Akshan Ish
Human. Father. Designer. Leader.
I've been leading design and building teams for startups, scale-ups and large organisations across the globe for the past decade.
2021 — 2023
Spotify
As the design lead for the Play Squad Group, along with my product partner and our teams, I was responsible for defining the vision for the surfaces that play things on Spotify’s mobile app to respond to growing consumer expectations and business ambitions.
We created a strategy that focused on enhancing creator-fan connection, prototyped and tested numerous design directions. I presented the work to senior leadership and in other company forums to drive alignment and generate excitement.
Tests showed an increase in listener engagement and creator-fan connection by more than 20%, and a 4x increase in revenue through merch & concert sales.
In parallel, I've hired and grown the design team who thoughtfully craft and prune these surfaces.
︎︎︎ Out in the world
2019 – 2021
Babbel
Too many things are going on around me. Evening has come… I see avenging hands reaching towards me… Passionate, maddening, unbearable, pulling back and again reaching out toward me, without stopping… It is difficult to give my mind another direction, to pretend that this furious and aggressive accusation against me is not going on.
Into the same river you could not step twice, for other — and still other — waters are flowing.
Ordeals
Heraclitus
Fragments
Michaux
Heraclitus was famous for his insistence on ever-present change as being the fundamental essence of the universe, as stated in the famous saying, “No man ever steps in the same river twice” (see panta rhei). This position was complemented by his stark commitment to a unity of opposites in the world, stating that “the path up and down are one and the same”.
Henri Michaux was a highly idiosyncratic Belgian-born poet, writer, and painter. His body of work includes poetry, travelogues, and art criticism.
Michaux travelled widely, tried his hand at several careers, and experimented with psychedelic drugs, especially LSD and mescaline.
Michaux travelled widely, tried his hand at several careers, and experimented with psychedelic drugs, especially LSD and mescaline.
