Shantanu Suman
Associate Professor of Art
Shantanu Suman earned his bachelor’s degree in Design from Apeejay Institute of Design, Punjab University in New Delhi, India. In 2013, Shantanu graduated with his MFA in Graphic Design from the University of Florida and immediately held the position of Partner and Creative Director of Open Door Design Studio (ODDS) in Asheville, NC. Before getting his MFA, Shantanu worked as a Senior Art Director in the Indian advertising industry for several international companies, including McCann Worldgroup, Leo Burnett, Saatchi & Saatchi, Ogilvy & Mather, and Publicis Communications. During his stint in advertising, Shantanu won multiple international advertising awards, including Cannes Print Silver Lion, D&AD in-book, Clio Bronze, and Asia Pacific Adfest. In 2011, Shantanu was ranked 269th position in the all Asia creative ranking by Campaign Brief Asia magazine.
As a Creative Director at ODDS, Shantanu worked with various clients ranging from small start-ups to international organizations. Some well-known clients include Kohler Co., The Wing Luke Museum in Seattle, Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science in Miami, Wired Magazine UK, and the Center for Craft, Creativity, and Design in Asheville. In addition, his design work has been featured in multiple print and online publications, including Uneven Growth – Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Type Director’s Annual, Communication Arts Design/Advertising/Typography Annuals, Graphic Design USA, Print Magazine RDA, LogoLounge, Typism, Architectural Digest, CNN Travel, Identity Designed, The Dieline, Designboom, Uppercase Magazine, and Creative Review. Shantanu has also had quite a bit of success with his documentary film based on the Indian Truck Art, titled ‘Horn Please.’ The documentary film was an official selection at six international film festivals and screened at multiple universities in the US, Europe, and India.
Since joining Ball State University, Shantanu has presented his academic and professional work at several conferences, including Collage Art Association (2021, 2020, and 2018), SECAC (2018 and 2019), UCDA (2022 and 2019), Typewknd 2021, and AIGA Midwest Design Week 2020. Graphic Design USA magazine named Shantanu as one of the People to Watch in 2021 for his work as an educator and a designer. During the same year, Shantanu was recognized as an Indiana Campus Compact “Emerging Leader in Community Engagement” for his work within the Muncie community and also received an Access Award from Ball State University Disability Services in recognition of his efforts to ensure access and opportunity for students with disabilities. Ever since moving to the United States, Shantanu has constantly drawn inspiration from his Indian roots to inform his design decisions. He uses Hindi typography within his work to make the Devanagari script relevant in the current design discourse.
In Spring 2017, Shantanu founded Studio 165+ — a student-run design studio course at Ball State University in which students work with regional, national, and international clients. The design work produced by Studio 165+ has been featured in several publications and has won over 35 regional and national design awards. Since 2019, students from this course have been included in the “Students to Watch” list, and the School of Art Visual Communication program has been featured in the “Top Design Schools” list by Graphic Design USA Magazine.
Shantanu Suman’s website
Studio 165+ Website