Syqi

Building and managing a multi-disciplinary design service label with an emphasis on Brand Development and Product Design.

Founder

Kappiri

Design Direction and Strategy, collaborating with teams to create innovative client solutions. We're focused on creating world-class 3D and Motion designs and have helped clients of all kinds with their goals.

Partner

Groundbreakin Media

Helping small and large enterprises establish thought leadership by creating powerful and successful content on a subscription basis.
Podcasts | Content | Newsletter.

Co-Founder and Strategist (Temporary Break)

adplist.org

Learning while Mentoring Designers and Non-Designers diving into design.

Mentor and City Ambassador 

Ideaworks Middle East

Work with strategists and business developers to create, plan and deliver an integrated strategic vision that includes everything from logos all the way down to media outreach campaigns.

Creative Head

General Motors

Creative Designer

Estech - Innovation Platform

Digital Modeler

VPLP Design

Digital Designer

DesmaniA Design Pvt. Ltd.

Industrial Design Intern

Action Construction Equipment Ltd.

Factory Intern

Founder @ Syqi Lab | Design Agency |🎤 Podcast Host | Lifelong Apprentice of Design | 📚🎨

With over seven years of experience in various design roles, I am a passionate and versatile creative entrepreneur and design strategist. I founded Syqi, a design ops agency that helps create meaningful customer experiences with a high level of empathy.

Our mission is to bridge the gap between the business and design worlds with effective design strategies that deliver value and delight. I have a master's degree in Design Management and skills in Creative Direction, Brand Building, and Business of Design.

I also host Groundbreakin Podcast, where I share insights and stories about design, entrepreneurship, and creativity.

Some wins feel bigger than the work itself.

Last month at the Global Fintech Fest, we quietly pulled off some of our best work with Pine Labs - and watching them ring the bell at their IPO made it hit different.

We’ve been deep in the trenches with their team for a while now… design ops, product communication, the tiny things that look invisible from the outside but actually move a business forward.

It’s surreal when the work you do behind the scenes ends up shaping how a company shows up at a global stage.

This little compilation captures a tiny part of what went into it - the real magic is always in the chaos you can’t see on video 😄

And fun timing too - Pine Labs just hit their IPO milestone a couple of days ago.
Seeing a partner win at that scale (even in a tiny way if we've contributed) is a different kind of high. Makes the work feel like it actually matters.

Also, Syqi completes another year on the 14th of November (Truly a children's day celebration).

Four years of figuring things out, messing up, fixing things, scaling processes, and slowly earning the trust of people building real companies. Wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Huge shoutout to the folks at Pine Labs - 
Vikash, Jatin, Mahendra, Nikita, Raghavi, Sushmita, Aswin, Megha, Ragini, Rahul, and many more I couldn't tag.

Thanks for trusting us and letting us build with you.

If there’s one thing this year has taught me, it’s this:

“Every successful project looks effortless from the outside.
 On the inside, it’s chaos, clarity, and a team that refuses to drop the ball.”

Every good thing about Syqi comes from the team.
Swetlana, Garima, Roshani, Parag, Snehodeep, Debdeep, Kshitij, Komal, Soham,  Yuvraj, Aditya 

Hope we get to do more of this, with more partners who value good design and honest collaboration.

#BusinessOfDesign #BrandBuilding #SyqiStateOfMind #AgencyLife #ProductMarketing #ProductDesign

Dipaq  ⭐️

Founder @ Syqi® | I Unite Business & Design Worlds | Strategy and Design for Digital Products and Brands |🎙️ Groundbreakin® Podcast

Some people are great designers.
Some become great thinkers.
Narendra is both.

I’ve always admired people who don’t hide behind fancy design vocabulary - and Narendra is one of the sharpest, most honest thinkers I’ve ever spoken to. His journey is unusual: a mechanical engineer who spent 25 years at Tata Elxsi, travelling around the world “selling software by doing projects,” and eventually leading design at HDFC Bank.

