Who is Priya Dali is a question gaining steady attention in India’s design, media, and cultural circles. At 29, Priya Dali is the creative director at Gaysi Family, one of India’s most visible queer media platforms. Her work focuses on design, storytelling, and building community. Over the last eight years, she has helped shape how queer stories are told and who gets space to tell them.

Priya Dali was named to the Forbes India 30 Under 30, marking her growing influence in India’s creative ecosystem. The recognition reflects long-term work rather than sudden success. Her career shows how design can support identity, visibility, and participation.

Early Life and Education

Priya Dali studied at Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology, where she trained in visual communication and design. Drawing was part of her life from a young age. At college, that interest became a practice.

During this time, Dali was still closeted. She used illustration and visual storytelling to explore questions she could not yet speak about. Her graduation project was a graphic novel on coming out to parents in India. The project was based on real conversations with her mother in 2017, when Section 377 was still in force. The work connected personal experience with social reality.

That project brought her to Gaysi Family. She joined the platform as an intern in 2017.

Growing With Gaysi Family

Priya Dali’s career has grown alongside Gaysi Family. She began as an illustrator, then became art director, and later creative director. Over eight years, she has played a central role in turning Gaysi into a multi-format media and cultural institution.

Today, Gaysi is more than a digital publication. It runs exhibitions, workshops, markets, and long-term creative programs. Dali has co-led several of these efforts. Key initiatives include Queer Swipe Stories, Queer Made Weekend, Zine Bazaar, Open Art House, Queering Workspaces, and Do You See Us?. The last is among India’s first large-scale queer art exhibitions.

These projects focus on access and participation. Many queer writers, artists, designers, and performers received their first public platform through Gaysi. Dali has mentored several of them. Her work shapes not only how stories look, but also who is invited to tell them.

Design as a Cultural Tool

For Priya Dali, design is not separate from culture. She treats it as a way to frame conversations and build entry points. Her visuals aim to feel familiar without losing meaning. This approach has helped Gaysi reach both queer audiences and wider public spaces.

Her influence lies in consistency. The visual language she helped build at Gaysi has stayed clear and stable over time. This matters in a media space where queer stories often appear only during Pride Month.

Brand Collaborations and Representation

Since 2018, Dali has worked on long-term projects with brands such as Tinder and Godrej. These were not single campaigns. They focused on sustained queer representation.

Projects like Queer Swipe Stories became digital archives of queer dating experiences in India. Queer Made grew into an offline platform that supported queer-owned brands and creators. These collaborations showed that commercial work can still centre community needs.

Brand leaders who worked with her note that many of the designs created years ago are still in use. This reflects clarity in concept and structure. It also shows trust built over time.

Work in Children’s Publishing

Alongside queer media, Priya Dali has worked in children’s publishing. She believes children’s books in India need broader representation. Her work in this field includes illustrating and art-directing titles such as Maya the Warrior, a wordless picture book on belonging, and The Boy in the Cupboard.

The Boy in the Cupboard, written by Harshala Gupte and illustrated by Dali, appeared on the Parag Honour List in 2022. She also worked on The Many Colours of Anshu and Grace, which is recognised as India’s first picture book with a trans protagonist.

In addition, Dali co-created a toolkit on diversity and representation in children’s literature with Pratham Books and UNICEF. This work connects design with education and policy thinking.

Are You Serious? and Recent Work

In 2023, Priya Dali co-founded Are You Serious?, a queer-led creative studio. The studio advises brands and organisations on inclusion, design, and storytelling. It works across social impact and culture.

Dali says running a studio is different from working alone. The focus is on shared processes and collective voices. The goal is to widen participation rather than highlight one individual style.

As of early 2026, her focus is on growing the studio, expanding work beyond Pride-focused timelines, and placing queer narratives into everyday communication. Her work continues to move between media, design, education, and community spaces.

Why Priya Dali Matters Today

The question who is Priya Dali matters because her career reflects a wider change in Indian media. Queer stories are moving from the margins into sustained cultural work. This shift depends on people who build systems, not just moments.

Through Gaysi Family and her studio work, Dali has helped create those systems. Her influence comes from steady effort, clear design choices, and long-term thinking.

FAQs

Q1. Who is Priya Dali?
Priya Dali is an Indian designer and the creative director at Gaysi Family. She works in queer media, design, and community-building.

Q2. What is Priya Dali’s age?
Priya Dali is 29 years old as of 2026.

Q3. Why is Priya Dali in the news?
She was named to the Forbes India 30 Under 30 Class of 2026 for her work in queer media and design.

Q4. What is Are You Serious? by Priya Dali?
Are You Serious? is a queer-led creative studio co-founded by Priya Dali in 2023. It focuses on inclusion, design, and storytelling.