What I offer: ‘You’re facilitating the creative process, Dipika.’
Why I do this: So fun to set stages for people to meet people whose paths they mightn’t have crossed, and there, to co-make zines, or co-create writings, or just generally connect, discover, and find this natural way for us regular ol’ humans to talk to be… together. Feel easy. And comfortable.
Artist statement: I want people to relax. To feel air, space and comfort.
I really like this. Relational aesthetics. That’s all. No agenda. Not religious. No dating, selling, bragging, acting. No BS. Just… space.
An invitee to a workshop recently said, ‘You are facilitating the creative process.’
Am I? Yes. I am.
That is what I am learning from reading all the reviews.
CREATIVE PROCESS. Most fantastic about the process is that it can and often will (if you stay with it) reveal an ‘a-ha’ insight for you. Somewhere way deep into the process. There are highs and lows and many moments of doubt, and self-doubt. Still, there is much to gain from participating and trusting in it.
A new beginning, for example, that would start right from that moment of figuring out what you came to the process to find. It’s vague, it’s abstract, and it bothers people who want things to be boxed and quantified. Intuition, emotion, and insight are not possible to do that with, however. Trusting the process means letting go of fixed thinking and overfocusing on ‘outcomes.’ I love outcomes, don’t get me wrong, but they need to be the ones you figured out were the important ones to go for, not just arbitrary, and without introspection, life experience, and a process to arrive a those you can’t know. You’re shooting in the dark. Doing things right, versus doing the right things, as they say. I prefer efficiency and moving towards achieving highly personal goals. That takes the wisdom the creative process can help you gain.
You have to commit to that and there’s no guarantee you’ll find out something but sometimes you can, and will. Anticipating the possibilities. Being willing to be changed by what you hear. These are teh big ideas. This is where we start, a point of departure.
MAKE SPACE FOR YOU. Join our recurring weekly workshops. Stop by a conversation-led miniparty. Make zines. Co-make zines.
WHAT PEOPLE SAY. Read testimonials from Design Kompany clients, and reviews of my personal projects here and here.
‘I wanna regenerate with a meaningful creative reset…’
(Is this you?)
You wish that you could try something new, but you don’t know what. Or how. Or why. But you want to explore. You are curious.I know it’s not simple to press ‘creative reset’ but I’ve seen people do it, and seen how they’ve changed so remarkably as a result. Making time. For slowng down. Tos ee, feel, to tune in. Introspect and find things out. Important, big things not just ‘to do’ stuff.
ANTICIPATE THE POSSIBILITIES. I’ve always been a fan of the moment of wondering, ‘What’s next?’ Diving into uncertainty but trusting the creative process is mostly the entirety of everything I do that truly matters to me. This was always the case. Studying abroad twice (Japan, Ghana), moving to Ireland for three years, Cambodia for ten, and a bunch more independent travel were ways to keep moving horizons, to keep asking, ‘What’s over there? Let me go and see.’
OFFERS. Today after lots of explorations and experimentations, I am offering step-by-step online and offline experiencces so you can do this, too. Now, I walk people with me and with one another in peer-to-peer exchanges 4:4, as we dive right into the creative process.
Projects like afternoon writing retreats, salons, miniparties, two-day popup ateliers, SME owners’ branding, and reflective writing eWorkshops, too. It runs the gamut but the thread is singular: figure out how to figure out what it is that matters, to you, and why. One way is Unboxed, at Design Kompany, the studio I co-founded with AM in Seattle years ago.
Another is the Cojournal…
But design is not the same in 2026 as it was in 2006. More important now is meaning, communication and realness.
Let’s design an artful moment: DESK is a way. New illustration and matters of opinion from the desk of DK.
DESK is a zine I started in Spring 2026, by me, at Design Kompany. It aims to invite, include, connect you with new people and ideas, and hopefully inspire you… to slow down. To try new things. To see see, not just consume. A decade’s worth of xperience and highlights from learning-by-doing in S. E. Asia and N. Europe 2014-2024, curated in a digestible, illustrated set of zine-style A4 pages in DESK, just for you.
Design Kompany: Design is iteration. How 20 years of design practice led to DESK & Art & Copy international zine club
2005-2008
Great design and editing start with knowing the overall story you want to tell. Let’s make it unique, as well as compelling. Discussing your project down to the ‘key concept’. DK, based in Seattle at that time, designed brand identities for Northwest Asian Weekly, Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce, The Baltic Room, and Row House Cafe.
2009-2017
DK shifted to the East Coast and began working with SME owners on ‘thinking about new ideas.’ The practice, and discovery, of trying new things through our playful process was what earned us new commissions. This became our new focus: innovation consulting.
2018-present
We got curious about what ways DK could innovate. We began to get people together for conversation salons, to discuss ideas across silos. It was becoming a time of leaving twitter, leaving facebook, leaving in general. Getting away from ‘how we always do things.’ Many conversations in N. Europe and S.E. Asia, and 7 years’ worth of weekly S P A C E zines were a kind of underpainting for 2025’s start for Art & Copy Zine Club, an international co-making team.
MIRROR. I host online reflection eWorkshops: choose your choices
All the writing for me at my memoir writing site Kismuth has been about identity. As in, asking big questions, looking into it. Living multiple versions of oneself and watching the transitions. Anticipating possibilities. We can choose our choices. Don’t go through things on autopilot. Be intentional, set a course. Even if things change, know your values. And don’t let go of your dreams. Read more about The Mirror.
UNBOXED. A cojournal, a reflection space, and a conversation about creative confidence. Art is uncertain, life is uncertain. Master this kind of confidence, and tackle both.
Desgn Kompany’s Creative Confidence workshop, takes place online. Read more about UNBOXED.
‘Dipika, You make collections’
Reviews
“… a witty, abbreviated sensibility”
Lori Waxman
Chicago Tribune art critic
Still at it: making space to invite us to talk and try new things
Common Questions
What?
Can do that, sure. Book a consultation with me. These start at USD 45 for 40-min zoom conversations with guests in Cambodia. If you’re not in Cambodia, we’ll adjust for parity using pppcalculator.pro.
I’m happy to talk with people who want to avail of my consulting services. Book a consultation, see the last question.
Yes.
By prioritizing it. Ask me about UNBOXED.
Still have questions? Send us a message