Not all rising stars can be seen in the sky. Rather, some walk around us and showcase their unique style, and one of such personalities is Samriddhi Uniyal, a self-driven designer and an illustrator/artist. Besides being known for her interviews, she is now trending for her appearance in TEDx Talks. She was already well-known for her social media presence, and now, she has left a mark on the world through her motivational speech on confidence-building at TEDx.
Table of Contents
Early Life of Samriddhi Uniyal
She got the first prize in ‘On The Spot Painting’ during Ahlcon Arts 2014, hosted by Ahlcon Public School, which took place among classes VI to VIII. Samriddhi Uniyal studied Media Production as a Bachelor's exchange student at the OWL University of Applied Sciences and Arts from March 2023 to July 2023. Currently, she is in her last year, pursuing an undergraduate degree at the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, to fulfil her passion for Animation Film Design. She joined this institute in 2020.
Uniyal completed her 4-month on-site internship from June 2024 to September 2024 as a Graphic Designer at Amura Health, Chennai. It is a hospital built on the cloud that helps people be healthy by focusing on chronic disease reversal. Thus, an experience here has significantly contributed to the Samriddhi Uniyal portfolio. She achieved the 51st rank in NIFT 2020 and an AIR of 13 in NID 2020 (B.Des).
Knowledge and Skills in the Samriddhi Uniyal Portfolio
According to the Samriddhi Uniyal LinkedIn profile, she has gained immense knowledge in:
- 2D Animation
- Character Animation
- Animation
- Drawing
- Research Skills
- Design
- Music Video Animation
- Photography
- Music Videos
The OWL University of Applied Sciences and Arts, located in North Rhine-Westphalia. This university ranks tenth most popular university in Germany and is also well-known around the globe. No wonder this university has notably contributed to the Samriddhi Uniyal portfolio.
During her exchange semester, she played a key role as one of the lead animators and brought artist Levin Liam’s music video ‘Verpasst’ to life. Her childhood curiosity made her step into this field, and now it has turned into an immense passion. Thus, it is a pillar for the significant Samriddhi Uniyal portfolio, which reflects her ability to learn and create.
Besides that, she is also well aware of traditional animation and has gained interpersonal skills, such as communication and leadership, that significantly add to the Samriddhi Uniyal portfolio. The list of services she provides includes animation, visual design, print design, illustration and graphic design as stated on the Samriddhi Uniyal LinkedIn account.
Samriddhi Uniyal’s Work - Pouring Her Heart into Art
Uniyal knows no limits while pouring her heart into art. So, here’s the list of the artwork showcased on her website:
1) Miscellaneous Work
In an illustration of her home town’s regional poem, she has used unimaginable elements like the corrugated paper, tear-outs of the magazine, dried leaves and cloth.
A] Shoelace
This comic is not only about the shoelaces, but the laces of the heart that tie loved ones. For this comic, she was notably inspired by Dr. Gayatri Menon, NID’s principal faculty, and Mr. Debkumar Mitra, the popular author. This comic significantly contributes to the Samriddhi Uniyal portfolio.
B] NID Monsoon Fiesta Poster
Uniyal was proudly a part of the team VC (Visual Communication) during the Inhabit BBC event in December 2022. Organised under the NID Monsoon Fiesta, this event included making tremendously big posters that covered the institute from top to bottom.
C] Sculpture
The Samriddhi Uniyal portfolio not only contains sketches but also sculptures, such as the Terracotta Clay Sculpture and a Wooden Sculpture, that show her ability to focus on minute details.
2) Character Design
Under the Character Design Projects, Uniyal has created 2 major fictional characters named Dev and Nawaz, where Dev is a strong-willed boy determined to make a change, while Nawaz is a 17-year-old lemon soda maker with notable muscle memory. Her other characters are POM – the squirrel and the dragon. Besides that, she has also highlighted her friend’s portrait and her photo shoot skills.
3) Sketchbook
From a series of actions to facial expressions, her sketchbook provides a walkthrough through her related artwork.
4) Digital Media and Illustration
Emotions are a pillar for the artists. Accordingly, she has highlighted anxiety, depression, obsessive disorders and more for the social media posts using the Procreate and Figma software.
Besides that, she has also used the Toonsquid software to promote the SaffronStays property in Dehradun. The Samriddhi Uniyal portfolio also contains the character turnaround, comic design, idea for an AD campaign for the Temple Run revamp, cover design, digital paintings and backgrounds for animation.
5) Animation
This page showcases her animation showreel, the music video for Levin Liam, an oil on glass experiment, a lip sync animation, a chalkboard turnaround, animation of a character for the given sound, an experiment using the sand animation and paper cutouts, scriptwriting and storyboarding, an animatic with sound and a location map. The Samriddhi Uniyal portfolio also contains the layouts for Lalajee by Jim Corbett and the creation of an animation on a poem written by her.
Traditional Art
Uniyal’s traditional artwork includes illustrations of a film’s visual language and storybook, pencil sketches, portraits using watercolours and oil and large scale paintings.
Samriddhi Uniyal’s Presence on Social Media
Growth occurs when we welcome opportunities, and Uniyal has set an example for that. The Samriddhi Uniyal Instagram account showcases her ability to create content and collaborate with brands, in addition to artwork, which can bring her opportunities for modelling. Here, she also shares her personal life moments, voyage experiences and style choices.
