ABOD began with a belief that refused to leave me alone, that a society as layered, chaotic, inventive, and diverse as ours needs far more design thinking, far more disciplined design practice, and a constant urge to redesign not just what we see, but what quietly shapes how we live and work.

In 2016, I took up my first freelance project. I did not know it then, but that project changed the trajectory of my life. When it concluded successfully, two realisations stayed with me. One, that it was possible to sustain as an independent designer in India, working on Indian problems. And two, that there were founders across domains, health, education, commerce, culture, building their first digital products and looking not for vendors, but collaborators.

That search for collaboration shaped ABOD.

Over the years, we have worked with founders and organisations at the earliest stages of their journeys, often helping design their very first products and services. With each project, the problems became more complex. The conversations became deeper. Naturally, the team expanded not just to handle volume, but to strengthen thinking. Because good design rarely emerges from isolation. It grows in dialogue.

Today, ABOD is a multidisciplinary collective based in Bengaluru, working across health tech, AI, education, e-commerce, and adventure. But we are not a traditional agency chasing trends or volume. We are guided by inquiry before interface, collaboration before credit, and clarity over noise.

For me, ABOD is work I deeply enjoy doing. It is not just a business, it is a practice. A practice of thinking carefully. Of understanding context. Of building empathy into systems. And of creating things together that did not exist before.

That pursuit of this practice continues.

- Shashank Johri, Founder