A South Asian woman stands on train tracks, smiling at the camera, with a backdrop of forests and mountains.

Listen. Learn. Create.

Sunanda is an illustrator, writer, small business owner, and overall curious human.

About

Sunanda’s latest venture is Studio Sunanda, a creative studio dedicated to celebrating those who march to the beat of their own drum through creative illustrations and intentional art.

Most days, you’ll find Sunanda in a cozy corner, absorbed in a good book. As a voracious reader of non-fiction, she shares reviews and book lists on her Substack newsletter, Shelf Help.

In this current chapter, she founded Studio Sunanda, a Canadian greeting card and stationery brand built around a simple premise: the most meaningful moments in a woman’s life rarely come with a gift registry.

Her work sits at the intersection of illustration, product design, and emotional intelligence, helping people find language for the experiences that most brands ignore.

Before she was illustrating raccoons with emotional depth, she spent over a decade designing learning experiences at Google and received her Master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The through line of it all: taking something complex and making it land for another human being.

She left that career to build something smaller, truer, and entirely her own. Alongside Studio Sunanda, she takes on custom illustration commissions, works with clients on bespoke creative gifting experiences, and brings her background in learning experience design to occasional workshops and teaching.

She believes deeply that every life deserves to be celebrated... especially the unconventional ones.

Tell me more…

  • Illustration

    Sunanda’s art style is whimsical, playful, and relaxed. She works primarily with watercolor and gouache painting and hopes to spark delight in each piece she creates. With Studio Sunanda, she offers greeting cards and art prints as well as custom commissioned work on request.

    A logo that says Studio Sunanda with a yellow swirl in the center
  • Writing

    Sunanda publishes essays every other week on her Substack newsletter, Shelf Help. She reviews non-fiction books in psychology, business, self-help, and memoir. Sunanda also has creative non-fiction essays published in outlets including The Rumpus, The Sun, and Full Grown People.

    On a teal background, text that says "Shelf Help by sunandareads"

“You must never stop being whimsical.

And you must not, ever, give anyone else the responsibility for your life.”

— Mary Oliver, Upstream: Selected Essays

Get in touch.

See an opportunity for us to work together? Wonderful! Let’s chat.

A woman with her back to the camera stands on a bridge with her arms raised. The background is leafy and vibrant.