Shantanu Suman (he/him)
Shantanu Suman is an Indian graphic designer currently working as an Associate Professor of Visual Communication at Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana. After working for over six years in the Indian advertising industry, Shantanu moved to the U.S. in 2010 to pursue his master’s degree from the University of Florida. In a career spanning over eighteen years, Shantanu has worked as a Creative Director, documentary filmmaker, small business owner, and educator. Through his freelance business Open Door Design Studio (ODDS), Shantanu has worked with a variety of clients ranging from small startups to global brands including Kohler Co., The Wing Luke Museum, Frost Museum, and Wired Magazine.
His design work has been recognized by several publications including Uneven Growth – Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Communication Arts Design/Advertising/Typography Annuals, Type Director’s Annual, Graphic Design USA, Print Magazine, LogoLounge, CNN Travel, Designboom, and Creative Review. In 2012, Shantanu collaborated with friends to make Horn Please, a documentary film based on Indian Truck Art. Ever since moving to the U.S., Shantanu has constantly drawn inspiration from his Indian roots to inform his design decisions. He uses Hindi typography within his work to make the Devanagari script relevant in the current design discourse.