Until a few days ago, not many knew Mumbai-based graphic designer, Karen Vaswani. Now, she is famous. A logo designed by her has been selected as the official international logo for the canonisation of Mother Teresa to be held in Vatican on September 4.
“An article on this had appeared in Herald in April, but nobody took notice of it then. Suddenly, about 10 days back somebody shared the article on WhatsApp and since then it’s become this big thing about 'Mumbai girl' and brought a stream of visitors seeking interviews,” said 44-year-old Vaswani.
The Director of Social Communications of the archdiocese of Kolkata, Farrell Shah, had approached Vaswani to design a logo for the canonisation celebrations in Kolkata. Vaswani was thrilled. “It took about two-three days for me to come up with options. I was given a theme: Mother Teresa: Carrier Of God’s Tender And Merciful Love. They also gave me a photograph to work with but I thought it was a little sad. I felt that I needed to work with a pose or an expression of hers which was more motherly,” said Vaswani.
Logo designed by Karen Vaswani
She set to work on the logo using a picture of Mother Teresa where she looks affectionately at a child in her arms. Though the picture has been recreated by many artists using water colour and paint, she chose it because she felt the image exuded a motherly affection. “The challenge was to completely simplify it. If you look at it, it is a classic pose which I have simplified with a couple of simple lines and swishes and just two-three colours. I used a font which looked like a gentle brush stroke. I wanted to keep it simple as I knew it would be used across media,” she said.
“It’s like seeing Mahatma Gandhi. You cannot see Gandhi doing something unfamiliar. We have mostly seen him with his stick or with the charka, so people identify with that more easily.”
Sister Prema, head of the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata, loved Vaswani's logo and sent it to Father Brian Kolodiejchuk, who is the postulator for Mother Teresa’s canonisation in Rome. He loved it as well and suggested it be made the international logo. Vaswani's joy knew no bounds. “I was really thrilled. I had given it my best shot. It didn't matter whether it was for Mumbai or Kolkata because it was for Mother Teresa. Nothing else mattered.”
Vaswani is into music as well. “Music has been with me since I was a kid. I have performed with a few bands like Wanted Yesterday. At my current band, Rockin Marmalade, we mostly play western music, retro and modern, said Vaswani who does both vocals and keyboard. Vaswani, who is a member of the Our Lady of Victories Church, also conducts the parish choir.
