A young man smiling, wearing a black sweater with a colorful heart design and a gold chain necklace, standing against a light background.

Turning visionary ideas into signature experiences and guiding teams to navigate complexity with heart.

For the past decade, Aqil (he/him) has helped founders and teams unleash the power of creativity—designing workshops, brands, and services that bring people together around a shared vision. Consultant turned builder and designer at heart, he blends research, co-creation, and storytelling to turn ideas into experiences that influence, inspire, and last.

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People at a public event holding signs, with one sign reading 'Mental Wellbeing, Social Innovation, Project Funding, Sustainability'.

Where Entrepreneurship Meets Design

Aqil brings a designer’s hawk eye and builder’s mindset to every challenge. From shaping communication for C-suite teams to designing systems that help startups scale with intention, he thrives in fast-moving, high-impact environments where priorities shift regularly — and design becomes the tool that brings clarity and momentum.

Collage of diverse young professionals with a central black square displaying the text 'League of Innovators 2024' in white and blue.
A presentation slide titled 'Customer Development Model' by Steve Blank, with a diagram explaining the customer development process, including stages: customer discovery, validation, creation, and company building, with a pivot step between discovery and validation. The slide also includes bullet points explaining customer discovery and validation.
Colorful tote bag with abstract faces and figures in red, yellow, green, and blue, hanging on a fence with a diamond-shaped pattern.
Collection of branded merchandise including a white cap with an embroidered sticker of a pink dessert, a white plastic globe with stickers of a fork, a hot dog, and a pink dessert, a large paper bag with 'GRAVE COLLECTIVE' logo, a small paper tag with item details, a clear container with white rolled-up merchandise, and a light blue paper or cardboard item, all arranged on a white surface with a plain grey background.
A wooden tag with the word 'SCHNAP' and a smiling face with a big grin, surrounded by climbing gear including cogs, a harness, and ropes.

Design approach

At the heart of it all, Aqil’s practice is about making the intangible tangible, helping ideas take root and grow into experiences that move people.

A printed card with green and black text over a green circle background, partially covered by black palm leaves.
An abstract, colorful illustration featuring a central figure holding a heart-shaped object with a lit candle, surrounded by symbolic elements like water, plants, stairs, and a sun, with the phrases "Bloom with Grace" and "Wherever Life Plants You."
Group of six cartoon figurines with white box bases, each wearing a different costume with accessories like goggles, snorkels, or ties, and holding mini items like a rocket, paper boat, or a pen, set against a light gray background with small star patterns.

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What People are Saying

* What People are Saying

“Aqil is an enthusiastic young man who is eager to learn. He has a great sense of layout, color, and design and is extremely creative.”

— Raj Dias, Founder & CEO, Zink Studio
Raj directly managed Aqil

“Aqil graduated with distinction, and it's easy to see why. He is a creative, multi-talented designer who never stops working. He takes his design to a high level of concept and execution, and then looks for ways to make it even better.”

— Richard Hunt, Thesis Professor, Graphic Design
Richard taught Aqil at OCAD U

“Aqil is an excellent student that produced a very high standard of work for all course projects. A self-starter that followed instructions well.”

— Glenn McArthur, Assistant Professor, Graphic Design
Glenn taught Aqil at OCAD U

“Aqil is an enterprising and bold designer. While at Bridgeable, he was relentless with details and always pushed to generate designs that were thoughtful and novel. His communications are thoughtful and well composed, and his interest in building a positive team environment was always appreciated. When we had vague project briefs or work that was first of its kind, Aqil was the designer we knew would be up for the task.”

— Andrea Guertin, Managing Director, Bridgeable
Andrea was senior to Aqil

“Aqil is not a designer who plays it safe or follows a template - and that's a good thing! This guy is a true original. His work is creative, inspired, and bold.”

— Susanne Frame, Content Strategist, IBM
Susanne collaborated with Aqil on projects

“I had the pleasure of working alongside Aqil at Bridgeable. He is a talented designer, able to take building blocks of a client brief or branding, and produce a unique look and feel with his deliverables. He has great instincts and is able to effectively communicate the rationale for his designs with the appropriate level of detail for his audience. Aqil is a value add to any team and was lovely to work with.”

— Sarah Beales, Director, Bridgeable
Sarah directly managed Aqil

Beyond the work

When not designing, Aqil chases small joys that make life feel endearing—nurturing his creative sensibilities through thrifting, interior decorating, and illustrating Planting Hearts.

A colorful illustration of a woman with dark curly hair, wearing yellow headphones, a blue and white striped shirt, and yellow pants, standing among large stylized flowers and green foliage. She has a black cat with a happy expression. There are musical notes floating around, suggesting a musical or artistic theme.
Colorful decorative paper or ceramic vases with flowers and leaves arranged in a playful, abstract style on a white background.
Colorful framed artwork with abstract plant and pot designs leaning against a white wall inside a niche, with sunlight streaming through a window and casting shadows, accompanied by small decorative vases and a candle on the shelf.

Interested in working together?

Let’s imagine what’s possible through design that moves hearts. Fill out some info and Aqil will be in touch shortly.