sometimes you gotta say fuck ai and do things by yourself. such as these wonderful icons. i made them with my bare hands.

i also made them with many references and some weird and convoluted techniques because i’ve never made pixel art before. i like making pixel art, so more of it will be visible here soon. happy 2025~

about me

I have always been fascinated with technology and art. Coming from a middle-class family that only recently moved up the economic ladder, I always knew I would have to pursue a career that would provide sufficient income to live the life I want.

In middle school, I was taught a bit of C++ and found myself enjoying computer science more than my art class. Before that, I used to enjoy editing the CSS of my Tumblr blog to make it cute. I decided near the end of 10th grade that I would like to pursue CS.

I didn't care about IIT, JEE, "what will the neighbors say," and all that academic prestige. Being suddenly thrust into this rat race, which I could have avoided, felt like being run over by a truck - except it lasted for years. I didn't realize it would take so long, but it wasn't until my second year of college that my computer science classes really began, giving me an outlet to envision my future steps.

I liked many different sub-streams, but you're given incentive to lock into one early on and stick to it for life. The indecision that still remains in my head essentially defines my path until now. I secured a great internship with an early-stage startup through a creative hackathon project, but I played it safe and chose a job through college placements instead.

My constant confusion, the rapid progression of AI, and my slow progress at work led to burnout. I spent the last year or two focusing on my health, my non-CS hobbies, and preparing for potentially pursuing a master's degree abroad. Now that I feel better about everything, I want to return to working in a startup environment or perhaps build something of my own. I want to take risks and see where they'll take me. I also want to learn and grow more.

what i expect?

Everything I know about design is self-taught. I want to learn more and put that knowledge into practice. I have abandoned many projects in my past, and I want to build upon them. I'm now determined to build something meaningful. I have had a behance and a dribbble account for 5+ years now, but they’re both empty. My goal is to expand my portfolio beyond my current personal website by adding more projects to it. I find that a cohort-based learning model would help keep me accountable, and seeing 10kdesigners appear repeatedly feels like a sign - a nudge in the right direction, to at least apply and see where this path leads.