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 Shiril's graduate project, YOKAI, is inspired by myths, activism and self-expression.ARTSTHREAD:Can you describe your concept and creative process? Shiril Joseph: The concept branches from the root of an inspiration which gathers its essence from people and their stories from around the world. Urban Legends, as we know of them now, are stories woven around the beliefs and superstitions of individuals, passed on from one generation to the next, moulded and twisted through-out history and presented as a fragment of memory which instills, in the listener, a fear of what is unknown to them. Just like how the concept is derived from a fabricated piece of being, the process of this project was led to reflect that same feeling. The entire process was a six month long wait of what the final outcome would look like. Through-out the entire timeline, a lot of different ways and means of ideations and executions were explored upon, some of which were personal and some had more to do with involving other individuals and let them be a part of the outcome. This entire process can be claimed as a different outlook or perspective into the mind of someone who has an elaborate thought process and contemplates everything. ARTSTHREAD: Can you explain the thinking behind the key concepts and outcomes of your project? Shiril Joseph: The idea of this concept is to bring about a ‘change’ by creating your own truths. With silhouettes inspired from traditional renderings of what a YOKAI is to different individuals, to the surface touching elements from the folklores of Urban Legends, the concept aims to provide fashion to a wide array of people. The main ideology of bringing forth this change is to see how people perceive Design Activism (which is a key element in this project as it is used as a medium of deriving the surfaces of the range) and expressionism. The outcome is catered towards people who are ready to embrace the change and who are ready to change with it. It is telling people to let their imagination run free and to not be scared of what is not known to them. Just as no two people can see ‘YOKAI’ as the same, no two minds can work in the same way and the distinction between these different minds, is what is to bring into focus. ARTSTHREAD: Are you 100% back on campus or are you still working all/partly from home? Please describe your environment? Shiril Joseph:Yes, as of recently, I have been working on my project on campus. The entire two years of when the pandemic was at it’s highest has been both a good learning experience and a situation most of us don’t want to return to. Especially as design students and creative individuals it has been rather tiresome. Coming back to campus has been a great and much needed change for me as I find that my stimulative mind works better and is more active when I am in an environment where I can test my limits and abilities. ARTSTHREAD: Has being back on campus given you a new perspective on the university/your class colleagues/tutors? Shiril Joseph: The past four years have led me to have a love-hate relationship with going to university. Post-pandemic, I have realised what I was taking for granted and what I had is what a lot of other people needed. Coming back to campus has given us the space and mindset to be able to be more proactive in not only working but also engaging into conversations and dialogues with individuals coming from a similar state of mind. Working on campus has also given me a different outlook on the sort of resources being provided to us.  ARTSTHREAD: Has the need for online learning changed your outcomes? Shiril Joseph: Learning online has been a challenge to say the least. Online sessions have changed the way inputs work to cater towards the needs of students and hence directly affected the outcome. First hand learning has been one of the most important aspects in design and that has majorly affected the quality of learning. The equipment and resources provided by the college has been of great help in our design journey and being deprived of these resources has really presented us with a challenge of presenting our work with making amendments and compromises with respect to design. ARTSTHREAD: Did you need to innovate when you had to work by yourself at home? Shiril Joseph:Working from home was a monotonous experience for me. Although, yes, there were a couple times where I did innovate and initiate new methods of working to make my work culture more efficient. While working, I realized there was a need to be self-aware and self-taught. Design itself requires innovation and self-awareness. Other than these two years I’ve been more innovative in ways I process my projects and how I can have my own methods and techniques of doing certain things. ARTSTHREAD: What's one thing that has helped you get through the last 2 years? Shiril Joseph: Over the last two years, I have had multiple different things holding me upright. One of them was being able to know what my potential is and when to let myself take a while from working and to be able to sit back and relax. This monotonous lifestyle has made me realise how important it is to be able to let yourself be vulnerable and be able to break away from things that can hold you down. ARTSTHREAD: What are the most positive