About Me
Hi there!
I’m a UX / UI Designer, Graphic Designer, Digital Artist, and Filmmaker based in the UK.
I come from a technical background but have always been passionate about filmmaking and art. I am creative, collaborative, and analytical in nature. On the side, I’ve taken several courses in filmmaking and design, falling in love with UX/UI Design as soon as I discovered it.
I consider it a perfect blend of creative expression and technology to create products that positively impacts the end user. This motivated me to pursue a career in design from Software Engineering. I enrolled in a UX/UI Design course at the University of Birmingham. It was definitely one of the best life decisions I ever made and this made me a better designer and content creator all around.
By day, I’m a UX/UI Designer, by night I’m creating surrealistic and imaginative artwork that’s beyond comparison along with creative storytelling and visual effects in film. Outside of my day job, I help improve brand images through the power of image manipulation and design.
In my spare time, you would find me creating digital artwork, reading non-fiction books, listening to podcasts, making and editing films, going to the gym, or playing video games.
What Do I Do?
UX / UI Design
I excel in creating high fidelity wireframes, prototypes, mockups and designs that aim to meet user requirements. With a strong emphasis on responsive design, accessibility and creating exceptional user experiences (UX) and user interfaces (UI). My expertise includes using design tools such as Figma, Adobe XD, Photoshop, Indesign, and Illustrator.
User Experience (UX)
USER RESEARCH
My approach to user research is to thoroughly understand the needs, motivations and pain points of targeted users to help make products that address the user’s problems. I use tools like Google Forms, SurveyMonkey and online interviews to help extract data and valuable feedback from users for product iterations. This in turn allows me to identify patterns, behaviours, psychology of users along with areas for improvement. Therefore, requiring strong analytical skills to conduct thorough user research.
USER EMPATHY
My line of work requires me to put myself in the shoes of the user to really understand their experiences, emotions and wants. One example from my life is where I edit films and motion graphics, where I try to work collaboratively and gather feedback and understand what viewers want to see in a film and help deliver that experience to them. This understanding helps translate to creating products or services that connect with the users. My goal is to ensure that users feel satisfied with their product. The tools I apply to this approach is through the creation of User Persona’s, Storyboards, and Empathy Maps. One example is through designing an app for TFL commuters where we wanted to incentivise users to use Oyster Cards instead of relying on contactless payments. Through conducting usability testing and iterations, this helps me to understand exactly what the user needs are. Just from understanding what the user wants, this helps lead to a 40% increase in engagement.
QUALITATIVE INTERVIEWS
My approach to interviews focuses on asking open-ended, leading and probing questions to target users to really understand their perspective, behaviours and creating an environment that makes the end user comfortable in opening up about their thoughts and feelings. One example is where I interviewed candidates about their experiences with mental health websites, which really helped me to redesign the SANE.org website in a way that is conducive to the goals of the target user who may be struggling with mental health.
Graphic Design
Creating compelling visuals using Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, Lightroom, or Illustrator. I have created poster designs, image manipulations, brochure’s, logo’s, mockups and digital artwork. I loved creating Marvel movie poster designs such as the Daily Bugle newspaper or a concept artwork for the next Iron Man movie. I integrate colour theory, visual design elements, typography, layout design and design principles into all of my creative projects with a keen eye for detail and this has helped take my content creation skills to the next level.
Filmmaking
Beyond my day job, I’m a passionate independent filmmaker and content creator. I love motion graphics and visual effects and typically use Adobe After Effects, Da Vinci Resolve and Final Cut Pro. Whether it’s creating effects like a Doctor Strange portal, magic spells, futuristic HUD’s as seen in the Iron Man movies, artificial intelligence machines or cinematic title sequences, the creative possibilities are endless! My problem-solving skills combined with excellent collaboration and communication skills, support my filmmaking and design efforts.
Front-End Development
In addition to visual design, I also have knowledge and experience in front-end development (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) along with frameworks like jQuery and Bootstrap. In addition, I am familiar with Git and version control and I can utilise Content Management Systems (CMS) like WordPress.
