Meet Adiba Tamboli

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Adiba Tamboli. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Adiba below.

Adiba, so great to have you on the platform and excited to have you share your wisdom with our community today. Communication skills often play a powerful role in our ability to be effective and so we’d love to hear about how you developed your communication skills.

I think I really started understanding what effective communication meant not just in conversation, but in design when I started working on Blush Magazine and during my other internships. Before that, design felt like this personal thing—me, my laptop, some Illustrator artboards, and a deadline. But once I stepped into more collaborative environments, I realized that wasn’t enough.

At Blush, everything was about teamwork. I had to translate abstract ideas from editors, photographers, even stylists into something visual that made sense and still felt exciting. There were moments where I’d design something I thought looked beautiful, but it wouldn’t land because it didn’t communicate the story or mood the team was aiming for. That’s when I started learning the difference between just design and effective design.

I had to learn how to ask better questions, how to listen, and how to explain my decisions in a way that made sense to someone who wasn’t a designer. That’s where communication really started becoming a skill I could rely on. Not just for getting my ideas across, but for being able to take critique, refine my work, and contribute to a shared vision. It wasn’t always smooth, but I think those real-world team experiences taught me that good design doesn’t happen in isolation—and neither does good communication.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

Hi! I’m Adiba Tamboli, an experimental visual designer my work lives mostly in my head but somewhere between the tangible and the conceptual. My practice is rooted in storytelling, and I love working with mixed media, interactive elements, and unconventional formats to create design experiences that feel immersive and layered. Whether it’s installation, book/editorial design, typography, or motion graphics, I’m always thinking about perception how design can shift meaning depending on form, structure, or context.

Right now, I’m graduating from the Fashion Institute of Technology and stepping into a full-time design career, which feels surreal and exciting. I’ve been working on my senior thesis for the past year, and next month, I’ll be debuting it at our final exhibition my first time showing my work as a complete body, and it honestly feels like such a personal milestone.

Alongside that, I’m also preparing for a few conceptual events and pop-up-style presentations based on my thesis. It’s going to be fun to introduce my visual style into the world.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Looking back, I think the three most important things that shaped my journey were: being curious beyond my comfort zone, learning how to network in my own way, and gaining cultural perspective.

First—don’t say no just to stay in a “design corner.” In design school, there’s this quiet pressure to keep doing what you’re good at or to stick with a certain aesthetic or medium because it’s familiar. But the truth is, the school isn’t boxing you in—you might be doing that to yourself. Use that time and space to explore. Take weird classes. Try things that don’t feel like they “fit” your work. I learned the most when I wasn’t trying to be good at something, just curious. That curiosity helped me connect the dots in unexpected ways and eventually led me to discover what felt right for me.

Second—networking is everything, even if it doesn’t come naturally. I’m a pretty shy person, so putting myself out there is still hard for me. But I realized networking doesn’t always have to be loud or performative. You can find your own way—send a thoughtful email, follow up with a DM after meeting someone, show up to community events even if you’re just quietly observing. It’s about showing up, being open, and building genuine connections.

And third—perspective. Studying abroad and learning about different cultures, ways of living, and ways of making art really shifted how I think about design. It reminded me that design is a response to life, not just aesthetics or trends. The more you expose yourself to new places, new people, and new stories, the more layered and grounded your own work becomes.

So if you’re just starting out – stay open. Stay curious. Don’t worry about being perfect or polished all the time. Try everything, talk to people, and let yourself grow in unexpected directions. Design is a growing curve your style, taste, and voice are going to change and evolve, and that’s a good thing. Don’t be afraid of that shift just lean into it.

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?

Right now, the biggest challenge I’m facing is stepping into full independence after four years of school. I’ve had the structure, support, and community that school provides, and now that it’s just me, it feels both exciting and kind of terrifying.

The main thing I’m wrestling with is figuring out what kind of designer I really am. I’ve always existed somewhere between art and design, not fully fitting into one category. In school, everyone seemed to have a “thing,” a clear niche or aesthetic, while I was constantly bouncing around, trying different mediums, experimenting, and learning as much as I could. And I don’t regret that—it helped me grow—but now I feel this strong urge to focus, to define my voice and identity in my practice.

I’m not sure if I’m a corporate designer or an entrepreneur designer… or maybe I’ll end up creating a new category that doesn’t exist yet. Right now, I’m just using my time and resources to create work that lives in the in-between things that feel like me. I’m also making the most of my time in NYC – learning from agencies, studios, and creative communities around me. I want to absorb as much as I can, and then channel all of that into my own world of idea creation.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://adibatamboli.xyz
• Instagram: @adiba.tamboli @visuals.byadiba
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adiba-tamboli/

Image Credits

adiba tamboli.png – Bharat Rawal (photographer)