Meet Monish Kapadia | Art Director (and a curious kid)

We had the good fortune of connecting with Monish Kapadia and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Monish, do you have some perspective or insight you can share with us on the question of when someone should give up versus when they should keep going?
For me, it’s never really about the outcome of one attempt; it’s about whether I’m still curious. When I had just started making campaigns in my freshman year, most of those projects didn’t win anything. But they sharpened my skillset, allowed me to experiment, and really taught me how ideas actually land with people. I look at every failure with utmost curiosity of “What might have worked?” or “What could have been done differently?” And that curiosity has stayed with me, quietly compounding, until it grew into the work that went on to win National ADDYs.
So when a failure lands, or the boredom creeps in, and giving up starts to feel tempting, I just ask myself one question: Am I still curious? If I am, that’s my sign to keep going. If I’m not, that’s not a reason to quit; it’s a reason to change direction.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a curious kid who saw the world differently.
Moments. People. Stories. Not just what they were, but how they came together. That curiosity is really the thing that sets me apart. I’ve never just been interested in how something looks; I’m interested in the craft it takes to make an idea land, and in the people whose stories it’s actually trying to tell.
That curiosity led me to Advertising & Branding at SCAD, where I learned to think beyond a single execution and design ideas that hold their shape across every surface they touch. What I’m most proud of is the Hinge: Text Your Ex campaign (https://www.monishkapadia.in/hinge), which went on to win 2 National ADDYs. It started as a simple, honest observation about how people actually behave, and watching that idea travel, get recognized, and connect with people who saw themselves in it, that’s the whole reason I do this.
If there’s one thing I want people to know about my story, it’s that it was never just about me. Ideas, people, stories, that’s what it’s always been about.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Oh this is a fun one. Showing a friend my college city, would give them a firsthand experience on what I did in my college years.
Day 1 – Ease in. Pick them up, drop the bags, and go straight to Cafe Intermezzo to start slow. Late-night coffee, a giant slice of Tres leches, and hours of catching up in that old-world café glow.
Day 2 – Art day. Wander SCAD first, the creative energy and the student-film-set feeling of the place. Show them around the dorm I lived in, the classrooms I studied in. Then over to the High Museum of Art for the afternoon, the building itself is worth it as much as the collections. Cap it with a relaxed dinner nearby so nobody’s fried.
Day 3 – Green and golden. Piedmont Park all afternoon, snacks, people-watching, skyline view and some pickleball. Then, as the light gets good, I take them to the hidden swing tucked in Ansley Park, which is my favorite thing in the whole city. You don’t tell them where you’re going, you just walk them into it. It’s the moment of the trip.
Day 4 – Tourist, unironically. Centennial Olympic Park and the World of Coca-Cola for the fun, ridiculous, tasting-every-soda-in-the-world experience. While we’re down there, check what’s on at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, if there’s a game, a concert, anything, we grab tickets and make it the night.
Day 5 – Games and drinks. Ormsby’s. Darts, shuffleboard, pool, good drinks, zero pretension. This is the “we could stay here for six hours, and it’d be perfect” day.
Day 6 – The big one. Start at home, host a house party, get everyone together, pre-game with your people so they meet the crew. Then roll out to the Buckhead clubs and send it into the night.
Day 7 – Wind down. Slow morning, one more easy meal, maybe loop back to Intermezzo or the park, and send them off already planning the next visit.
The flashy stuff (clubs, stadium, Coke) is the spectacle, but the swing and the café are the memories. That’s the version of Atlanta I’d want a best friend to leave with.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d love to dedicate this shoutout to a few people.
My mother, who supported me through every hard stretch without ever making me feel like I had to have it all figured out. My father. My professors at SCAD deserve credit too. They constantly pushed me past my limits, forcing me to think beyond just the brief and question my own first instinct. A lot of how I approach a problem today traces back to that.
And my friends, who never let me settle for less, whether that meant pushing back on a lazy idea or just reminding me why I started.
At the end of the day, it’s about the people around you. None of this happens alone.

Website: https://www.monishkapadia.in/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/com_monish

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monishkapadia/

Image Credits
Sia Passi, Riya Shah, Navya Behki