Piyush Bhagat

After years in the design world and climbing the ladder to senior graphic designer, Piyush Bhagat still felt something was missing. He craved to get stuck into the thinking and strategy behind the design work he was doing. A leap of faith led him from Mumbai to New York City for a branding master’s, where he learnt to figure out what truly matters when it comes to brand storytelling. From refiguring rates to finding confidence after changing lanes, Piyush lays down his hard-learned advice for pivoting within the same industry.

About my work

My creative practice
I am currently a strategy apprentice at BUCK, where I work with people whose work I’ve admired since the beginning of my design journey. Branding is all about telling stories and giving meaning to everyday objects. There is nothing more rewarding than bringing clarity, design and craft to something with the scale and influence of a global brand.

Influences and inspiration
I grew up in Kolkata, India: a city known for its rich art and literature. I grew up painting from an early age and went to an art academy where I was trained in sketching, watercolor and oil painting. My love and appreciation for art, films and writing naturally led me to design.

My training
For my undergrad, I went to a design college in India where I specialized in visual communication. I did anything and everything related to design, from branding and experience design for festivals to short films and photography. I then joined Landor Mumbai – my first introduction to the world of branding. This was followed by three years at the ad agency Creativeland Asia, where I had the opportunity to brand everything from luxury real estate to a Bollywood talk show.

I found myself craving more of the thinking behind the work. I took a leap of faith and applied to the School of Visual Arts’ Master’s in Branding program in New York City. The program was a rigorous training in understanding brands at the speed of culture and completely shaped my foundation as a strategist. We learned how to audit cultural landscapes, build behavioral frameworks and position brands to actually matter in people's lives. It bridged the gap between my visual design background and my strategic ambitions.

Favorite recent project
100 Days of Fictional Brands, in which I rebranded one comic book brand each day for the real world (growing up, my introduction to the idea of brands came from comic books and fictional worlds). Each brand bento box includes a logo identity system and real-world mockups. Created under the mentorship of Debbie Millman, the project explores how fictional worlds can inform brand strategy.

Doing a rebrand every day for 100 days is not something I would recommend to anyone: it was taxing, but a solid exercise in timing myself and letting go of perfectionism. In those 100 days, I created some of my best logos and definitely some of my worst. I learned that branding done right becomes world-building.

A day in the life
On work days, it’s a consistent daily routine. I start with breakfast and coffee while catching up on a podcast or geeky tech news. I have continued my habit from the SVA program of scrolling The Wall Street Journal each morning. At BUCK, I spend most days researching and building decks, finding insights and doing a lot of brand audits. I collaborate, get feedback and learn from some of the best people around me.

On weekends, I get out to see an exhibition, attend an event and just take in New York City. There is always something exciting happening. I love a good photo walk with my camera to shoot people in their element.

A starter pack for my job:

How I got here

Starting my creative journey
I started my journey in the world of branding at Landor India as a visual designer. Over time, I found myself just as interested in the strategic thinking behind the work as the work itself; I wanted to deeply understand how brands influence cultural dialogues and ideas.

After grad school at SVA, I really struggled to find my footing. I was pitching myself as someone who could do design and strategy. While it got me great freelance projects, it was difficult to land a full-time job right away – the industry often wants you to pick a lane. I was freelancing as a senior designer at MLTI, but doing design production alone wasn’t fulfilling for me. I was aching for something bigger, but acting from a place of fear – afraid of starting out again and feeling less confident in strategy than design.

I remembered Debbie Millman's advice: the fear of failure and regret are far more dangerous to a creative life than actual failure itself. I decided to pivot, and perfect timing struck when BUCK opened its strategy apprenticeships. BUCK’s Brian Won, who I met at a CLIP portfolio review, reached out and encouraged me. I immediately applied and got the job.

Landing my first few jobs, clients and/or commissions
Being in New York City is a massive advantage when starting out. There are various open houses, design talks and events happening every week that put you in the room with the exact people you want to work with. I feel there was a time when your work used to speak for itself, but now you have to pitch yourself first and your work backs you up second.

I attended every event I could, made great mentors and introduced myself to everyone I admired. Being in a room full of people you look up to when you don’t know a single person is tough. You have to get comfortable being uncomfortable. Say hi and tell people how much you appreciate their work. Soon I started seeing the same faces at different events and those connections naturally led to opportunities.

Biggest challenges along the way
Breaking through the noise to get your first industry role. The system is broken: sitting at home applying on LinkedIn and sending cold emails simply does not work anymore; you have to physically put yourself out there. When I was trying to get noticed, I printed a zine of my work and used to leave it at different studios so they would have something tangible to remember me by. I went to Pentagram three different times during its open studio events and left my zines at the busiest desks. It actually worked and got me an interview. Overcoming the fear of rejection to do things like that was a huge hurdle but totally worth it.

Everyday skills I’ve found helpful for my creative work:
As I transition from visual design to strategy, the most crucial everyday skill has been synthesis. It’s about taking a mountain of research or a messy cultural audit and distilling it into one clear, actionable insight. Whether I am building a strategy deck at BUCK or just organizing my physical workspace, it all comes down to the same muscle: bringing order to chaos and figuring out what truly matters.

My social media and self-promotion vibe is…
For a few years, I’ve been a quiet observer – using platforms mostly to stay inspired by studios and creatives that I admire. But I am realizing that by staying entirely behind the scenes, my peers are missing out on my current journey into strategy. I want to start sharing again – not to feed an algorithm but simply to document my real-time creative process.

Three things I've found useful in my career:

My greatest learnings when it comes to making money and supporting myself as a creative:
Figuring out how to value strategic thinking versus design production, especially when freelancing at places like MLTI. Having transparent conversations with my SVA network about pricing was incredibly eye-opening – it taught me to stop guessing my rates in a vacuum.

I also quickly learned that the business side, like writing clear scopes and setting client expectations, is just as critical as the actual creative output.

Advice

My most useful career tips
Do not wait for the perfect moment to pivot if you feel unfulfilled; lean into your curiosity.

Where I go to feel connected as a creative
I love going to local design events, open studios and portfolio reviews like the ones hosted by Creative Lives in Progress. I also stay connected to the SVA Master’s in Branding alumni network. Just being surrounded by people who are equally obsessed with design and culture is incredibly grounding.

What I'd say to someone looking to get into a similar role
Stop relying only on cold emails and online applications: you have to get out from behind your screen. Print your work, go to open houses, attend talks and introduce yourself to the people whose work you admire. Be genuine, get comfortable with being a little uncomfortable and remember that personal connections are just as important as a great portfolio.