What I liked the most was how critical he is - not in a harsh way, but in a way that forces you to understand the real depth of design. He’s someone who has topped every organisation he’s worked at, not because of skill alone, but because of the way he thinks about problems.

This episode became one of those rare moments where I found myself asking questions I usually think twice before asking. And his answers were direct, unfiltered, and delivered with this calm clarity that instantly makes the room smarter.

We spoke about the “hyper-specialist” myth, why designers should think like a family doctor, the art of selling a future instead of a portfolio, and how behaviour design starts with something as simple as dimming the lights.

And his current mission at HDFC - simplifying finance for millions of Indians - might just be one of the most meaningful design problems of our time.

The episode with Narendra is live now.:

Spotify: https://lnkd.in/g4BwkchK
YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gq3KPfXz

#BusinessOfDesign #AgencyLife #BrandBuilding #SyqiStateOfMind #ProductDesign #Groundbreakin

Some of the best advice I’ve heard this year came from 10-minute conversations inside a podcast booth.

There’s something special about being in a room full of design leaders.
And last week at SAP’s The Impulse, we had the unfair advantage of having all of them walk into our podcast booth.

Enterprise design sounds formal from the outside - until you talk to the people actually building inside it.

Quick chats turned into long conversations.
Some of them even continued outside the booth.

We spoke about design leadership, decision-making, how design moves inside enterprises - and honestly, it was wild hearing how much depth there is behind the scenes of large systems.

It reminded me that the best advice does not just come from keynotes.
It also comes from 10-minute conversations when people talk craft.

Funny how the biggest lessons on leadership show up when you’re just setting up mics at a design festival. :D

Also, what a crowd. The kind of talent and clarity in that room made it easily one of the best design events this city has seen.

Always grateful for the Groundbreakin gang (Advait, Chandu) for making days like this feel effortless.
We’ve always wanted to bring the podcast into spaces like this - and this felt like the start of something bigger. Hope to do some more collaborations in the future.

Excited to share the conversations soon.
Some of the most honest takes on enterprise design are coming your way coming days.

Big thanks to everyone at SAP and especially Dhwani, Amit, Srichand who made space for us to be part of the team that day - and to ADPList Bengaluru Chapter, everyone was talking about.

Crazy what can happen when communities open up opportunities like this!

#BusinessOfDesign #SyqiStateOfMind #BrandBuilding #AgencyLife #Groundbreakin #TheImpulse #ProductDesign

If you give an industrial designer a UI problem, they’ll solve the system behind it.
That’s why they’re valuable.

Some of the best digital thinkers I know started in industrial design.
There’s a reason for that.

Even though I don’t practice industrial design today, starting my career there has shaped everything about how I run Syqi - from how we think about problems to how we ship work.

People underestimate how much industrial design rewires your brain:
// You’re trained to think in systems, not screens.
// You obsess about constraints, not aesthetics.
// You design for hands, eyes, habits - real humans, not hypothetical users.
// You learn that every decision has a cost: manufacturing, material, ergonomics, failure points.
// You never get the luxury of “just change it later.”
That mindset sticks with you forever.

It’s why industrial designers transition so naturally into product, brand, UI, strategy, ops - honestly everything.

They’re wired to understand function before form, behaviour before visuals, and impact before trends.

That’s the part I carry into agency life even today:
• We don’t design in isolation, we design with consequences in mind.
• We don’t chase aesthetics, we chase usability and repeatability.
• We don’t build pretty decks, we build systems that can survive real-world chaos.
• We ask the annoying questions early — because industrial design teaches you the cost of fixing things late.

And you can see this in the people around me too.

Most industrial designers I know today are in some of the most important roles in tech, SaaS, branding, and product.

Not because they had the flashiest portfolios…
But because their thinking has depth.

