Design and Communications
For Social Impact
THE ROLE OF COMMUNICATIONS & DESIGN
Having a strong communication and design practice is the foundation for building high impact solutions, especially in the social impact space. It is critical for our market to see them beyond the conventional, demarcated roles/functions in a “comms team”. It plays a critical role in almost all areas of an organisation’s work. It makes or breaks your fundraising efforts, the team culture, and influences the success of your program’s impact on ground to a large extent. It helps you create experiences that are more immersive, articulate, cohesive. Investing in it allows you to build a deeper and more meaningful connection with your stakeholders, your internal teams and your end users.
We have worked hard in helping the market change its perception of the role of communications & design, and begin investing more in research-backed solutions. This has been a slow change. There is still a lot more work to be done, and a lot more support needed. Over the last 9 years, our team has engaged with 150+ organisations through its services, training & capacity building programs and short courses. Our partner organisations work across the field of Health & Nutrition, Education, Youth Leadership, Water, Housing, Road Safety, Community Development, Gender, and Women Empowerment.
HOW STUDIO SUBU RUNS
We are a small team that runs like a SWAT team — doing limited, targeted projects. The team functions at an extremely fast pace, following a rigorous planning and implementation process. It will feel like working in a high-intensity kitchen. Our studio has a reputation for maintaining extremely high standards of quality and precision across all aspects of our work. While it will be intensive, if you hack it, you will love it.
Over the past 9 years, the studio has morphed into different shapes and sizes with a singular goal of pushing and innovating on what research, design and communication is, and can be in the Indian social impact space. We have preferred to keep Studio Subu nimble, fluidic and exploratory as a setup. It allows us to push hard and fast. It allows us to pilot ideas, and experiment with concepts that are hard to implement in a standard agency / organisation.
We focus on building rapid prototypes backed by honest research. It’s an inclusive work practice with our partner orgs and beneficiaries and collaborators all being at the centre of each discussion. This style of working has been Studio Subu’s trademark and the reason for all its success so far. The people working with us have made Studio Subu what it is.
THE TEAM
Harish Subramanian
CEO, Creative Head
Harish has been working in the social Impact space as a researcher and designer for 11 years. His work focuses on building accessible and inclusive experiences stemming from user behaviour studies. He uses human-centred design principles as his framework to develop design strategies and improve engagement. Harish holds a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His work has been internationally recognised and awarded the William Drenttel Award for Excellence in Design (2016). Harish credits all his work and accolades to the vision and knowledge shared by his mentor Aaron Padin.
Meghna Rakshit
Head of Business & Strategy
Meghna Rakshit has over 20 years of experience in in marketing and communications with corporate and social sector companies. She is passionate about leveraging communications to drive gender equality and empower women. Meghna holds an MBA from the Indian School of Business and a BA in Marketing and Psychology from Hamilton College, NY. She brings extensive experience in user-centred problem solving, communications, business planing and design thinking to her work. She sits on the advisory board of ATMA and has been a speaker at several dev sector forums. Prior to Studio Subu, Meghna previously worked as a communications director at Womanity Foundation and Teach For India. Her corporate experience include working as a media planner at Mindshare New York & Mumbai, and as a marketing strategist at 9.9 Media, and Anand Bazaar Patrika.
Siddhika Nagwade
Head of Operations
Siddhika's professional journey has intertwined with operations, education, and the non-profit sector for over 14 years. Her experiences in the operational landscape, combined with a profound passion for early education, have shaped a unique perspective on the power of knowledge to drive positive change. She thrives in fast-paced environments developing, implementing, and analyzing strategy. Prior to Studio Subu, she worked with Phio Tech, an ed-tech organisation as the COO and co-created a tool to support early education.
Rhea Antony
Senior Communications Designer
Rhea is a communication designer with a passion for culture, social impact, and sustainability. Her varied experience spans from working at an intergovernmental organisation in Singapore to documenting tribal practices in the Nilgiris. At the global sustainability think tank, WRI, she worked on communicating challenges around urban design and road safety in Indian cities. After freelancing for a year and a half, she now brings her expertise and innovative approach to the Studio Subu team.
WE'RE GROWING OUR TEAM
The market is beginning to get more interested in strengthening these verticals, and I am slowly build a tight-knit, high-impact, super-team that can push fast, and explore how we can make a measurable dent at scale. I am looking to team up with highly skilled team members who have a clear sense of their personal identity, their work-practice / processes / methods, and share a similar sense of urgency as mine to push now. I’m bringing on members that have deep empathy and a strong understanding of the work on-ground, and at-scale in the India social impact landscape.
Write to us at mail@studiosubu.com with your CV + LinkedIn Profile.
If you are applying for a specific listed role, please read the application details before mailing. There may be additional elements you'll need to include in your application.