From freelancing in college to founding New Folder Design and collaborating with leading brands, KR Vinay Kumar’s and Varshini Ramakrishnan’s partnership blends creativity and life seamlessly, shaping their work and their journey together.
Did you hesitate before deciding to work as a couple?
Vinay: More than patience, it has taught us real trust. Understanding what that means and knowing when to step back and let the other person lead when their strength is needed. We’ve learned to strip every problem down to its essentials, where every idea must be justified, regardless of who it comes from.
How do you celebrate love when work is always around?
Varshini: We share a common goal of building the studio and love doesn’t sit outside work; it usually blends into our lives. Sometimes it’s very subtle, like saying a simple ‘yes’ to the other person’s idea or noticing when they need better tools or a workspace upgrade and making it happen.
We take small breaks between work, stepping out for snacks, travelling to places that inspire us, watching sunsets, or just talking about ideas late into the night. Over time, we realised that building something together is its own form of love.
For Shreya Devnath and Praveen Sparsh, music is not just a profession. It is the foundation of their relationship. They met as co-artistes, built a creative partnership and eventually a marriage that continues to thrive within the same artistic space.
Was working together a conscious decision or something that happened organically?
Shreya: It was absolutely a conscious choice. We were already working together before we got married, and that became our baseline. We met as co-artists first, and our professional relationship naturally evolved into something deeper. Even after marriage, our work continued seamlessly.
That was always how I envisioned it. Music has always been central to who I am, so it felt natural that it would remain central to our relationship too.
Praveen: We met at a concert. At this point, conceptualising ideas together from the core is a very intentional decision. I once believed that people from the same family should not share an art space. Over time, I realised that working with someone who truly resonates with you is a gift. It does not matter whether that person is family or a friend.
How do you draw the line between work time and personal time?
Praveen: For artistes, work and personal life often overlap. When you are also partners, the lines blur even more. We are constantly learning how to be mindful of our time together.
When we sit down to relax, we often end up discussing art because it is one of the things we love most. That overlap is not necessarily negative. A friend once suggested creating a separate messaging group just for work updates, and that small step helped us set certain boundaries.
Shreya: There are practical aspects to consider. Everyone needs some kind of cut-off time. Sometimes we consciously tell ourselves that this is personal time. It is easy for professional identities to take over your private space. Even when we decide to disconnect, conversations about music or artists may still come up. We do not force a rigid separation.
Do disagreements at work spill into your personal life?
Shreya: Handling disagreements is essential in any partnership. We are still learning. The key is to have realistic expectations and work sincerely towards balance, even if we stumble sometimes. When we collaborate, we bring out the best in each other, but we also see each other at our most intense. I have learned that I do not need to win every argument. Accepting criticism is part of growth.
Praveen: Creating art involves strong emotions and strong opinions, so disagreements are inevitable. When that happens, I remind myself to hold on to respect. That changes the course of the conversation.