Tagging some of my brilliant ID friends here: Aman, Sushant, Komal, Ajaaz, Karan, Corentin, Juhi, Abhijeet, Vidur, Vinit, Sahil and missing 100 others I studied and learn with.

#BusinessOfDesign #SyqiStateOfMind #AgencyLife #BrandBuilding #ProductDesign #IndustrialDesign

When you see a product being built from your college days, you form a strange connection with it.
Ather Energy was that brand for me - the first time I felt Indian design could be global.

Some products you observe from the outside.
Ather was the opposite for me - I watched it being built from the early days.

Back in college, a few seniors were part of the core team. Their work leaked into the studio conversations… the prototypes, the sketches, the “what if we built something world-class instead of another Indian scooter?”

Most EV companies talk about specs. Ather talked about experience.
And that difference changed everything.

For a design student, it was the first time an Indian hardware brand felt global.
And that stuck with me.

So this episode with Bikash, Head of Design at Ather Energy, is a special one.

Bikash has spent 11 years shaping Ather from a young startup to a public company - and the way he thinks about EV design is very different from the usual auto-industry playbook.

He talks about why “naivete” was a blessing, how Ather designed from a simple mantra - build for us - and why vertical integration (hardware + software in sync) helped them create something people actually care about.

We also got into the part of Ather that most people outside don’t see:
The culture.

The freedom with accountability, the flat way design decisions are made, and how the core team stayed together for a decade without losing clarity.

And then there’s the community - maybe Ather’s biggest superpower.
Customers who aren’t just users, but advocates, testers, critics, and storytellers.

Tune in to the full episode:
YouTube: https://lnkd.in/grmrn7Sc
Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gnuJ2vP8

#BusinessOfDesign #AgencyLife #Groundbreakin #SyqiStateOfMind #BrandBuilding #ProductDesign

You don’t meet many creatives who can talk art direction and revenue in the same breath.
Vikash can - effortlessly.

Some people come from art.
Some people come from business.
Vikash is one of the rare creatives who comes from both - and it shows in the way he works.

What I’ve always liked about him is how naturally he connects creativity with communication that actually moves a business. It’s a skill most people talk about, but very few really understand.

So this episode with Vikash, Design Director (now at Pine Labs, ex-Ogilvy), ended up becoming one of the most honest conversations about what a creative career really looks like today.

He spoke about starting out in animation and VFX, finding his way into Ogilvy Mumbai - a place he still calls one of the best agency cultures he has worked in - and what large-scale campaigns taught him about pressure, teamwork, and taste.

We also got into the uncomfortable stuff:
industry awards, shrinking budgets, and why the “carrot” of advertising doesn’t always translate to money or growth.

What I loved most was how clear he is about the future:
Designers who win will be generalists with depth, people who can work across video, motion, graphics, and storytelling.
And people who set a financial goal early - instead of hoping passion will sort things out.

The episode with Vikash is live now.
If you care about building a creative career that actually sustains you, this one is worth your time.

Tune In To The Full Episode:
YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gTjQ7Y2u
Spotify: https://lnkd.in/guUErApQ

#BusinessOfDesign #DesignLeadership #SyqiStateOfMind #AgencyLife #ProductDesign #DesignOps

Somewhere between delivery and reflection,
Design lost its magic button.

For years, being busy has been a badge of honour in design.
 Back-to-back projects. Late-night decks. Endless feedback loops.
 We called it dedication. But it was just depletion.

Designers today are topping burnout charts.
 Not because they lack passion, but because the system rewards speed over sense.
 We celebrate constant output, not quiet observation.

This week’s TSM Newsletter explores why slowing down might be the most powerful design skill you have:
// The Cost of Constant Delivery
 When you’re always producing, you stop learning.
 The space between projects is where progress actually happens.
 Without reflection, you’re just running in circles.

// Rest as a Strategy
 Rest isn’t laziness. It’s recovery.
 It’s how your mind connects patterns and turns hard work into understanding.
 Good design needs quiet just as much as it needs collaboration.

