Debu Purkayastha quits JWT

Purkayastha, ECD and VP, has decided to move on from the agency after a stint of about 11 years.

Debu Purkayastha, executive creative director and vice-president of JWT, has decided to move on from the agency after a stint of almost 11 years (ending in April). He was based in Mumbai.

As per sources close to the development, Purkayastha's last day at JWT is January 31.

He has decided to quit the agency to pursue personal interests. Purkayastha could not be reached while filing this report.

Purkayastha also owns a designing company, Rubberstamp, which was launched about 10 years ago. The venture provides designing services for print, web, television and outdoor.

Purkayastha has more than two decades of experience in the industry. He started his career in 1992 as a visualiser at Triton Communications. After a year, he moved to Hindustan Thompson Associates as art director, again for a year. In 1994, Purkayastha joined Saatchi & Saatchi as senior art director, where he pitched for new clients and consolidated the Mumbai office of the agency.

In 1996, he moved to R K Swamy BBDO as creative supervisor and was responsible for building on effective communications for clients. Moving to the broadcaster's side, he joined STAR India's youth entertainment offering, Channel V, as head of design in 2000. He relocated from Mumbai to Hong Kong in 2001 to join STAR TV as senior art director, though he also focused on the Indian business of the broadcast company.

Later, Purkayastha worked as a creative consultant with TheortM Interactive (August 2002), before joining JWT in April, 2003.