Harinicsekar@gmail.com
You could also use the form on the right to contact me.
USA
Harini Chandrasekar is an Industrial Designer with a specialization in textiles from India’s premier design school, The National Institute of Design. The prestigious Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Sweden as well as the Politechnico Di Milano in Italy added to her education and international perspective. She then went on to teach courses such as design concepts and concerns, print-making, sustainability and craft and strategic design thinking while working with several global clients across Sweden, Italy, Finland and India. She is currently enrolled in the Global Marketing Communication & Advertising program at Emerson College to add a new dimension to her skills. Harini hopes to integrate creativity with management to create new and engaging ideas in the field of marketing communication.
Thoughts and Illustrations from my daily blog
Lately, my husband and I have been obsessed with iconic mid-century furniture and embrace every excuse to go window-shopping for the same. Eero Saarinen's womb chair has been my inspiration to explore a backdrop of wall murals. The perfect chair to simply curl up in with a good book and over-sized plants that never need watering providing for a happy shade cover. 
Fabric swatches printed on linen-cotton canvas that I just received from Spoonflower which can be seen on http://www.spoonflower.com/fabric/1900736
True to their reputation, spoonflower delivered in quality and speed and the print is now available as wallpaper, fabrics or wall decals.
It's been an eventful few weeks and I apologize for ignoring WordPress as days turned swiftly into weeks of no uploads. Here's a glimpse into a rather exciting project to make up for it. Converting doodles from my earlier post into a fabric repeat, I've been busy experimenting with swatches on www.spoonflower.com. It's an awesome site where you can print, buy or sell a wide array of custom fabrics, wallpapers and wall decals. My entire experience with them has been extremely positive so far. Will be sure to share the fabric swatches on a post soon as I receive them. Count down begins!:)
It isn't easy to imagine a world without the high-speed automobiles and airplanes we now take for granted. It's fascinating to think of how what constitutes "fast" has been constantly redefined through the ages and continues to be with every passing day. In the 1800's a stagecoach which could travel at 8 or 9 mph, and a small locomotive which could move twice as fast were amongst the most speedy forms of available transport, accessible only to the affluent.
Today's post is a series of notebook sketches tracing the evolution of transport. 
A Snow Burial by Florence Peacock.
"Dream not of spring-tide's blossoms,
They perished long ago,
And all dead summer's roses
Are past; the autumn's glow
Has faded from the woodland;
The world is white with snow."
Many thanks to Apartment Therapy for featuring my work on their popular blog. Click here to visit the link. Nothing quite compares to an unexpected happy surprise!:)
"What a wonderful thing is the mail, capable of conveying across continents a warm human hand-clasp." Author Unknown Do you remember the last time you received a handwritten mail delivered by the Postman? Paper that someone had taken the time to choose, the texture of blotted ink and the smell of something special. Thanks to Ziggy shortcrust's marvelous blog, I do! In this age of instant gratification, it is indeed a great joy to receive an envelope of happiness (which arrived earlier today:)) that I would love to share with you.
This link details a wonderful journey of attempting to revive the lost art of letter writing (as well as quirky n beautiful elf doodles:) Thank you Ziggy! Keep up the admirable endeavor.:)
"The body is a sacred garment- Martha Graham" Today's post is a series of tactile swatches I created several years ago. As a student of textile design in India, it struck me that most of our traditional patterns and prints revolve around floral motifs, paisleys and the occasional geometric surface. This was an attempt to look beyond the obvious.
Inspiration lies within all of us. The Human Body is a rich source of inspiration full of life, energy and love. The following patterns have been derived from red blood corpuscles as well as the thoracic ribs and neural networks.
Inspired from the Red Blood Corpuscles and articulated through an Indian craft technique known as “Tritik” or “Stitch Resist.”
Patterns inspired by the Thoracic or Rib Cage derived from “Batik” or “Wax Resist.”
Block Print yardage created from nerve endings and neurons.