// The Shift We Need
 The industry doesn’t need faster tools. It needs deeper thinking.
 Reflection keeps your work relevant in a way speed never can.

Because burnout doesn’t come from working too hard.

It comes from working without meaning.

Full edition here: https://lnkd.in/gDD598xT

Syqi

#BusinessOfDesign #SyqiStateOfMind #AgencyLife #DesignLeadership #BrandBuilding #ProductDesign #CreativeProcess

This week on The State Of Mind Newsletter, I went back to where Groundbreakin really began.
Not as a brand.
Not as a content strategy.
But as a gap I couldn’t ignore anymore.

In college, design was mostly seen as decoration.
Make it look nice and move on.

Later, in the agency world, the same thing showed up in a different form.
Founders made big decisions.
Designers had opinions.
But no one really had space to think out loud.

Everything moved fast.
Brief to brief.
Deck to deck.
Always forward. Rarely inward.

That’s why I started the podcast.
Not to build a brand.
But to create room for real conversations.
The kind where people don’t pitch. They reflect.

Over time, Groundbreakin became a product in a different way.
Not something we sell.
Something that shows how we think, disagree, refine, and decide.

There was no roadmap in the beginning.
No positioning doc.
No master plan.

Just experiments.
With type.
With motion.
With how a conversation could feel before anyone even heard it.

Somewhere between instinct and iteration, it started to feel alive.

What I wanted most was simple.
To feel global, without shouting.
To feel rooted, without being boxed in.

That balance shaped every decision after.

Client work taught me how to solve problems.
The podcast taught me how to listen.

It changed how I hear founders.
How I read between what’s said and what’s felt.
How I pause before reacting.

And slowly, that listening changed how I work.

If you’ve been building something slowly without perfect clarity, you’re not behind.
You’re just in the part that most people don’t talk about.

Some things don’t start with answers.
They earn them.

Check it here: https://lnkd.in/gWdQuqmz

#BusinessOfDesign #SyqiStateOfMind #AgencyLife #BrandBuilding #CreativeProcess #DesignLeadership

Branding isn’t an aesthetic problem anymore.
It’s a performance problem.

Every now and then, I get on a conversations that starts with:
“Everything looks good… but not sure if it’s working.”

For years, branding meant visuals - logos, color palettes, trendy layouts.
We thought looking good was the same as being good.

But looks don’t build trust.
Outcomes do.

This week’s TSM Newsletter dives into the shift from decoration to direction:
1. The Illusion of Looking Good
Pretty design can grab attention for a moment.
But attention isn’t trust.
Brands win when they communicate clearly and behave consistently.

2. The Cost of Aesthetic-First Thinking
If your design confuses people, it’s broken — no matter how good it looks.
A simple layout that reduces doubt will always outperform a polished one that creates it.

3. Outcome Isn’t Optional
Modern branding’s job is to make decisions easier.
It’s not about impressing users. It’s about guiding them.

The strongest brands ask how they behave.

Because a brand that performs will always outperform a brand that just performs on slides.

Full edition here: https://lnkd.in/gcTsJ28s

#BusinessOfDesign #SyqiStateOfMind #BrandBuilding #DesignLeadership #CreativeStrategy #AgencyLife

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Saying the hard thing early builds more trust than saying the perfect thing late.

One of my biggest counter intuitive insight running Syqi.

Most people in design/agency life try to impress first, clarify later.
I did that in year one too.
Rookie mistake.

But the moment I flipped it -
// Challenged founders instead of nodding
// Questioned briefs instead of accepting them
// Called out bad naming
// Pushed back on nonsense pricing
// Flagged brand gaps no one asked about

…things changed.

I thought being this direct would cost deals.
In reality, it filtered the right ones in.

It built more respect.
It built better conversations.
It built access to rooms most designers never get into.