learning outcomes from this process? Shiril Joseph: Being someone who likes setting new boundaries for myself to cross, I think this entire process of having different individuals involved in such a process is what has come out to be the best. Being able to give them a medium to express themselves and to also be involved with them and have them be a part of this through the process and in the outcome has let me understand how important it is to be able to express yourself. ARTSTHREAD: How do you think design can help improve the world? Shiril Joseph: Design is a bridge between the conscience and the un-conscience mind. To be able to grow into the process of transforming from both these states is what gives birth to design. Design is a concept which frees people from their own restraints and binds them together. At such a vulnerable point in history this binding catalyst is what is needed to be able to give each individual a sense of belonging. ARTSTHREAD: What are your hopes for the future? <Shiril Joseph: Fashion, I believe, has a long way to go in terms of innovation and ideation. While the world is in chaos, there are only so many things that can bring a sense of calmness to people and Fashion and Design belong to this category. With so many different markets and tastes to cater to, there can never be enough Design. The future of design activism is what is to be worked upon. Letting people bring forth their ideologies and emotions to the street and having them a voice given to talk about and start a conversation about what they believe in. ARTSTHREAD: Thank you Shiril - we wish you all the very best! See Shiril’s ARTSTHREAD Portfolio Images in slider: Shiril and her work Our Global Design Graduate Show 2022 in collaboration with Gucci is open internationally to all art and design undergraduate or postgraduate students graduating in the Academic Year 2021-22 and the deadline to apply is August 31 2022. 
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In advance of the deadline for Global Design Graduate Show 2022 in collaboration with Gucci, we interview Shiril Joseph, a 2022 graduating student from Pearl Academy, New Delhi, BA Fashion Design.
Our Global Design Graduate Show 2022 in collaboration with Gucci is open internationally to all art and design undergraduate or postgraduate students graduating in the Academic Year 2021-22 and the deadline to apply is August 31 2022.
See Shiril’s ARTSTHREAD Portfolio
ARTSTHREAD:Where are you from?
Shiril Joseph: I hail from a small city called Bhopal, in Madhya Pradesh, central India. After wrapping up basic qualifications and school, I decided to move away from home in pursuit of something I would like to specialize in and that lead me straight to the capital of the country, New Delhi, to Pearl Academy as an undergraduate student in Fashion Design.
ARTSTHREAD: What is the name, theme, concept and final outcome of your graduate project/thesis?
Shiril Joseph: YOKAI, is the concept of a fabricated entity which changes as how an individual perceives it through their own eyes, mind and conscience.
The concept, as refined as it is now, initially started off as a vague idea of being able to present the inner confusions and contemplations through the art of story-telling.
The final outcome is based upon the likings and interests of a niche of like-minded individuals who put first the concept of expression and to be able to lead design activism, promoting the beauty of what is not refined or absolute.
Shiril's graduate project, YOKAI, is inspired by myths, activism and self-expression.ARTSTHREAD:Can you describe your concept and creative process?
Shiril Joseph: The concept branches from the root of an inspiration which gathers its essence from people and their stories from around the world. Urban Legends, as we know of them now, are stories woven around the beliefs and superstitions of individuals, passed on from one generation to the next, moulded and twisted through-out history and presented as a fragment of memory which instills, in the listener, a fear of what is unknown to them.
Just like how the concept is derived from a fabricated piece of being, the process of this project was led to reflect that same feeling. The entire process was a six month long wait of what the final outcome would look like. Through-out the entire timeline, a lot of different ways and means of ideations and executions were explored upon, some of which were personal and some had more to do with involving other individuals and let them be a part of the outcome. This entire process can be claimed as a different outlook or perspective into the mind of someone who has an elaborate thought process and contemplates everything.
ARTSTHREAD: Can you explain the thinking behind the key concepts and outcomes of your project?
Shiril Joseph: The idea of this concept is to bring about a ‘change’ by creating your own truths. With silhouettes inspired from traditional renderings of what a YOKAI is to different individuals, to the surface touching elements from the folklores of Urban Legends, the concept aims to provide fashion to a wide array of people.
The main ideology of bringing forth this change is to see how people perceive Design Activism (which is a key element in this project as it is used as a medium of deriving the surfaces of the range) and expressionism.
