“When I was researching design schools from India, MDS immediately stood out,” Aarush says.
“Coming from a highly academically competitive system, you’re considering rankings, reputation and industry credibility. MDS felt like a place where I’d be in safe hands creatively.”
Originally from India, Aarush first visited New Zealand during a summer trip to see extended family and quickly fell in love with the country. At the time, he was exploring creative career pathways and teaching himself design software while laying the foundations for a lifelong passion for illustration, animation and visual storytelling.
After researching different institutions, Aarush chose MDS because of its international reputation and creative focus.
“The school felt bold and different,” he says. “With the way the school showed up online and through their brand as well, it felt like a place built around creativity.”
Once enrolled in the one-year Graduate Diploma of Creative Technologies programme, Aarush found himself immersed in a highly collaborative studio environment alongside students from graphic design, animation, game development and UX disciplines.
“It practically felt like a real creative studio,” he says.
“We were all in this giant shared space presenting work, bouncing ideas off each other and learning from completely different creative perspectives. You’d be working on typography while someone beside you would be designing creatures for a game or film project.”
That cross-disciplinary learning became one of the defining parts of the experience.
Having those conversations across different creative disciplines was invaluable because that’s exactly what the real industry is like.”
Aarush worked on 'Garden of Goodness', which won Gold at the New Zealand Best Design Awards.
The pace and intensity of the Graduate Diploma of Creative Technologies programme also helped prepare Aarush for agency life after graduation.
“The GDCT is intense because it’s only a year long - you learn to move quickly,” he says.
“You develop this mindset of hitting the ground running, which prepared me well for working in studios and agencies where everything moves at pace.”
Alongside hands-on projects, Aarush says the programme’s strong focus on critical thinking and creative development helped him develop the rigour and craft needed at an early stage in his career.
“The tutors would constantly challenge your thinking,” he says.
“They’d ask, ‘Have you thought about this differently?’ or ‘How could you push this idea further?’ That kind of creative direction was hugely valuable.”
Aarush also credits the support he received as an international student for helping him settle into life in New Zealand.
“When I first applied, the team really guided me through everything,” he says.
They helped explain the education system, supported me when I arrived, and made the whole process feel approachable. That support genuinely mattered.”
Today, Aarush remains closely connected to MDS as a guest speaker and portfolio reviewer for current students.
“I really appreciated those industry connections when I was a student,” he says. “Now it feels important to give back where I can.”
Aarush has worked on campaigns for a number of high-profile brands, including Taco Bell’s launch into New Zealand.
