. Additionally, you won Third Prize for Live Sculpture at Firodiya Karandak in 2018. How do physical mediums like live sculpture and sustainability driven academic projects inform your current digital communication design?
Sparshita Das: The translation between physical artistic mediums and digital communication is seamless if you view both as methods of storytelling. Winning the prize for Live Sculpture at Firodiya Karandak was a formative experience. Sculpture is inherently a spatial and tactile medium. You must consider light, shadow, volume, and how the viewer moves around the piece physically. When I transition to digital design, such as structuring a website or animating a motion graphics sequence, I apply those same spatial principles. I consider the negative space on a web page as a tangible volume that guides the user’s eye, much like the negative space in a physical sculpture defines its form.
My project, Cattle Conversations, which won the Pratt School of Design Social Justice and Sustainability Award, represents the core of my professional mission. The project explored sustainability, agricultural practices, and activism through the lens of visual communication. It required massive amounts of user research, interviews, and storyboarding to translate a heavy, complex environmental issue into a narrative that could provoke thought and inspire actionable change.
Receiving recognition as a Change Agent validated my belief that design must transcend aesthetic decoration and serve a higher purpose. When I work today on global health reports or hereditary cancer awareness campaigns, I am pulling directly from the methodologies I developed during the Cattle Conversations project. I utilize emotional empathy to bridge the gap between technical data and human consequence, ensuring that every digital mockup, every user interface layout, and every email marketing campaign sent via Mailchimp or Constant Contact carries a profound sense of purpose and ethical responsibility.
New York Art Life Magazine: As we look toward the future of multidisciplinary design, especially for international creatives navigating the complex and competitive landscape of New York City, what are your next major objectives, and what technical or professional advice would you offer to emerging designers seeking to make a positive impact?
Sparshita Das: Looking toward the future, my primary objective is to continue advocating for the strategic value of design in non-traditional sectors, particularly within the legal and massive nonprofit industries. I want to further integrate advanced motion graphics, editorial design, and rigorous user experience research into these spaces to completely revolutionize how they communicate their value to the public. As an international graphic designer in New York City, I also aim to build platforms and visual narratives that celebrate diverse cultural perspectives, proving that a global viewpoint is an unparalleled asset in corporate branding.
For emerging designers, particularly those navigating the challenges of moving to a new country or transitioning from a completely different field like engineering, my technical advice is to become relentlessly proficient with your tools. Master the Adobe Creative Suite, Figma, and robust project management applications. Understand the technical constraints of web design platforms and learn the fundamentals of video editing software. However, technical software proficiency is only half the equation.
My professional advice is to cultivate emotional empathy as your most critical skill. Listen intently to your users, conduct thorough user testing, and never design in an isolated vacuum. Embrace your unique background, whether it is in production engineering, live sculpture, or speaking multiple languages like Hindi, Bengali, and Marathi. Every piece of your history informs your aesthetic voice. New York City is an environment that rewards resilience, multitasking, and unwavering focus. Do not view your limitations as roadblocks; view them as parameters that force you to create highly innovative, accessible solutions. If you anchor your practice in a genuine desire to create a positive impact, your work will inherently resonate with audiences and drive meaningful change across any industry.
Special Olympics International: The official platform detailing the global sports movement and its initiatives for inclusive health and advocacy. URL: www.specialolympics.org
Global Health Council: The leading membership organization bringing together advocates and policymakers to advance equitable health systems worldwide. URL: www.globalhealth.org
Sparshita Das: Official Web Site https://www.sparshitadas.com
