"Raja Sandhu, who’s 10 years of internationally renowned Brand Identity Design work and a corporate client list that exceeds 2000, has enabled him to provide world class solutions in a multi-disciplinary spectrum of brand design and strategy. With over 3 million visitors to his site that span the globe, Raja has influenced, inspired, and helped many people and organizations over the years...along the way building quite a solid network and fan base. At the same time he has donated his services to several charities, positive causes and remains an active volunteer with non-profit organizations.
During this journey, Raja's work has been published in international best selling design books, ranging from the successful Logo Lounge series, Entrepreneur Magazine, and hundreds of online articles, as well as being featured in many design galleries, including LogoPond.com, the largest showcase of logos online, where he went on to win logo of the year in 2008 (www.logopondawards.com)...to the recently acclaimed book entitled Decoding Design (www.decodingdesign.com) which itself has gone on to receive several honours and awards. Raja recently won 'Best Designer Canada 09 - a prestigious international WOLDA award. A candid view of his accomplishments is often the most fun way of seeing what others have to say, this can be done with a quick online search of Raja Sandhu.
His loyal followers that include his clients, designers, students, and just about anyone with an appreciation of the art form, are the truest testament of his accolades. Raja refers to himself as a student of life but we put him in a class of his own"
- Brandster
Below, you will see something written on a whim, a long time ago...
Due to the recent increase in visitors to my site, I decided to do a quick write up about me. I don't like to do this type of thing so this is just a spontaneous outburst. Please excuse the unstructured and sporadic format of this writing. I don't really have time for doing these kind of things. I am a workaholic and I spend my off time thinking of the next big idea but I have learned to listen to the one idea that will not leave you alone. I am an entrepreneur first, designer second. I will be the controller of my destiny.
My name is Raja Sandhu, and I live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I was born in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, on August 1st, 197?. I think it was a Tuesday. My parents are from Punjab, India, they emigrated to Canada in 1973, with, you guessed it, $2 in their pockets. Both my parents thrive on the arts. My dad, an accomplished musician and song writer has played alongside world favourites. My mom, an accredited choreographer, has been involved in major productions ranging from TV serials to star studded live events. Things are much better for them now, the $2 went a long, long way. The older I get, the smarter they get. Anyway, this page is about me, and not them (love ya, mom and dad). At least you know where my respects lay. You can take the boy out of Punjab, but you can't take Punjab out of the boy. Brrruuaaah!.
I think I am pretty easy going and laid back for the most part, however, I do have a short fuse, being hot blooded is a part of my genetic pool :). It's an aspect that can be taken the wrong way, though. You might think it means having a temper problem or something, but it's far from that actually. It's a driving force, it's an unfed ambition, it's a fire inside, an insatiable yearning...but I don't want you to think I need to see a therapist. Passion is a better term. Yes passion. It must go into all you do. I am overly passionate about any thing I do. From biting into a tender Filet Mignon, sipping a fine single malt scotch, soaking in lovely weather, to, my work, my relaions to...yeah. When something tastes or smells good, I close my eyes for a bit to enhance the experience. I live for the moment, and that is merely what life is, a series of connected moments. Savour every second of our short stay here. Do it in humility. Nostaslgia is so underated.
Just so you know, what I meant by 'easy going and laid back' is that, for the most part of the day, I listen to ambient music, generally secluded . For example, as I write this, I am listening to Brian Eno - Deep Blue Day (download mp3). This is the zone in which I do my best work. It's a very fragile state. A simple phone ring or an instant message alert can delay design project for sometime as I try to find the zone again. In case you don't know what I do, I am working as a creative director with a specialization in visual communications and brand identity design at my own brand agency. If that was a bit complex, maybe 'Logo Designer' works better for you, haha. If you have not seen my website, check it out here I thrive on inspiration. You can not seek it. When it comes, you have to capture it and do something, only then is it magical. Today is a good day for sizzling spicey calamari.
So I just hit the enter key and felt like writing another paragraph, but what to say? If the purpose of this page is to inform my visitors a little bit about me, then I better stay focused. Focus. <--- I have a problem with focusing by the way. I am easily distracted and not easily amused. If you are the same way, click the red X on the top right of your screen now. Hey look! Something shiney! hmm Attention Deficit Disorder. I'm listening to the birds chirp. Be good to the earth, and those that will inhabit it when we are gone. Be grateful.
If you are still here...I don't know what I love more, sports or music. Sports, the essence of competition. I love to compete, more so, I love to win. I don't believe in silver medals. Coming in second means, to me, you lost (please take that figuratively). I think a having a competitive nature has helped me a lot in life but it's no virtue by any means.. Afterall, the race is long...and in the end its only with yourself, so it can be re-worded as constant self improvement. I actively work out. Hockey and Soccer are my two other activities. I have an open declaration claiming I have the hardest slapshot on the planet. I am open to challengers. In my younger days, I had a bad-ass round house kick. Jeet Kune Do was my stlye, of course. Bruce Lee was my hero. And, music, well, we all know the power of music, it's universal and when it hits you, you feel no pain. I am partners at a recording and production studio. My girlfriend Priya is a really great singer...an even better person, and most of all, an amazing woman. However, today, with a torn MCL (knee injury), competitive sports are not an option yet. Instead I get my kicks taking the Porsche out for some random cruising, never knowing where I'm headed.
I wasted a lot of years partying it up with no direction in life, just trying to satisfy immediate and shallow desires. There isn't much I didnt do. Happiness from external means, and never from within. To be politacally correct, you can say I have lost some brain cells and gained few scars on my forehead throught my trials. However, if you take one step backwards, you must take two steps forward. I had to take 10. Aimlessly going from job to job after dropping out of college, lethargically doing the mundane. I don't know what was wrong with me. Looking back, I think to myself 'how lost'. But, that is life, and you never know where it will take you but you push forward >> only to look back, in search of yourself.
I am so glad I do what I do now. I don't think I could have got here any other way. I took all the nudges from the universe. I had the relentless urge to succeed driven by the guilt of lost years. I attracted what I wanted, and with the help of my best friend, the power greater than us, I am here. Visualize what you want constantly. There is so much to learn and I believe our elders impart the greatest wisdom. Hang out with your favourite uncle or aunt or grand parent for a while. Their words are so few and may seem trivial but they are deep in meaning and truths. Ignore the uncle that lives by the bottle, although he might have the greatest insight on life - at the time, he needs your wisdom.
One day a friend of mine demonstrated to me this thing we call the Internet. It was a pivotal moment. I was fascinated, and immediately hooked on the idea of connecting to the world was profound. So much so that I became a computer programming geek. That lasted a few years. I was designing databases and programming web based applications in a matter of weeks. This experience landed me my first 'real job' at CUSO, as web developer. 'Job' would be the wrong word. It was a volunteer position for 6 months. I had originally applied to volunteer in Africa helping youth in rural villages getting acquainted with computers, but they detemrined I would be of more help (since that is what I wanted to do) setting up the infratstructure here.
For some reason, I have always been drawn to Africa. There is a primal pull. I have dreamed many times that I was a quiet observer during the construction of the Great Pyramids of Egypt. I think a lot of life's answers lay in dreams, the rest lay within the the cosmos. Outside of traveling in time or communicating with intelligent life from another planet, I'd like to build a perpetual engine, the one I see in Egypt, in those dreams. Defying physics is a common thread in my lucid, surreal thought process.
Enough writing for now, I will save the good stuff for the book I am planning to write. If all goes well, some day I will make a movie.
To be continued...