Get into 2018 with ‘Swift’

CHENNAI: It is said that art, freedom, and creativity can change society faster than politics. CE meets with a young designer Aditi Maithreya, creative head, The Phoenix Company and the creative mind behind a unique calendar for 2018, featuring a fictional character named ‘Swift’, to talk about the birth of ‘Swift’, the emotional connect she has with the character and the message which she intends to deliver through ‘Swift’.

“Swift is partially inspired by my character. She is a paradox of my character, except for the way
she thinks. I am slow in everything from eating to writing. Swift is just the opposite, just like her name indicates. The only similarity we both have is the way we think. Our thoughts are similar, positive and swift,” smiles Aditi.

How did she get the idea of Swift? “I was a part of Inktober Fest and the main idea of Inktober Fest is that we shouldn’t stop painting for that entire month. It is kind of similar to ‘No Shave November’, but here we have to continuously keep our brains working. During the fest, we get a list of prompts for the entire month and swift was one of the prompts they have given us. The way we use the prompt is up to our interpretation. For some, swift was a car, for some it was a bird and for me, it was me!” laughs Aditi.
Each month is an emotion that changes swiftly, and for each month, she will set out a message that intends to spread positivity among its customers. The entire calendar goes through the thoughts of Swift and what she thinks of a bad situation and how she makes it a positive one.

“The idea is to make people overcome negativity, give them courage and make them see a ray of hope, even in distress. So for example, for 2018 December, her thoughts go as follows ‘What if the wind could blow away the negative emotions in human beings such as envy, greed etc? Perhaps, it is possible, But how will we know unless we brave the storm?’. Similarly, for each month, she has thoughts that are related to the season or month and human nature,” she explains.

Aditi believes that the Inktober initiative played a big role in the evolution of not just Swift but the way she interprets certain situations or topics. “There is a Facebook page for all the artists around the world who are a part of the Inktober Fest and we get prompts every month. One of the prompts for January was shatter. It is a widely acknowledged negative word but then I interpreted it in a positive way, saying shatter self-doubts and win the world. So I believe, my creativity and positive thinking are related and the Inktober fraternity helped me enhance it,” adds Aditi.

Swift calendars can be ordered at www.tinyurl.com/swiftcalendar2018. Corporate orders for the calendar are also undertaken. For queries, contact phoenixinindia@gmail.com or call 9382628919