Recent graduate Pawan Bhandari operates under the moniker Dizz Dezigns. Bhandari is one of those graduates who’s figured out their confidence – at a design show, he walks over and introduces himself, proudly saying he’s won a D&AD pencil for a university project, and asks if I have any job vacancies.

Later, he tells Creative Review over email: “The most useful piece of advice would probably be to not be scared to put myself out there, especially online, as you never know who may be watching.”

The D&AD award-winning project is called Boppin’, a film-led campaign that saw Bhandari enlist Bertie Courtenay as the video editor and director of photography. Boppin’ is a series of highly-produced video content built for more traditional platforms (YouTube, TV) and socials (TikTok). A core tenet behind the project is optimism. Designed for GiffGaff, Boppin’ contains an optical illusion wherein a message can only been deciphered if viewers rapidly bop their head up and down to read it.

It’s a playful campaign, featuring a group of friends in a corner shop, two people on a council estate, a pair arguing in a car and a stranger passing by. The characters on screen appear to be under a spellbound fixation, an excited trance-like state as their eyes light up and they start nodding enthusiastically; those around them ask the tongue-in-cheek question, “Are you on GiffGaff or something?” And the message behind the illusion? It says: “Tired of overpaying?”

“Boppin’ was an amazing project to work on from start to finish,” Bhandari says. “I got the initial idea for an optical illusion as a classmate was speaking about them. I overheard their conversation and then decided to look them up. So I always think it’s important to be in a setting with like-minded people, as you never know what experiences may trigger a great idea.”

He continues, “I went down a rabbit hole and found an illusion that only became visible when you shook your head. That motion made me feel like I was saying ‘no’, which sparked an interesting thought. I had a few other initial ideas, but nothing felt right, so I went back to the brief and re-read the part I’d highlighted about ‘unbridled optimism’. That’s when it clicked. If shaking your head (a negative gesture) reveals something, what if nodding your head (a positive gesture) revealed a message instead?”

Bhandari set about recreating the illusion with horizontal instead of vertical lines. After numerous rounds of trial and error, the core idea of his campaign clicked and he “finally got it working”. Then, he moved onto the copywriting, adding “playful rhetorical questions inside the effect to reinforce the message”, before building a campaign around his idea.

The most useful piece of advice would probably be to not be scared to put myself out there, especially online, as you never know who may be watching

“I knew I wanted to create a filmed advert,” he explains, “but after chatting with one of my tutors, I pushed it further and decided to create three different ads that would connect with different subcultures.

“After storyboarding, I moved straight into production. Directing and filming was easily my favourite part – I loved seeing the idea come to life in real time. Bertie brought some amazing ideas to the table, especially around pacing and flow, which helped shape the final tone of the campaign.”

Working across creative direction, strategy and design, Bhandari’s 360 capabilities stemmed from a childhood that was spent sketching. “I used to draw Pokémon a lot,” he says, “and I think that’s where my creative outlook on life started. As I got older, I was introduced to Photoshop through GCSE photography. This moment really was the start of my graphic design journey as the software let me freely express myself in ways I didn’t even know were possible. Then I took graphic design at A level and that’s where I fell in love with it.”

The practice took him to Arts University Bournemouth, where Bhandari “learned a lot”. Looking through his Instagram account, some of his personal design work is inspired by music. There are alternative album covers for Rod Wave’s 2023 album Nostalgia; thick, silver chrome type; hand-drawn flowers and clowns; a 420 “personal branding identity project” called Budfiends; plus smiling faces are a recurring motif. Joy and humour run through Bhandari’s work. However, he writes, “I still haven’t found my exact style as I love creating a variety of things that are visually interesting to look at.

“As a creative, I want to get into directing and art direction more, but I also want to keep going hard with graphic design,” he continues. “I’m currently on the hunt for as many internships as I can get, so that I can fully grasp what type of place I want to work at and what sort of work I want to do.”

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