431 - Rishad Amarkhel

Rishad Amarkhel is an art director and designer based in the SF bay area, he specializes in brand building for startups and emerging tech companies. Currently, he leads the brand design team at Vivian Health.

Outside of work, Rishad is an avid reader, travel enthusiast, and passionate travel photographer. He aims to photograph all 63 U.S. National Parks, having covered most of the parks in the American West. He shares his work on park.photos — a free tool for national park and travel photography enthusiasts to explore, download, and use photos.

Portfolio → rishad.design
LinkedIn → linkedin.com/in/rishadamarkhel
Twitter (X) → x.com/ararishi
Instagram → instagram.com/rishuals
Dribbble → dribbble.com/rishadamarkhel

Rishad's Workspace Tour

Workspace Items

Desktop Setup:

• iMac
• Magic mouse
• Magic keyboard
• iPad pro 11
• Litra beam light
• Navlinge lamp
• Succulent plant
• Lego retro camera
• Toy VW Kleinbus
• Elloven monitor stand
• Dotted notebook
• Instax Mini 40
• Mechanical keyboard
• Linnmon table top with Alex drawers
• Swivel chair

Additional Equipment:

• PS5 with DualSense controller
• Pixma photo printer

Art, Decor and Personal Items:

• Oregon Coast by Aaron Draplin
• Flexible Visual System by Martin Lorenz
• Bookshelf with various books (design, photography, etc.)
• Hovering art director action figure
• Personal travel photographs
• Skadis pegboard
• Skateboards hung as art pieces
  

What is the most recent item that you've added to your workspace?

The most recent addition to my workspace is my new iMac with the M3 chip. I use this powerful machine primarily for my weekend design and photography experiments. I was initially torn between getting a Mac Studio and an iMac, but I'm glad I chose the iMac — it works like a charm.

How do you spark creativity?

There are several ways I spark creativity:|

Workspace Rearrangement — I consistently rethink and rearrange my workspace to keep it fresh and motivating. Having dedicated spaces, like my new creative nook for weekend experiments, helps me stay inspired and productive.

Travel — Road trips, whether solo or with family, allow me to learn, educate myself, and find inspiration in the outdoors.

Nature — I feel a deep connection with nature. Being in the mountains, forests, or by the sea profoundly impacts my creativity.

Community and Learning — Staying connected with the design community, reading books, and attending numerous conferences each year significantly contribute to my professional development and creative growth.

What does your typical day look like?

My typical day starts around 6am. I either hit the gym or go for a long run/stroll, followed by a cup of coffee, a quick shower and planning my high priority tasks for the day. After dropping off my kid, I check on any urgent work before 9am. My workday officially starts at 9am sharp, often with meetings or focused work sessions.

Lunch is flexible, but I ensure a full hour, often spent outside with my wife or son or with both. Post-lunch, I dive back into 90-minute sprint sessions, taking a coffee break in between, and continue until 5pm. These sessions include project planning, writing briefs, reviewing work, providing feedback, ideation and conceptualization work, hands-on design work and no code web development.

I try to wrap up work by 6 – 7pm, have dinner with my family, relax, watch something, and go to sleep around 11:30pm.