Meet Gul: The Story Behind Kankei Studio

Hi, I'm Gulraiz Hassan, though most people just call me Gul, and I'm the founder of Kankei Studio. I'm a brand designer with a background in industrial design, a photographer of many years now (I've genuinely lost count), and by my own admission, a bit of a jack of all trades. This is the story of how I got here, and why Kankei Studio exists.

A jack of all trades (or so I like to tell myself)

I've been creative for as long as I can remember, literally. I picked up my first camera, a Canon DSLR, when I was one, and broke it almost as fast (sorry, Canon). That's more or less stayed true ever since. These days I'm fortunate enough to get to be creative every single day, and it shows up in different forms: photography, brand design, graphic design, videography, whatever a project calls for. Whether that makes me a brand designer or a creative designer depends on the day, and I've made my peace with being both.

Growing up between two cultures

I grew up in Italy with Pakistani origins, until one day my parents decided we were moving to London. That one decision is a big part of why I became a multicultural person, and it's something I try to bring into my work too. Working across cultures, references and ways of seeing things tends to make the end result richer, not just for me but for whoever I'm working with.

These days I'm based in Dartford, Kent, though London will always be home in my heart. One day, the goal is a Kankei Studio space in central London, ideally with a coffee shop on the ground floor. I do love a good iced latte.

Anime, manga and where the name Kankei came from

It was around this same time, alongside playing a lot of games, that I got properly into anime, and from there into manga and manhwa, mostly because I couldn't wait for new episodes to come out. That's where the inspiration for Kankei (関係 or かんけい) came from: it means relationship, connection or relation, and it sums up something I still believe. When it comes to working with anyone, what matters most is the connection you build. If you can work together happily, the result will be great too.

How my creative journey actually started

My creative journey started with photography, then I fell into DIY, building things like tripods and stands simply because I needed them. The obvious next step from there was product design, which is why I graduated in industrial design.

Later on, I had the opportunity to do a placement as a web and graphic designer, and that's where I fell in love with everything brand related, from strategy through to the branding itself. It's also why, in my final year of university, I put myself forward for the co-director role at Made in Brunel, so I could get a taste of overseeing a creative business the way a CEO would.

So that's how I ended up here: a brand designer who loves web design and photography just as much, and honestly, just about anything creative.

Kankei Studio today

Which brings me to Kankei Studio itself. It's a creative studio that helps founders and independent businesses stand out, with one studio handling all the creative work instead of juggling separate designers, photographers and web builders.

I couldn't do all of that alone (even though I probably could, if I really had to), so I work with a small network of creative people, each with their own skillset, brought in project by project as the work needs them.

Find out more about Kankei Studio