Pathik Bhatt

Category: Creativity & Design

  • 40 Posters From Nasty Women and Their Friends in Chicago

    This isn’t a post about the impressive size, diversity and broad reach of the post-inauguration march that took place on January 21, 2017. Please go to the official site to learn more about that and what you can do to help. This is simply an appreciation for those who took the time to use their creativity for something positive. More specifically, this is a post about all the posters at the Women’s March on Chicago and anti-hate (or anti-Trump) rally yesterday.

    It was impressive. Good art leaves an impression. It makes you feel something. That’s what these posters did for everyone in attendance, and I’m glad that 1) my friends came in from the suburbs and inspired us to attend, and 2) that so many people made an effort to essentially create marketing pieces that will help increase the longevity of this protest.

    In no particular order, here are about 40 posters and scenes from the march yesterday:

    And I’ll end with this one…

  • Tips for Entrepreneurs from the Founders of Elegance Decor

    elegance decor outdoor weddingIt is with great pleasure that I share this behind-the-scenes look at Elegance Décor and the founders, who are 3 the most creative minds in the wedding and event décor business. Both my wife and I went to the University of Illinois in Champaign with them and since then we have shared many great times together with this family. We were also fortunate enough to have them help us with the décor for our wedding events (even though they attended), which made everything look beautiful! But of course that’s not the point of this post. In this interview Swetal, Bhavik and Ronak Patel reveal the not-so-glamorous side of working on a start-up and share the fears that they had when they started. They have great insights for new entrepreneurs, and after reading this you will be reassured that you’re not alone if your struggle – and that it’s totally worth it! (more…)

  • Jim Carrey Shares Wisdom on Outlook and Life with Students

    jim-carreyI just stumbled across Jim Carrey’s commencement speech at the Maharishi University
    of Management, and I am both shocked and smiling. His outlook is incredible! After just hearing him say a few things I immediately opened a Word doc to start taking notes because it was clear it was worth remembering what this happy soul had to say. (more…)

  • 6 Reasons Why You Should Visit Zappos When You’re in Vegas

    My wife and I had the privilege of going on a Zappos Tour on our Vegas trip last month, and I’m so glad we did! I knew I wanted to make it out there ever since I finish reading Delivering Happiness, the story about their company & how they built a great culture written by their CEO Tony Hsieh. zappos-family-sign (more…)

  • Lessons From Himanshu Shah – Co-Founder of Saucee

    Himanshu Shah of SauceeHimanshu Shah is the Co-Founder of Saucee, a “brand new line of 100% organic sauces crafted to inspire people to eat more creatively. These flavorful, colorful sauces are locally made in the San Francisco Bay Area.” I found Himanshu through a mutual friend literally right as his Kickstarter campaign for Saucee was wrapping up, here’s a screenshot from today (3/14/13) showing their success! (more…)

  • Desi Wear Provides Great Service To Customers Who Don’t Pay

    Desi Wear showed they care by following up their free Desi United t-shirt giveaway on Facebook with great customer service – even though I wasn’t a paying customer. While the “ROI of social media” can be difficult to measure, the “ROI of caring” will always matter and payoff when you think big picture. Social media is just a tool that Desi Wear and others use to show their clients how they care. I wouldn’t have bothered writing this post if it wasn’t for their creative use of social media paired with customer service.

    Every so often Desi Wear gives away their cool desi t-shirts to people who like and share their posts on their Facebook. I happened to be the lucky winner chosen out of the 73 others who liked their post last month.

    desi wear facebook giveaway

    (more…)

  • Things to do in Chicago this August

    For all the 21st Annual NetIP Conference attendees who are coming in early and those of you who live in the Chicago area. Here is your guide for free (or cheap) things to do in Chicago in late August leading up to the conference.

    The Navy Pier fireworks are a personal favorite, I make sure I go see them at least once every summer if not more. The Windy City puts on a 10 – 15 minute fireworks production set to popular music every Wednesday at 9:30PM and Saturday at 10:15PM. If you get there early enough, you can get a comfy couch just past where the Kanan boat (docks on the pier. There’s a nice hangout area right before the beer garden, where the pier narrows a bit. It doesn’t look that big on the map, but it’s quite a walk.