Although I’d consider myself as more of a designer than a developer, I do have the knowledge to build webpages from scratch if I needed to.
MY SKILLS
With my skills and experience, I can definitely help you with the following:
- Graphic Design
- Web and App Design Prototypes
- Poster Design
- Image Manipulation
- Video Editing
- Photo Editing
- Motion Graphics
- Visual Effects
- Photography
- Videography
I am committed to continuous learning and staying updated with the latest design trends and technologies, ensuring my work remains cutting-edge and effective in achieving business objectives.
Whether you need design prototypes, compelling artwork, photography, or video editing to convey your message; or you’re looking for ways to enrich your business from a design perspective – I’m here to help you.
MY PASSIONS
PHOTOGRAPHY
GRAPHIC DESIGN
FILMMAKING
TRENDS I FOLLOW
Below are the trends that I follow in the design realm. Included are books, podcasts and articles that I found intriguing and inspirational for my work.
BOOKS
- Thinking, Fast and Slow By Daniel Kahneman
- Steal Like An Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative By Austin Kleon
- Show Your Work By Austin Kleon
- Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion By Robert B. Cialdini
- The Psychology of Selling By Brian Tracy
- About Face: The Essentials of User Interface Design By Alan Cooper
- The Design of Everyday Things By Don Norman
PODCASTS
- Design Better by Eli Woolery & Aarron Walter
- UI Breakfast by Jane Portman
- Design Matters by Debbie Millman
- 99% Invisible by Roman Mars
ARTICLES
- “Disney’s motion principles in designing interface animations”
- “Lamenting about good design”
- “System Design Interview: Design Twitter (X)”
- “How Uber Conquered UX Design”
- “Understanding the ‘Why’ behind some basic UI design practices”
- “Understanding UX Deliverables”
- “Modern Dashboard Design – Best Practices And Examples”
Learn more about me below...
MY STORY
“Each photo has a story to be told and visuals are the best way to portray that.”
My full name is Bharath Srinivas Kannan, but I’m also known as Baz in the creative world. I’m a British-Tamil creative based in the UK.
My passion for design and creativity began when I was in high school. I taught myself how to use Adobe Creative Cloud softwares to bring my ideas to life.
I studied Economics with 1 year in Computer Science at the University of Birmingham, graduating in 2020. My day job is being a UX/UI Designer and I work on my creative hobbies part-time. I bought my first Panasonic camcorder in 2012 along with my first DSLR camera back in June 2018.
I am fascinated by the process of being able to create a product that positively impacts people. With a combination of design and technical skills acquired over the course of 8 years, I’ve been able to create over 200+ high quality visuals for Filmmakers, Music Artists, Business Owners, and Content Creators online.
I have worked with a combination of software applications including Figma, Adobe Creative Cloud (Photoshop, After Effects, XD & InDesign), Final Cut Pro, Da Vinci Resolve, and along with Photography and Videography.
But where I really shine is design, graphics and visual effects! When people need designs or content that scream professionalism, with a hint of artistic expression, I’m the guy they go to. My main specialty is visual design. A lot of my artwork takes inspiration from pop culture.
If you’re a creator or business owner who needs to improve your brand image, get more website traffic, or just need better design for your business, then I can definitely help.
My business goal is to create designs that give a visual representation for your brand.
My personal goal is to entertain, educate, inspire and create opportunities for others through the use of photos and capture those moments which can create a lifetime of memories.
IN MY SPARE TIME!
When I am not designing, here is what I like to do in my spare time.
I like to read books on self-development, watch movies, play video games, make films, get a good workout at the gym, learn and practice in martial arts. Sometimes I even like to ride on my electric skateboard on the streets!
I like to travel to different places and countries as well and explore what life has to offer us.
I do believe that all of us should strive to live a life worth remembering.
My ultimate goal is to create value for your business and also to inspire others to pursue their dreams.
INTERVIEWS & PODCASTS:
READ MY BLOG:
WORK WITH ME:
Business inquiries, invitations to interviews, podcasts or collaborations: baz@bazkannan.com