Photo by Gaurav Gupta
Multiple award winning designer, Ahlawat Gunjan has a master’s degree in
graphic design from The Glasgow School of Art, UK. Previous to that he spent
a semester at Indiana-Purdue University, USA, focusing on design thinking, innovation
and leadership. He is a graduate of the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.
Trained at Lars Mullers Switzerland and Faber & Faber, UK, Ahlawat has a varied and interesting work experience. He has worked closely on different design assignments
with Penguin, Faber and Faber, Hachette, Little Brown, Hodder, Random House,
Quercus, Hurst, Scribe AUS, Blackstone Publishing and Knopf Doubleday USA.
His overlapping interests in art and literature not only made him pursue a career
in publishing but also informs his keen interest in visual authorial interventions and curatorship. This allows him to shape the visual personality of the book at every
step of its creation. He strongly believes in the art of making and therefore constructs most of the images for his book covers.
He is Head of Design at Penguin Random House, India, during the day and spends
time painting in the evenings and over the weekends.
Ahlawat lives in New Delhi and can be reached at ahlawatgunjan@gmail.com
Awards
Winner, Oxford Bookstore cover prize for Gun Island 2021
Winner, Atta Galatta Bangalore Literature Festival for Rising Heat 2020
Winner, Illustrated Book of the Year & Printed Book of the Year by Publishing Next 2020
Shortlisted, Best Cover of the Year by Publishing Next for The Body Myth 2020
Winner, Printed Book of the Year for Indica 2017
Shortlisted, Oxford Bookstore cover prize for The Room on the Roof 2016
Finalist, Scottish Institute of Enterprise Award 2011
Governor’s International Post-Graduate Scholarship winner 2010
J.N. Tata Scholarship winner 2009
Herron Scholarship and Fellowship recipient 2009
Lectures and Talks
Disaster and Hope TEDx at BITS, Pillani • Jan 2020
Cover to Cover, Paper presentation at National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad • Nov 2019
Guest faculty at National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad • 2007, 2011, 2018 & 2019
Guest faculty at Mudra Institute of Communication, Ahmedabad • 2019
Guest faculty at Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, Birmingham • 2012
Guest faculty at Indian Institute of Craft and Design, Jaipur • 2007