Brand Architecture, Graphic Design, Typography, and Illustration Works

BRAND

DEVELOPMENT Project: Brand Name, Architecture, Research Location: US and International Designer: Morgan Raman

BRAND

DEVELOPMENT Project: Brand Name, Architecture, Research Location: US and International Designer: Morgan Raman

In my work with private clients for their businesses, I have completed multiple assignments in the United States and India in the successful development of their brand. My work included Brand Naming, Logo Design, Brand Architecture, and Market Research.

In this portfolio, I have chosen to present the brand development of a fashion design company founded by my sister, Mayura Raman, a self-taught fashion designer in Bengaluru, India.

Problem.

Solution.

There are thousands of ‘apparel makers’ in India few make it to the mainstream of fashion, globally.

Statistically, the Asian subcontinent has been the ‘maker’ of apparel for global fashion brands rather than the originator of designs that have left a global mark on the fashion industry. The founder Mayura Raman, a selftaught fashion designer, asked me to develop a name, as well as its brand and architecture to stand out and convey meaning in a crowded marketplace to elevate the brand into mainstream fashion design locally with an intent to expand globally.

Fashion and its interpretation is subjective, which is common in a creative field. This brand requires embracing bold colors extensively in a diverse mix of culture, traditions, and religion in the Indian subcontinent and the surrounding countries. Colors in Indian society have significant history, both good and bad, associated with them. For a brand to be successful in an intense and highly competitive market, significant research was conducted into the topics of color, ornament, empowerment of women, and socio-economic culture to develop the brand.

My Work.

Brand name // Research on socio-economic and political implications on the use of color // Typeface development Logo Design // Development of branding elements for business.

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is synthesized for visual appeal, independent of religious affiliation, and existential of cultural value.

Photo credit: Nishant Das

Concept of color in the context of tradition and culture South Asia is a region of intense, bold colors. The designer is natively from India, a country with an impressive diversity in religion, culture and history; where numerous traditional festivals throughout the year result in an explosion of colors in socio-urban context, consumer products, and apparel. These colors however, are unique to the festival, religion, politics, and the expression of tradition, culture, orthodoxy, and outlawed ‘norms’ that date back to centuries of social practice. Colors are also closely associated with religion in India - they are visually characterized by the clothing and its color and socially characterized through religious practices and beliefs. For example, bindi (‘bin-dē), a red dot or a piece of jewelry is worn on the middle of the forehead, especially by Hindu women is applied with a material called kum kum (‘kům,kům), which is made by mixing the spice turmeric with slaked lime.

Color however, is used in the psycho-receptive branding of Mayura Couture, a progressive fashion design company. By extracting the imperitive role color plays in visual tectonics when intertwined with tangible objects such as textiles, which in turn is deeply related to psychological appeal produced by the tactile nature of texture, the brand identity

Photo credit: Aneesh S

Photo credit: Krishna Studio

Four primary colors define the overall composition of the five major religions practiced in India comprising - Red & Yellow (Hinduism, Sikhism), Green & White (Islamic), and White (Jainism, Christianity). The triband national flag of India incorporates three of these colors complemented by a blue spoked wheel in the middle. Because the colors are so deeply associated with the identity and symbolism of the country’s culture, the brand’s color palette is conciously designed around the importance of color in daily life. Fashion plays an equally important role in Indian societal history and color has far-reaching impacts as conveyed through fashion, be it modern, classic, or traditional - making it crucial for a successful brand in India.

Furthermore, certain negative cultural perceptions of color must be navigated for a brand to be successful in India.

For example, in many parts of India, it was (in some places continues to be) believed that when the husband died, the widow must maintain a constant mourning state - she was compelled to don a white saree (traditional Indian women’s apparel) in perpetuity, was forbidden all vanity of jewelry, was forced into abstinence & solitude, and was not allowed to remarry.

In my conversations with the fashion designer Mayura Raman (full disclosure: my sister), we discussed the importance of the gender equality and freedom of women that Mayura Couture embodies, which therefore must express itself across religious divides, political bureaucracy, patriarchy, and misogyny that women continue to experience worldwide, with India as no exception. The brand boldly embraces these sociopolitical issues through the lens of beauty, race, and gender in the marketplace to empower women through fashion.

Photo credit: Claude Renault

UNBOXED LOGOS

c o u t u r e

M AYURA c o u t u r e

BOXED LOGOS

M AYURA c o u t u r e COLOR PALETTE RGB CMYK HEX PMS

255 153 51 0 40 80 0 FF9933 150C

PROPRIETARY FONT DEVELOPMENT

The textile industry has significant mechanization, digitization, and automation, driven by market demand and production cost efficiency. It is known that a majority of the critical labor by humans working in dehumanizing conditions in sweat shops in the industry are generally ‘invisible’ to the general public. The designer of this brand rejects such industrial approaches by promoting labor equity. To restore the sense of humanness that is deeply associated with fashion, I developed a handwritten typeface, to extend the designer‘s vision to create a human presence and emotional attachment between the consumer and the product.

RGB CMYK HEX PMS

217 0 0 15 100 100 0 D90000 3516C

RGB CMYK HEX PMS

19 135 8 86 0 94 47 138708 2258C

LOGO PROPORTIONALITY

0.4x 1.3x

0.7x 0.2x

1.0x

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DESIGN ITERATIONS: BUSINESS CARDS

PRODUCT CURRENTLY UNDER PROOFING: Digital proofing of this product is currently underway for content. Concurrently, the processes of hard proofing for color, substrate, and texture are being conducted, along with substrate selection processes that include hand-made papers, recycled composite papers, and linen-based substrates.

In the next pages the overall designed products for the brand encompassing the brand architecture is presented. Also, seasonal packaging designs coinciding with the various festivals in India are presented.

If you are reading this on a hard copy, make sure to check the updated online version.

Coffee Mug

Gift Bag

Apparel Packaging Box

Authenticity Tape

Shopping Bag (Regular & Hindu Festivals)

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Gift Box

Mobile Shopping App

Envelope

Product Tag

Tote Bag

Shopping Bag (Holi Festival)

Shopping Bag (Regular & Islamic Festivals)

Shopping Bag (Bridal)

Mayura Couture was launched in Spring 2021. I continue to develop materials for upcoming events and online presence.

All materials presented in this section are used with permission, within the definitions of international IP laws.

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SP RI N G / S UMMER 2022

WOMEN’S FASHION SHOW SU N DAY, F EBRUA RY 6T H 2022 2 :00 P M - Bengaluru

be s po ke wo m e n’s a p p a re l wi l l b e a va i l a b l e to o rde r exc l us i ve l y f ro m t h e r unwa y

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End of Document

Brand Development of Mayura Couture

by Morgan Raman Click here to go to the beginning of this Portfolio.