A prolific illustrator, Ray mastered his own unique style which we have come to love. As a youngster Ray learnt painting and graphic art for two years and five months at the Tagore University in Shantiniketan. He learnt to wield his brush with amazing dexterity. He learnt the value of using brush strokes in various thicknesses for one composition. Sometimes his brushing became coarse and harsh full of restless energetic straight lines, sometimes his lines flowed lyrically.

He illustrated his book covers, film posters, children’s books, billboards, publicity material and even the title cards.

Ray revolutionized the book cover designing in India. Renouncing the clean formality of the British style of jacket designing, he was the first Indian artist who experimented with a style of brushing that was entirely Indian. His easy brush strokes, pointed or broad was the hallmark of his jacket designs in the early phase of his career as an artist. But his training as a graphic artist in Shantiniketan and the inspiration he found  from his art teachers, Bose and Mukherjee, started him on a journey that found expression in various styles and designs. At every stage he re-emerged as a designer, and breaking boundaries he became a legend.

His characteristic style made it possible for him to create masterpiece artworks for Signet Press. It was for this publishing house that Ray designed the cover of the abridged Bibhuti Bhushan Bandopadhyay novel Pather Panchali, that went on to become the inspiration for his magnum opus.

Ray exploited his full potential as a graphic designer by creating his own film posters. His skill in calligraphy, illustrations and his training as an artist helped him in expanding his horizon as a film poster designer. There are a large number of such posters in the Ray Family Archive in Kolkata which were restored by Ray Society. He introduced new typefaces both in English and Bengali. Using modern European techniques and traditional Indian and Asian forms he created a unique fusion in poster art.

After Ray had finished his college education, his mother felt it was too early for him to look for work. Wanting to be a commercial artist he studied oriental art in Shantiniketan for over two years. He came back and met the Bengali manager of a British advertising agency D.J. Keymer.

He was asked “to visualize a series of six ads for an imaginary product”. Ray sketched the ads for a perfume and illustrated them with brush drawings “to go with the copy”. These were the first ever ads created by him which got him a job of a junior graphic designer with a monthly pay of Rs 65 (less than the Indian equivalent of one pound now). Ray went on to design some extraordinary artworks that brought him fame and recognition in the advertising community. Out of his ads the Paludrine series (having the caption Sunday is Paludrine Day) that he did in 1949 for ICI, a paint manufacturing company , still holds a special place in our hearts.