Meet the metal guitarist who designed India’s new cricket jersey

As a child, Aaquib Wani watched in awe as Kashmiri artisans visited his home and gently placed their embroidered shawls and rugs in front of his father, who ran a handicraft business in Delhi. This early fascination reverberated through Wani’s life, setting him on a path to reimagining one of India’s most memorable and enduring symbols.

With roots in Kashmir, Wani has worked on everything from magazine covers and album covers to music festivals and Isha Ambani’s pre-wedding bash, but designing the latest jerseys for the Indian cricket team has been the crown jewel of his career. “It was definitely an emotional moment,” he admits.

However, Wan’s journey has not been straight forward.

A musical first inning

Wani is candid about his struggles with academics during school. After failing the same grade twice, he picked up the guitar and turned to music.

“Music was something that helped me keep myself sane at the time,” he recalls. He eventually went on to play in a thrash metal band and found that he enjoyed it. His parents urged him to stop his studies, but life had other plans.

Wani, who had a natural talent for art, taught himself to make posters, artwork, album covers and t-shirts to promote his band. His work was noticed and other bands soon started asking him for commissions, which Wani was happy to help.

This work also attracted attention Rock Street Journal, an independent music magazine. The publication was impressed by Wan’s talent and offered him a graphic design internship at the age of 18. At that time, Wani made a living by teaching guitar to children.

Within five years, Wani worked his way up to art director, designing covers, handling layouts and directing shoots.

Getting used to the field

In 2014, Wani joined Scenographia Sumant, a design studio founded by renowned designer Sumant Jayakrishnan.

There, Wani designed film sets, big, fat Indian weddings and installations, among others. Here he learned to design in 3D and process scale.

“It was a big, big change from where I came from,” he says. “It taught me about scale, taught me space, space planning, weddings, everything.”

While at Jayakrishnan’s studio, Wani was also part of the team that represented India at the London Design Biennale in 2016.

Goes on the front of the leg

In 2018, Wani took a big leap and decided to start his own studio, Aaquib Wani Design. And he hit the ground running; his first gig as an independent contractor was planning the pre-wedding party for the wedding of businessman’s daughter Isha Ambani Mukesh Ambani.

He also continued working with brands, for example Adidas, MG engine and Fast track.

He continued to stay in touch with his musical roots by designing for music festivals such as NH7 Weekend and Lollapalooza. Wani’s ambition and his work earned him a spot in the series as well Forbes 30 Under 30 a list he considers one of the highlights of his career.

As someone who dropped out of college and never had formal training in the industry, Wani says the honor was a validation of her skills. “Sometimes it can just be purely your work that can get you there.”

But the best was yet to come.

The spirit of cricket

“If I wasn’t a designer, I’d definitely be a cricketer,” says Wani wistfully. “On my summer vacation I went to Kashmir, where everybody had lawns, everybody had big spaces in their gardens and we just played cricket all day.”

Although Wan’s work as a designer had taken him far from his childhood passion, it knocked on his door unexpectedly.

Having worked with Wani in the past, Adidas, who will become the team’s India series sponsor, contacted him while he was working on another project in Mumbai, which he describes as the “busiest”. He says he was one of two designers on the brand’s radar to design the new jersey for the Indian cricket team.

“We were like, You know what, we don’t want to give up on this opportunity,” he says. The group worked late into the night to come up with ideas. They shuttled between Mumbai and Delhi presenting their designs to the brand and returning for another project.

Wani says the biggest challenge was getting everyone to agree on a single vision. – There are so many stakeholders involved, and everyone has to be on the same page, he says. “So from the players, to the coaches, to their managers and everything, everybody really has to be on the same page, right? And to do that is a big, big task that I think is something that’s probably underrated.”

Adidas officially unveiled the new Indian cricket team jerseys for Tests, One Day Internationals and T20s on June 3, and it was Wan’s fresh, bold and energetic aesthetic that featured in the iconic blue and white jerseys.

“Growing up watching cricket and imagining being a part of it in some way, and then being able to do it, it was definitely an emotional moment,” says Aaquib.

The players wore the Test cricket jersey in the recently concluded ICC World Cup where India lost a hard fought game against Australia. The iconic blue jerseys of the shorter formats will be on the field for India’s tour of the West Indies next month.

Playing the numbers game

Apparently successful as a creative, Wani says that he has now become more familiar with the business of things.

“I feel like as a designer, it’s easiest for me to do the design, while the hardest part is actually directing the damn show,” explains Wani. “[The business side] can constantly throw you different challenges from time to time in the form of clients, in the form of the scale of the projects you are working on.”

He adds that he doesn’t really settle for one style and that helps him quickly adapt to the demands of his clients.

Wani says his childhood exposure to his father’s business helped him develop financial acumen and team management skills. He believes that many artists and creatives take a long time to wrap their heads around it.

He also says harnessing the power of social media can boost an independent business like his. “Nowadays everything is so easy thanks to Instagram that most of the customers are reached through Instagram.”

He says his studio doesn’t even have a website yet because most clients see the team’s work on social media and connect with them through those apps.

In business, Wani values ​​one value above all else. “I’ve seen that your plans can be great, but if you’re not a professional, everything falls apart,” he says. “You stick to what you do, be consistent in what you do, and things will follow.”