Charaka.uk
Available · Senior roles
About · Charaka Kahandawaarachchi

I start where the easy answers stop.

The problems that excite me are the ones where the obvious solution already failed — that's when the real designing begins.

I'm a Sri Lankan designer who studied communication design in the UK. Eleven years making Montessori learning materials at Nienhuis Asia taught me what happens when you design inside serious constraints. An MA at Falmouth — completed with Distinction — sharpened the conceptual edge. Now I take that discipline into an independent practice — brand systems, installations, campaigns, product design, and problems that don't have a category yet.

Charaka
Charaka · Sri Lanka / UK
Currently
Independent practiceSelect projects
Previously
Senior Creative ManagerNienhuis Asia · 11 years
Based
Sri Lanka / UKOpen to relocation globally
Education
MA Communication DesignFalmouth University · Distinction
01How I work

I research deeply before I make anything. I'm strongest in the space between an idea and a real object — the moment a concept has to survive real constraints. I've worked in plywood, bronze, biopolymer and code; with screen printers, laser cutters, CNC operators and Raspberry Pi sensors.

The thread across everything — from Montessori puzzle maps to an AI-ethics card system — is the same: making invisible things visible, abstract things holdable, complex things legible.

The discipline stays. The material changes.

The constraints taught me to read a problem before I reach for a tool. That's why the hard briefs don't scare me — I've spent eleven years proving that the tighter the framework, the sharper the outcome.

02Experience
Senior Creative Manager
Nienhuis Asia — Sri Lanka

Progressed from Graphic Designer to Senior Creative Manager over eleven years, taking on full leadership of the design and print department from 2023 — a team of 12 — and directing creative and art direction across a portfolio of 2,500–3,000 articles for the Nienhuis Montessori global catalogue, distributed to 100+ countries. Around 25–30 new products a year.

2013 — 2024
Visiting Lecturer
AMDT Design Campus — Sri Lanka

Taught the Adobe suite and guided branding projects from concept to execution, on the UK Pearson HND and Foundation pathway. Around a 98% pass rate across teaching reviews.

2022 — 2024
03Education
01
MA Communication Design — Distinction
Falmouth University — UK
2024 — 2025
02
BA (Hons) Graphic Design — First Class Honours
AMDT / Falmouth University
2023 — 2024
03
Diplomas — Filmmaking & 3D Animation / VFX
National Film Corporation · Vijay Graphics, Sri Lanka
2010 — 2011
04Skills & tools

Production

  • Laser cutting & engraving
  • Digital & screen printing
  • Technical file prep
  • Colour & ICC profiling
  • Python

Design

  • Brand identity
  • Product design
  • Creative direction
  • Educational design
  • Strategic design thinking

Software

  • Illustrator
  • Photoshop
  • InDesign
  • Figma
  • Maya · ZBrush
  • Framer
Currently

Open to the brief that hasn't been solved.

Senior design roles, creative direction, educational design. Based in Sri Lanka / UK — open to relocation globally.

Get in touch ↗
About · Charaka Kahandawaarachchi

I start where the easy answers stop.

The problems that excite me are the ones where the obvious solution already failed — that's when the real designing begins.

I'm a Sri Lankan designer who studied communication design in the UK. Eleven years making Montessori learning materials at Nienhuis Asia taught me what happens when you design inside serious constraints. An MA at Falmouth — completed with Distinction — sharpened the conceptual edge. Now I take that discipline into an independent practice — brand systems, installations, campaigns, product design, and problems that don't have a category yet.

Charaka
Charaka · Sri Lanka / UK
Currently
Independent practiceSelect projects
Previously
Senior Creative ManagerNienhuis Asia · 11 years
Based
Sri Lanka / UKOpen to relocation globally
Education
MA Communication DesignFalmouth University · Distinction
01How I work

I research deeply before I make anything. I'm strongest in the space between an idea and a real object — the moment a concept has to survive real constraints. I've worked in plywood, bronze, biopolymer and code; with screen printers, laser cutters, CNC operators and Raspberry Pi sensors.

The thread across everything — from Montessori puzzle maps to an AI-ethics card system — is the same: making invisible things visible, abstract things holdable, complex things legible.

The discipline stays. The material changes.

The constraints taught me to read a problem before I reach for a tool. That's why the hard briefs don't scare me — I've spent eleven years proving that the tighter the framework, the sharper the outcome.

02Experience
Senior Creative Manager
Nienhuis Asia — Sri Lanka

Progressed from Graphic Designer to Senior Creative Manager over eleven years, taking on full leadership of the design and print department from 2023 — a team of 12 — and directing creative and art direction across a portfolio of 2,500–3,000 articles for the Nienhuis Montessori global catalogue, distributed to 100+ countries. Around 25–30 new products a year.

2013 — 2024
Visiting Lecturer
AMDT Design Campus — Sri Lanka

Taught the Adobe suite and guided branding projects from concept to execution, on the UK Pearson HND and Foundation pathway. Around a 98% pass rate across teaching reviews.

2022 — 2024
03Education
01
MA Communication Design — Distinction
Falmouth University — UK
2024 — 2025
02
BA (Hons) Graphic Design — First Class Honours
AMDT / Falmouth University
2023 — 2024
03
Diplomas — Filmmaking & 3D Animation / VFX
National Film Corporation · Vijay Graphics, Sri Lanka
2010 — 2011
04Skills & tools

Production

  • Laser cutting & engraving
  • Digital & screen printing
  • Technical file prep
  • Colour & ICC profiling
  • Python

Design

  • Brand identity
  • Product design
  • Creative direction
  • Educational design
  • Strategic design thinking

Software

  • Illustrator
  • Photoshop
  • InDesign
  • Figma
  • Maya · ZBrush
  • Framer
Currently

Open to the brief that hasn't been solved.

Senior design roles, creative direction, educational design. Based in Sri Lanka / UK — open to relocation globally.

Get in touch ↗
Charaka.uk
© 2026 CharakaLondon, UK
Charaka.uk
© 2026 CharakaLondon, UK