Chetan Lalwani wears many hats. He’s the Senior Art Director at AT&T, one of the world’s largest telecommunication’s company bringing the world closer together, online and in-person. He is also the Founder and Creative Director of Strkd. (pronounced as ‘stroked’), an artistic movement that promotes positive mental health through art to the community. And a freelancer with AWS (Amazon Web Services).
“I started ‘Strkd.’ to make an impact on people’s lives through an artistic movement that encourages everyone to shift their mind, body and soul to be more positive. With small messages in every detail, and hidden meanings within each design element, we hope to start a chain reaction,” Chetan says.
Chetan oversees everything from ideation and creation to quality check and marketing. His education journey started off with the Foundation in Design programme for a year before proceeding to complete a Bachelors in Art at Limkokwing University, in collaboration with Curtin University.
“Limkokwing gave me the necessary tools, introduction to design and the best teachers to kickstart my journey as a graphic designer, before I became an art director and most recently a founder to my dream of being an apparel designer,” Chetan adds.
Chetan has been an artist since he was a kid. “It was the power of my imagination that made me start painting, which then led me to specialise in expressionist painting in high school, before I discovered the world of digital art,” he shares.
He says that launching ‘Strkd’ gave him the right platform to build self-belief and qualities that he never knew he had. “Being a founder always comes with a ton of challenges, especially on the design front where fabric, cost and marketing take the front seat,” he says. Through this movement, Chetan was challenged in ways that could only help him improve himself.
Working on the interiors of a restaurant called ‘Poco Loco’ was a refreshing project, as it allowed Chetan to explore vibrant colour schemes and designs. “I had the golden opportunity to design the homepage for AT&T in collaboration with ‘The Batman’ – it was a dream!” he exclaims.
Portfolio: thisischet.club
Strkd. Apparel: strkdapparel.com