Here’s the part most people miss:

Your edge isn’t just design.
Your edge is clarity + courage delivered early - before the deck, before the moodboard, before the Figma file even opens.

That’s what compounds in B2B.
That’s what gets you trusted with bigger problems.
That’s what turns “vendor” into “partner.”

We don’t need to wait till slide 17 to say the thing that actually matters.

Say it on slide 1.

Say it before the meeting starts.

Say it early.
That’s where the trust game is won.

#BusinessOfDesign #SyqiStateOfMind #AgencyLife #CreativeLeadership #ProductDesign #BrandBuilding

It’s always special when someone outside your world takes the time to observe how you work - and Jimmy is one of those people who really sees things clearly.

Jimmy isn’t just “good at business.” The guy thinks deeply, asks sharp questions, and has a rare mix of kindness + clarity. Talking to him felt like two operators swapping notes on how to build things that last.

What he wrote here isn’t just about Syqi - it’s about the type of creative business culture we’re collectively trying to build:
trust > tactics,
consistency > hacks,
long-game > loud-game.

Always grateful when people recognise the intent behind the work, not just the output. And equally excited about the conversations, collisions, and collaborations that will come out of this.

Big thanks, Jimmy!

Propelling bottom-lines for brands @Olter | Ex Firework | Ex Moksha Media Group

A conversation on running a design studio that changed how I think about growth 👇


Caught up with Dipaq ⭐️, founder of Syqi, and we went deep into what actually moves a creative business forward, beyond the usual “scale fast” noise.

A few things stood out:

1. Trust Is the Ultimate growth strategy:
You can automate outreach, but you can’t automate trust.
His 50-episode podcast called Ground Breakin, is a masterclass in building it. Long-form thinking, honest conversations, and showing up with clarity. That’s what compounds.

2. Multi-channel presence isn’t "optional" anymore
Newsletters, LinkedIn, Twitter, podcasts…
When people already understand how you think, sales becomes a continuation, not persuasion.
Context is the new credibility.

3. Big ticket projects require conviction
For larger projects, nobody is just buying a proposal. They’re paying because of the trust and conviction they have on you.

4. Equity ≠ the only fuel 
Loved his clarity on keeping the agency independent. Commission-based partnerships > giving away large chunks of what you’ve built.

5. Hybrid teams can win
Running Saturday upskilling sessions, bringing in external experts, and giving young talent real responsibility…
It’s the kind of culture agencies & studios talk about, but rarely build.

Listening to how he approaches design, collaboration, and leadership made one thing obvious - 

Design houses like Syqi that will thrive are the ones building trust in public, thinking out loud, and playing the long game with intention.

The rest is just noise.

“Just a small change” is the most expensive lie in design.

Every time a stakeholder says it, a design system silently collapses somewhere, and you can almost hear the project timeline cry in the corner.

People love to underestimate the impact of their impulsive revisions - because the UI looks flat, the mockup looks simple, and the designer “can just tweak it.”

Most “small changes” happen because someone avoided clarity when it actually mattered.
No alignment on the brief.
No constraint on the system.
No rationale behind decisions.
Just vibes + opinions + last-minute enlightenment.

And teams pay for it with:
// 20 screens re-exported
// Tokens rewritten
// Design-library patches
// Dev cycles wasted
// QA stretched
// Branding inconsistencies
// Lost velocity

The real problem isn’t revision.
It’s unclear thinking disguised as feedback.

The most mature teams I work with don’t ask for fewer changes - they ask for better upfront clarity:

- Crisp briefs
- Decision guardrails
- “Here’s what we’re not doing”
- A shared definition of good
- System-first thinking

That’s the only way you save money, time, sanity, and your team’s will to live.

Hot take?
If you need 15 rounds of “tiny tweaks,” the change isn’t small.
The leadership is.

#BusinessOfDesign #AgencyLife #SyqiStateOfMind #DesignOps #BrandBuilding #ProductDesign

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