She focuses on fitness, visiting the gym. 2023 brought her travel opportunities, exploring new places and drawing some of them on her canvas. That year, she had been to:
- Hemmingen, Germany
- Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Paderborn, Germany
- Detmold, GermanyFrankfurt, Germany
Specifically, she explored destinations such as Old St. Nicholas Church (aka Alte Nikolaikirche), a medieval Lutheran church in Frankfurt, Germany, and a historical museum in the same city. In 2024, she shared her moments from the Mussoorie and Rishikesh in Uttarakhand, Pondicherry, Mahabalipuram Shore Temple in Tamil Nadu and Qutub Minar in Delhi.
The Samriddhi Uniyal Instagram account also highlights her visit to Mumbai in January 2025 with the photos of the Maharashtra Police headquarters, the Taj Hotel and the seashore. But the notable part of her visit to this city has been the Coldplay Concert that took place in the D.Y. Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on 18, 19 and 21 January. It is worth mentioning that the young artist always finds a chance to capture the moments or ideas on the canvas during most of her visits, which shows her dedication to her career.
One of Samriddhi Uniyal LinkedIn posts shares her experience as a teacher at the Indian Institute of Art and Design on 18 March 2025. There, she conducted a workshop on ‘Motion & Character Design Essentials: Crafting a Compelling Portfolio’ for Animation Film Design. LinkedIn helps her in her professional career, while her Facebook account helps her share her artwork with a wide audience.
Samriddhi Uniyal’s Personal Life
Once an artist, always an artist! While the pandemic was a tough period for others, Uniyal spent her time creating a comic, Shoelace, during the first year of NID. Her website highlights her ability to focus on small details. She can handle the quality and speed of work together and knows about various artistic media. So, the Samriddhi Uniyal LinkedIn account mentions her achievements, while her website shows her approach towards them.
Uniyal’s wish to turn her hobby into a living made her pursue her art career. Accordingly, she has allegedly contributed her 20 years of career to art. She shares a special bond with her father, which is evident through one of the posts on the Samriddhi Uniyal Instagram account. Besides that, she had a pet dog named Messi.
Uniyal thanks her parents for the way they raised her, especially her father, who did not leave any opportunity to motivate her, even while oiling her hair. Together, they have taught her to focus on the efforts and give 100% instead of running behind success.
According to the Samriddhi Uniyal interview, she has always been clear about her career and joined the foundational course in BRDS during her 11th grade. All her basics became clear in this course, even before the advanced one in the second year. She has also participated in the BRDS’ annual exhibition twice under the faculty’s guidance.
An addition to the Samriddhi Uniyal interview list is the interview on the tips for the three main things for NID aspirants, from making an art portfolio to being confident and giving your best. Apart from that, she has conducted sketching and storytelling masterclasses.
Uniyal welcomes opportunities and moves forward with a plan. Thus, she can manage consistency and quality together, which helped her complete her graduation project. She not only wants to express herself through her work but also to inspire people around her. Thanks to her experience over the years, now she finds herself ready for any challenge.
Samriddhi Uniyal On TEDx Talks
From being a viewer to coming on stage, Uniyal has advanced to a higher level in her career. While watching others speak at TEDx and getting inspired, she knew she would get a chance too. However, little did she know that he opportunity would come so soon. She shone on the stage on 28 March 2025, giving rise to a high search for the Samriddhi Uniyal TEDx speech.
This event took place at AAFT as TEDxAAFT and brought together speakers from various fields such as entertainment, technology, fitness, fashion and leadership. Thus, it was a powerhouse of innovation and ideas.
She emphasised trusting the process, which includes working on the action rather than perfection. But how to trust the process? The Samriddhi Uniyal TEDx Talks speech has an answer to this. Trust for the process comes from within after practising a lot.
Overall, the Samriddhi Uniyal TEDx Talks speech was about embracing imperfections in the path of becoming perfect. Challenges and limitations help us be creative over time. We might not be perfect on the first try; we must keep practising and working on our mistakes without the pressure of being perfect or getting judged. This process can help us trust our skills.
Similarly, it is not easy to be confident all the time, though it is an important part of life. People might not be confident in the first attempt, but it comes gradually, with improvements over time. So, keeping the fear of failure aside, we need to trust our instincts and keep going. This Samriddhi Uniyal TEDx speech turned out to be significant for the aspiring artists and students to understand that the skills are not inbuilt. Rather, they are built with a process of self-trust.
She also made a debatable statement that someone doesn’t do it every day because they are good at it; they are good at it because they do it every day. So, according to her, confidence comes from within while staying positive.
Samriddhi Uniyal’s Thoughts After the TEDx Talks
It is appreciable that she has learned a lot at this young age. After speaking and listening to others’ stories, she allegedly understood the value of everything we get in life. According to the Samriddhi Uniyal Instagram comment, what we get today might be a dream for someone else. We have one life and a single chance, and it has to be celebrated.
She agrees that she has not worked harder than the readers. Similarly, artwork contains emotions and not every viewer might connect to it, but it does not mean that her artwork has to be hidden. Gradually, she lost the fear of rejection and brought her work before the world.
Currently, she is busy with her final year in NID, empowering others to crack related exams, creating social media content and showcasing her artwork.
Samriddhi Uniyal is one of the young people who observe the minute details related to their work and learn from them. She has not only changed her life but also that of others through her inspirational speech. From providing tips on cracking the NID exams to being thankful for everything, she has brought a new perspective towards life. Her dedication and continued strong will can even take her to even higher heights in the field of art.
