From cheating in her drawing class back in kindergarten, Alicia Souza has come a long way and is today one of the most sought after young illustrators in the country
Photo Credits: Page 3 story - alicia souza
As a child, Alicia Souza wanted to be many things- right from being a veterinarian, to an accountant, to a nun and even a boxer! “ My dad used to call me boxer when I was little and I believed it because I was the strongest girl in the world! But it was really because I was always ready to pick a fight,” chuckles Souza, who was born and brought up in Abu Dhabi but is very attached to Goa.
“My grandma and a whole lot of lovely family still live in Goa. Also my surname is as Goan as it gets! So are my taste buds!” she says.
Although pretty inventive as a kid – she created a whole load of interesting stuff like the Alicia dictionary where she combined words to make a better sounding word and her very own puzzle book – despite loving art, she never had any concrete plans of getting into the art field. “The first drawing that I can recollect was of a red scooter on the wall of my room. In my eyes, it looked like a photographic rendition though I could hardly write my name at the time so the chances of it looking like a squiggle are highly likely,” she giggles, adding that she once cheated in her drawing class back in kindergarten when she peeked into her classmates paper to see if she had missed anything when they were drawing butterflies. “I had! I quickly drew in the antennas,"she recalls.
However, on her art teacher's insistence that she should take her love for art further, Souza did her Bachelors in Communication Design from RMIT University in Melbourne. She then secured a banking job while also working as a part time illustrator. However, with the launching of the now popular quirky Chumbak site, Souza who found herself on board as the designer, moved down to settle in India. “I think it's colour and just good design that has led to quirky products picking up. I think everyone is seeing more beautiful things due to the technological advances that makes them available. And so we all want more beautiful things!” she reckons.
After a four year stint with the brand, Souza chose to turn a freelance illustrator. While the going was hard in the beginning, Souza has since then got the hang of it and has contributed her expertise to many popular companies like Google, AOL, Yahoo, Accenture, Wipro, Cadbury, Cornetto, Heads Up For Tails, Penguin, E&Y, Myntra, Air Asia. 3M, Clean & clear etc. She also got a chance to illustrate for The Fact Page of children's magazine Tinkle. She also has her own website where one can choose from an interesting range of designed by her. “I'm rather diligent when it comes to work and have a rather strict schedule. I think it helps that my biggest distractions are things that I can ultimately bring back to work, like drawing things that are not client-related,” she states. Even so, she admits that managing everything can be overwhelming and sometimes even guilt-ridden but with time she has realised her weaknesses and strengths.
"My thoughts on life and work all boil down to a single word- Happiness. Literally everything I do, has to in someway, directly or indirectly, add to that value or there's a high probability I won't do it. I think once your priorities are set, the rest flow,” she says.
At the same time she has learnt to accept failures if and when she has to. “Because I was the youngest in my family, I lived all my growing up years watching my older siblings and learning from their errors or people around me. The minute I left school, I was completely on my own. It was then that I learnt what failure meant,” she says. “It always sounds like 'the grapes are sour' situation but nothing makes you know more about yourself than a good hard failure. And if you learn from it, it's worth more than the success there ever was to offer. The funny thing is that I've failed so many times now, that I'm not really scared of starting or doing anything now.”
As for dealing with the older generation's views about her work, Souza says, “I think the only main view is that they can't believe I draw for a living. Other than that, they usually call me a 'funny girl'.”
