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Poonam Patel headshot

Poonam Patel

Class of 2021

Bio

At 16 years old, fashion was Punam’s passion (and she also liked to rhyme). She studied design and fashion, and explored diverse roles in the field for the next seven years. She served as a costume designer for a film, a stylist for an international magazine, a fashion week curator, an entrepreneur for a clothing brand, and a creative director for an innerwear brand. At the heart of her work was how her product or service would make her audience “feel,” often trying to make users smile. She strived to create deeper connections through empathy and delight.

Fascinated by how design changes in its varied contexts, her curiosity led her to Shortlist, an impact startup that helps match thousands of candidates to job opportunities in India and East Africa. At age 28, this was the beginning of her journey in experience design. She enrolled in a few summer workshops at the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design, which exposed her to a whole new world of tools, ideas, and thinking. She was eager to learn more about the intersection of her previous work experience and design philosophies.

She’s excited to watch, learn, play and evolve with fellow explorers at SVA!

Class of

Bowen Shen headshot

Bowen Shen

Claudia Russo Herrera headshot

Claudia Russo Herrera

Heyu Zhang headshot

Heyu Zhang

Hyelim Lim headshot

Hyelim Lim

Jinpei Wei headshot

Jinpei Wei

Kimaya Malwade headshot

Kimaya Malwade

Liz Wang headshot

Liz Wang

Rafael Wagner Poloni headshot

Rafael Wagner Poloni

Samantha Brooks headshot

Samantha Brooks

Scott Zachau headshot

Scott Zachau

Shruti Arora headshot

Shruti Arora

Shuchen Wang headshot

Shuchen Wang

Sophia Deng headshot

Sophia Deng

Tianci (Frank) Gong headshot

Tianci (Frank) Gong

Xiaofang Fan headshot

Xiaofang Fan

Yiting Lu headshot

Yiting Lu

You (Seth) Zhang headshot

You (Seth) Zhang

Yuan Chen headshot

Yuan Chen