The outcome is catered towards people who are ready to embrace the change and who are ready to change with it. It is telling people to let their imagination run free and to not be scared of what is not known to them. Just as no two people can see ‘YOKAI’ as the same, no two minds can work in the same way and the distinction between these different minds, is what is to bring into focus.
ARTSTHREAD: Are you 100% back on campus or are you still working all/partly from home? Please describe your environment?
Shiril Joseph:Yes, as of recently, I have been working on my project on campus. The entire two years of when the pandemic was at it’s highest has been both a good learning experience and a situation most of us don’t want to return to. Especially as design students and creative individuals it has been rather tiresome.
Coming back to campus has been a great and much needed change for me as I find that my stimulative mind works better and is more active when I am in an environment where I can test my limits and abilities.
ARTSTHREAD: Has being back on campus given you a new perspective on the university/your class colleagues/tutors?
Shiril Joseph: The past four years have led me to have a love-hate relationship with going to university. Post-pandemic, I have realised what I was taking for granted and what I had is what a lot of other people needed. Coming back to campus has given us the space and mindset to be able to be more proactive in not only working but also engaging into conversations and dialogues with individuals coming from a similar state of mind. Working on campus has also given me a different outlook on the sort of resources being provided to us.
ARTSTHREAD: Has the need for online learning changed your outcomes?
Shiril Joseph: Learning online has been a challenge to say the least. Online sessions have changed the way inputs work to cater towards the needs of students and hence directly affected the outcome. First hand learning has been one of the most important aspects in design and that has majorly affected the quality of learning. The equipment and resources provided by the college has been of great help in our design journey and being deprived of these resources has really presented us with a challenge of presenting our work with making amendments and compromises with respect to design.
ARTSTHREAD: Did you need to innovate when you had to work by yourself at home?
Shiril Joseph:Working from home was a monotonous experience for me. Although, yes, there were a couple times where I did innovate and initiate new methods of working to make my work culture more efficient. While working, I realized there was a need to be self-aware and self-taught. Design itself requires innovation and self-awareness. Other than these two years I’ve been more innovative in ways I process my projects and how I can have my own methods and techniques of doing certain things.
ARTSTHREAD: What's one thing that has helped you get through the last 2 years?
Shiril Joseph: Over the last two years, I have had multiple different things holding me upright. One of them was being able to know what my potential is and when to let myself take a while from working and to be able to sit back and relax. This monotonous lifestyle has made me realise how important it is to be able to let yourself be vulnerable and be able to break away from things that can hold you down.
ARTSTHREAD: What are the most positive learning outcomes from this process?
Shiril Joseph: Being someone who likes setting new boundaries for myself to cross, I think this entire process of having different individuals involved in such a process is what has come out to be the best. Being able to give them a medium to express themselves and to also be involved with them and have them be a part of this through the process and in the outcome has let me understand how important it is to be able to express yourself.
ARTSTHREAD: How do you think design can help improve the world?
Shiril Joseph: Design is a bridge between the conscience and the un-conscience mind. To be able to grow into the process of transforming from both these states is what gives birth to design. Design is a concept which frees people from their own restraints and binds them together. At such a vulnerable point in history this binding catalyst is what is needed to be able to give each individual a sense of belonging.
ARTSTHREAD: What are your hopes for the future?
<Shiril Joseph: Fashion, I believe, has a long way to go in terms of innovation and ideation. While the world is in chaos, there are only so many things that can bring a sense of calmness to people and Fashion and Design belong to this category. With so many different markets and tastes to cater to, there can never be enough Design. The future of design activism is what is to be worked upon. Letting people bring forth their ideologies and emotions to the street and having them a voice given to talk about and start a conversation about what they believe in.
ARTSTHREAD: Thank you Shiril - we wish you all the very best!
See Shiril’s ARTSTHREAD Portfolio
Images in slider: Shiril and her work
Our Global Design Graduate Show 2022 in collaboration with Gucci is open internationally to all art and design undergraduate or postgraduate students graduating in the Academic Year 2021-22 and the deadline to apply is August 31 2022.