You clicked to get into my head. So here it is. Stories, obsessions, and small things that shaped how I see..

You clicked to get into my head. So here it is. Stories, obsessions, 
and small things that shaped how I see..

I cried so my mom would buy me the Ramayana. I was two
I cried so my mom would buy me the Ramayana. I was two
I cried so my mom would buy me the Ramayana.
I was two

Curious and book-obsessed before I could read a word. Still that way, too: chasing stories first, figuring out how they work later.

Curious and book-obsessed before I could read a word. Still that way, too: chasing stories first, figuring out how they work later.

I am a

I am a

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n

e

r

d

e

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i

g

n

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r

I cross-pollinate — the interesting stuff lives between the things I do.

I cross-pollinate — the interesting stuff lives between the things I do.

the name
kanika / कनिका
/kuh-nee-kah ~means gold It took me a while to feel worth the name.
Equally fluent in research rabbit holes and game nights over it. Currently caffeinated.
the name
kanika / कनिका
/kuh-nee-kah ~means gold It took me a while to feel worth the name.
Equally fluent in research rabbit holes and game nights over it. Currently caffeinated.

A little about me

A little about me

I'm from India, a proud SCAD alum, now based in Winston-Salem. I design and write by day, and spend the rest on Gilmore Girls reruns, a surprising new love of kayaking, long walks, and strong typography opinions I'll happily inflict on you. I also take a lot of photos — old walls, steeples, the way light lands on a street at the end of the day. I run a small account romanticizing the ordinary, because that's where the good stuff usually hides.
I'm from India, a proud SCAD alum, now based in Winston-Salem. I design and write by day, and spend the rest on Gilmore Girls reruns, a surprising new love of kayaking, long walks, and strong typography opinions I'll happily inflict on you. I also take a lot of photos — old walls, steeples, the way light lands on a street at the end of the day. I run a small account romanticizing the ordinary, because that's where the good stuff usually hides.

How I got here

Spoiler: it wasn't a straight line, but it made sense eventually.

2019

Graduated in Bachelor of Architecture — five years and a lot of sleepless nights. Learned to think in space and structure, and that the best buildings are really just stories you can walk through.

2021

Crossed an ocean for furniture design. Same instinct, smaller scale: now the story was something you could actually sit in.

2023

Added graphic design — third discipline, same itch. Space and object became image and word, and the through-line finally had a name.

2024

Graduated. Three years of learning something new every day — and from the low of not fitting in one box to the high of letting my interests run free, I mastered the creative in me more than ever.

2025

First full-time design role at Davis. Took everything theoretical about space, object, and story and put it to work on real deadlines.

2026

Now: looking for a team to do the cross-disciplinary thing with, on purpose. Still chasing stories. Still caffeinated.

How I got here

Spoiler: it wasn't a straight line, but it made sense eventually.

2019

Graduated in Bachelor of Architecture — five years and a lot of sleepless nights. Learned to think in space and structure, and that the best buildings are really just stories you can walk through.

2021

Crossed an ocean for furniture design. Same instinct, smaller scale: now the story was something you could actually sit in.

2023

Added graphic design — third discipline, same itch. Space and object became image and word, and the through-line finally had a name.

2024

Graduated. Three years of learning something new every day — and from the low of not fitting in one box to the high of letting my interests run free, I mastered the creative in me more than ever.

2025

First full-time design role at Davis. Took everything theoretical about space, object, and story and put it to work on real deadlines.

2026

Now: looking for a team to do the cross-disciplinary thing with, on purpose. Still chasing stories. Still caffeinated.

Not on the résumé

The parts that don't fit in one box.

Drag things around. It's all me, just not in order.

In my ears
The Tik Tok Killers
Desi Crime Podcast
42:091:03:37
Maine Tere Liye
Mukesh
1:27/3:07
Currently Writing
Essays and half-formed thoughts on design, culture, and noticing things.
Read on Medium Substacksoon
Musings of the week
"I like the walls that have outlasted every doubt about whether they'd hold."
@lenscapes.by.k
New York
Me and a Rothko, holding very still
Actually not knowing what you want to be, reinventing yourself every morning, not being a noun but being a verb, being moving not being fixed in life is a privilege.
— Oscar Wilde
on the pile
on the pile
my idea of a birthday party
Not on the résumé

The parts that don't fit in one box.

Drag things around. It's all me, just not in order.

In my ears
The Tik Tok Killers
Desi Crime Podcast
42:091:03:37
Maine Tere Liye
Mukesh
1:27/3:07
Currently Writing
Essays and half-formed thoughts on design, culture, and noticing things.
Read on Medium Substacksoon
Musings of the week
"I like the walls that have outlasted every doubt about whether they'd hold."
@lenscapes.by.k
New York
Me and a Rothko, holding very still
Actually not knowing what you want to be, reinventing yourself every morning, not being a noun but being a verb, being moving not being fixed in life is a privilege.
— Oscar Wilde
on the pile
on the pile
my idea of a birthday party
Not on the résumé

The parts that don't fit in one box.

Drag things around. It's all me, just not in order.

In my ears
The Tik Tok Killers
Desi Crime Podcast
42:091:03:37
Maine Tere Liye
Mukesh
1:27/3:07
Currently Writing
Essays and half-formed thoughts on design, culture, and noticing things.
Read on Medium Substacksoon
Musings of the week
"I like the walls that have outlasted every doubt about whether they'd hold."
@lenscapes.by.k
New York
Me and a Rothko, holding very still
Actually not knowing what you want to be, reinventing yourself every morning, not being a noun but being a verb, being moving not being fixed in life is a privilege.
— Oscar Wilde
on the pile
on the pile
my idea of a birthday party