Some months back, I had designed these collections for a Threadless online competition (threadless.com) titled "Dangers of the Deep." I worked on the idea that the real danger of the deep is humans and all the garbage we mindlessly throw into our deep and beautiful oceans. Textures were created through handmade rubber cut stamps.
The sublime deep-sea creatures swim the dangerous oceans, eating anything and everything in their path including the sea waste we create.
If you are what you eat, what then is a whale?
Made some paper cubee friends for my husband's workspace this holiday. Here's hoping they make for some fun company. How many of these popular tv characters can you recognize?
"In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer."- Albert Camus
I'm pretty excited to share this project with you guys! A collaborative effort with a group of dear old friends, I created the back illustration inspired by Mughal marble inlay as seen in the Taj Mahal- Arguably, India's most iconic monument. The wonderfully festive packaging effort as well as the pictures are courtesy the company Original Copy. The idea for these circular playing cards was sparked by the craft of ‘GANJIFA’ or traditional playing cards introduced to India by the Mughals.
Please check them out at the newly launched store https://www.facebook.com/originalcopybytd
Below is a portrait exploration of two of my fave kids using a new technique involving masking fluid. Slightly abstract and expressive, it's an attempt to capture their happy smiles! 
A tad late but here's hoping everyone had an awesome Halloween!
It's hard to imagine that Samhainophobia is the fear of Halloween. Any holiday in which candy sales average 2.5 billion dollars yearly would definitely help me overcome all associated fear:)
While wall decals have been around for a while and are here to stay, occasionally, they appear to hang loose in a large room looking lost. This project that I wrapped up a few weeks ago aims to combine the best of wall decals and interactivity by creating a stage and providing a context to the characters with the usage of whiteboard paint. This serves to create a more meaningful & engaging space over-all.
The whiteboard areas can be doodled upon and used for homework, notes, list of chores, reminders or just simple drawings of anything under the sun. The first activity the lil imp, the proud owner of this room, indulged in was to paint the tree house itself in her own special way:) 
Detail of a wall decal character with his interactive whiteboard speech bubble merrily doodled upon.
Detail of the tree house under which the Pop & Lolli wall decal divas mill around casting their magic spell.
Below is a glimpse into the process and transformation of the space.
Interacting with the space.
"Leaf peeping" in Vermont over the weekend allowed for a gorgeous fall feast of foliage. Below is a small "peep" into my wonderfully vibrant weekend filled with rich golden hues:)
"A man who cultivates his garden, as Voltaire wished.
He who is grateful for the existence of music.
He who takes pleasure in tracing an etymology.
Two workmen playing, in a café in the South,
a silent game of chess.
The potter, contemplating a color and a form.
The typographer who sets this page well,
though it may not please him.
A woman and a man, who read the last tercets
of a certain canto.
He who strokes a sleeping animal.
He who justifies, or wishes to, a wrong done him.
He who is grateful for the existence of Stevenson.
He who prefers others to be right.
These people, unaware, are saving the world.
- Jorge Luis Borges"
A little while ago, I had shared the progress of a small playroom project I was working on. Now that it is complete, below are some pictures of the final space and details. Enjoy!
As a result of the black areas being chalkboard, the walls provide an empty canvas for a child's creative inputs and imagination.
The clouds, being magnetic serve as pin-up zones for posters, artworks and homework etc. The graphics include roads and trucks as well as the magic of castles and fairy tales.
To keep it fun, created a template whereby the family could add their own personal stories, travels, touches through stickers and personalize the entire room over time.
I just got back home after a month of being out-of-town and was instantly holed up in bed with an awful cold and bags under my eyes like a raccoon. Nevertheless, enjoyed all the pampering that came my way showered with love and some hot tea!:) Feeling "under the weather" was a phrase that apparently sprung from maritime roots. During storms, the seas would get rough, causing passengers and even sailors to frequently become sea-sick. This lead to the passengers heading below the deck to a lower point where the rocking was less pronounced. Passengers were thus forced under the deck away from the elements/ weather and the expression “under the weather” was born!
