Sujata Keshavan (born 1961) is an Indian graphic designer and co-founder of Ray and Keshavan, India's leading brand design firm. Sujata graduated in 1984 from the National Institute of Design and in 1987 from the School of Art, Yale University, with a Master of Fine Arts in graphic design.[1] She is the only Indian graphic designer to be honoured twice as the Graphic Designer of the Year at the annual Advertising and Marketing (A & M) awards.
At Yale, Keshavan studied under legendary designers Paul Rand, Bradbury Thompson and Armin Hofmann. She won the Eastern Press Award and the Schink Collingwood Prize for outstanding work.[2]
In 1989, Keshavan founded Ray and Keshavan, a pioneer in the field of brand consulting and graphic design in India. Today, Ray and Keshavan's clients have included Airtel, Infosys, Reliance and Unilever among many others. Sujata has worked across industries from technology to telecom, healthcare to banking, infrastructure to FMCG. Ray and Keshavan has consistently been ranked India's top design firm by The Economic Times.
Keshavan has been an invited speaker at many international conferences including Design Indaba in South Africa and the International Design Center at Nagoya, Japan. She was a jury member at ReBrand 100 at the Rhode Island School of Design and a member of the Design Jury at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. She served as the Chairperson of the jury at the Business World Awards for Design Excellence, and Chairperson of The Design Yatra awards for Excellence in South Asian Design.[3]
Keshavan was named one of India's 30 most powerful women by India Today, India's best-selling weekly magazine.[4] and was honoured as The Outstanding Woman Professional of the Year, 2007, by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).[5]
In 2011, Keshavan was placed 18th on Fortune India's list of most powerful women in business.
Keshavan lives in Bangalore; she is married to the historian Ramachandra Guha and has two children.