Malay Pandey
Designing Life &
Telling Stories
Malay Pandey
Designing Life & Telling Stories
Building Systems & Telling stories through
Reports & Policy
Brand & Identity
UI / UX
Field Work
Video
Photography
Systems & Processes
Building Systems & Telling stories through
Photos & Videos
Reports & Policy
Brand & Identity
UI / UX
Field Work
Systems & Processes
Hey, I'm Malay
Designer, communicator, storyteller, and an Aquarius. Here’s a little about my journey, the things I’ve learned, and the experiences that shaped the work you’ll find throughout this portfolio.
About Me
I’m Malay (M 22) based in Lucknow. I lead communications and design at Nikore Associates, a public policy think tank working on women’s economic empowerment and urban mobility. My job, in every context it has ever appeared, is the same: take something complicated and make it visible.
In two years I went from graphic design intern to Communications & Design Lead. Building the organisation’s first brand guidelines, automating its HR pipeline, designing publications and documenting field work across six states. In parallel, I run XenonMedia, write books, and shoot photographs wherever work takes me.
About Me
I’m Malay, (M 22) based in Lucknow. I lead communications and design at Nikore Associates, a public policy think tank working on women’s economic empowerment and urban mobility. I’ve spent the last two years building brand systems, designing policy reports, going on field visits across 6 states, and quietly automating half the organisation’s back-office.
I started as a graphic design intern in March 2024 and grew into building the organisation’s first brand guidelines, its knowledge management system, and its entire hiring pipeline. Outside work I run XenonMedia, write books, and shoot photographs wherever fieldwork takes me.
Life So far
COMMUNICATIONS & DESIGN LEAD | 2024-2026
Nikore Associates
Nikore taught me that design without intentionality is just decoration. Every client has a different definition of good, and my job is not to impose taste, it's to understand the room. We have a phrase inside the team: there is just the right kind of ugly. It means design doesn't exist for the designer. It exists for whoever has to act on it. A significant portion of the world doesn't read, they look. My job is to live in that gap.
CREATIVE LEAD | 2026
XenonMedia
One new skill, Elementor: turned "I can make a logo" into "I can build your entire presence." That's what one new capability does. It doesn't add. It multiplies. XenonMedia was where I learned that clients don't pay for effort. They pay for outcomes.
Graduation | 2024
Babu Banarasi Das University
Journalism & Mass Communications. Founding Committee Member, University Podcast Society. Studied the theory of communication while practising the reality of it outside class every day.
INTERNSHIP | 2023
Marketocrat
The first time my designs reached a real client and stayed there. Catalogues, covers, thumbnails, work that existed after I stopped working on it. That's when accountability stopped being a concept and became a condition.
Best Journalist Award | 2022
PD Tondon Foundation
A writing competition was announced. Most of my classmates walked out. I stayed, not out of confidence, but because words didn't scare me. I won. The lesson wasn't about the award. Most people's outcomes are decided the moment they decide not to participate.
AUTHOR | 2021 , 2026
Books on Kindle
India's Education: A Cultural Genocide and 8 Things I Learned Too Late. Writing taught me that putting your thoughts into form whether words or visuals, is the same act. Making the invisible legible.
Tools I work with
Tools I work with
Report Designs
Policy reports only work if someone reads them. Most don’t get read because they’re not designed to be. I design for the person who has thirty seconds, not thirty minutes.
Enabling Women's Participation in India's Logistics Sector
Responsible for all infographics, data visualisations, charts, and cover design. Research and intellectual property belong to the respective authors and organisations.
To Emit or To Grow ? Decoupling Economic Growth from Greenhouse Emissions
Designed the layout and visual presentation of this research report. All research, findings, and intellectual property belong to Girish Sharma.
Understanding the Craftsperson Ecosystem of Delhi
Designed the layout, visuals, and supporting graphics. All research, findings, and intellectual property belong to the respective authors and organisations.
Newsletters
Monthly policy newsletters translating complex geopolitical and economic research into sharp, visually driven formats distributed to a growing audience of policymakers, researchers, and professionals.
HR Automation Tool
Built in-house for Nikore Associates
A custom tool that auto-generates letters, contracts, and certificates from a single form input reducing document turnaround from days to minutes. Vibe Coded !
No manual drafting, no formatting errors, no waiting.
Presentation Designs
Slide decks and presentation templates designed for policy briefs, research presentations, and stakeholder meetings. Built reusable template systems ensuring visual consistency across every deck the team produced.
Product Designs
Graphics Design
Graphics Design
Graphics Design
Major Projects
Lucknow · 2024
District Entrepreneurship Mission
Mapped a city’s entrepreneurship ecosystem through 100+ consultations across universities, incubation centres, banks, and business associations. Designed and maintained the master tracker covering every stakeholder, recording, transcript, and follow-up, this became the primary data source for the Diagnostic Study.
Remote areas of India · 2025
Last Mile Impact Documentation
Field visits to a village near Ahmedabad and remote areas like Dimapur, working alongside grassroots organisations on the ground. Managed on-ground documentation, community storytelling, and social media communication for the programme.
Ahmedabad · 2025
Urban Street Assessment
Conducted street perception surveys examining walkability, urban infrastructure, and quality of life. Coordinated survey teams on the ground, led video and photo documentation, and engaged with residents, shop owners, and daily street users.
Gujarat · 2026
Childcare Centers Field Documentation
Traveled to remote areas of Poshina and Tapi to document community childcare centres. Contributed to a toolkit aimed at community betterment while managing end-to-end field documentation across isolated locations.
New Delhi · 2026
Publication Launch Event
Led a five-person photography and videography team at a five-star hotel for a national policy publication launch. Managed full event documentation and post-production coverage.
Through The Lens
Portraits, street moments, and field documentation, shot across cities, villages, and conference halls.
Writings
I don't design what you like. I design what works. Sometimes those are the same thing."
My Wall of Flex
Certifications, award moments, field memories, and things worth remembering.
My Amazing Clients:
Brands, creators, and non-profits I’ve had the pleasure of designing for through XenonMedia.
Thank-You