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    We’re going to be on one of these Navy Pier boats Labor Day weekend for NetIP’s 21st Annual Think Change Conference! Register for the conference and save $70 by using my promo code, NETIPPATHIK, before midnight on July 15th! http://chicago2012.netipconference.org/Registration

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    Another great event that Chicago has coming up is the Air and Water Show August 18th and 19th (Sat/Sun). Head on over to North Avenue Beach with your chairs, towels and a cooler before 10AM to get a good spot and then sit back and enjoy the show! One of best the highlights of the show is when the US Navy Blue Angels come screaming out in their F/A-18 Hornet jets (below).

    If you don’t want to sit around and spectate, get to Millenium park Sunday, August 26th for the Chicago SummerDance by 4PM. They have dance lessons lead by professional instructors for the first hour, and then live music and dancing until 7PM. I went for the salsa night with the wife and it was a blast!

    MORE TO COME… but remember, You have to register by midnight Sunday, July 15th to get the discount! Enter NETIPPATHIK when you register for the conference here: http://chicago2012.netipconference.org/Registration

    Check back soon for more great things to do in Chicago!

  • Promoting The Gita

    Last Sunday in a pravachan (discourse/lecture) about the Gita, Dadaji stated how we promote and advertise good movies that we’ve seen, but we don’t do the same for the Gita. It’s true, how often have you seen a trailer on the tv or a giant sized poster marketing the benefits of the Gita? This was one of those recurring moments in pravachan where I felt like he was speaking directly to me. Who else besides a graphic designer was going to bother taking that statement at face value? That statement is what inspired this post and this:

     

    I’m sure many people have seen the original Pass It On ad and this quote before. Have either of them moved you to take action in any sort of way? Apparently, this supposed quote from Einstein has:

    I say “supposed” because there is an on-going debate about whether or not Einstein ever said this, and there don’t appear to be any sources for it. I found it ironic though that someone might have created a false advertisement for the Gita in the 1970’s by fabricating this quote AND that it actually works! This opens up a whole new can of worms though.

    One of the most important lessons from the Gita is that the motive behind an action is paramount, not the actual action itself. With that idea alone the Gita explains how to turn every action – even the routine, mundane ones – into an offering to God. So the dilemma here is that we have a positive result occurring by the creation of false quote – more people  are reading the Gita. Is that okay? Well, that depends…

    • Scenario 1: Bookstore owner has an overstock of Gitas in his inventory, “How do I get rid of these and make some money off of them?!”
    • Scenario 2: Gita devotee who genuinely wants to share its message, “How do I get the Western world to even know that this book exist, much less read it?!”

    Would you feel better about the quote if the person in scenario 2 created it? In the end isn’t it the same result? Why should it matter?

    Perhaps you’re curious about my motives as I write this post and ask you to share the ads below too. That’s fair. Here are my some of them:

    • I saw a design/marketing challenge that related to my interests so I had to accept it
    • I fully believe in the awesomeness of the Gita and want to try a creative approach of promoting it
    • I want to grow my personal brand (that’s why my site is in the corner of each ad)
    • I like messing around with social media
    There may be more, but I guess that’s between me and HIM.
    Now if those motives are alright by you and you share any sort of affection towards the Gita, please humor me and change your Facebook timeline background image to any of the following banners (or pick Einsteins from above).

    In the comments below, please share a quote, lesson, verse or anything you want to about why you think it’s worth sharing the Gita!

    Oh, btw here’s a link to the Gita, go explore!

  • The Hunger Games Movie Review

    The Hunger Games movie makers did well but I found the story much less compelling than I thought I would on screen. Everyone’s review of this book talks about how it was “made to be a movie,” but I think we all got it wrong. The book should have been a LOST style TV show with lots of time devoted to the back story and characters’ thoughts. Without that connection, the actual hunger games part of the movie just didn’t mean that much to me. They needed more time to build up the suspense, and mini-events instead of just jumping on to the next scene. Not enough time was devoted to the games, but then again without narrative of Katniss’ thoughts I don’t know that extending it would have helped. The movie definitely made me appreciate Suzanne Collins’ book more.

    Spoiler Alert: Don’t read on if you have not read The Hunger Games already. (more…)

  • Michael Rastall Photography Review

    A friend of mine recently launched an Indian Wedding Blog that will eventually turn into the one-stop shop for all desi brides. The site looks beautiful and they’re going to make the process of vendor hunting so much easier as they grow. They’ve already started by featuring top-notch vendors from Indian weddings that happened this year to help the 2012 brides-to-be. Their last post is about Michael Rastall, Bhumi and my Chicago wedding photographer.

    Continue to Design My Shaadi to read our review, and to see why Michael definitely needs to be on your list of photographers for consideration!