Jalan’s website on her exotic hand bags needed to reflect her approach to her work and to let her work talk while everything else takes the backstage.

London’s much argued logo for this year’s Olympics was born out of two words – Urban & Youth. Its’ jagged edges reflect dissonance and high energy. The Rio 2016 logo on the other hand, celebrates passion, transformation and the Cariocas. It’s fluidity, natural form and fusion paint an identity that reflects the Rio landscape and its’ people.

One might be tempted to compare the approach of both Wolff Olins and Tatil in interpreting the spirit of the games in context to the ideals of their country.

In spite of its’ mixed reviews, it is important to note that this years Olympic branding did cause a stir. Tatil’s design, on the other hand, does give you that feeling of this being the happy, momentous occasion. We feel, as though their initial sketches, had a raw energy, character and recall value that the final design seems to have lost out on.

So is it 2012 or 2016. Which one do you think works better?

Visit www.germany-and-india.com

Hercules is a popular bicycle brand targeted at teen and young adult males. It is from the stable of TI Cycles, part of the Murugappa Group. While we were initially approached to create product graphics, their success in the market led to a larger engagement, involving identity design, retail environment design, and sub-brand identities.

The new identity takes a bolder and more aggressive stance.

The symbol and typeface convey strength and agility, drawing inspiration from a lion’s mane and a shield.

The symbol has been designed for use as a crest on the bicycles.

The symbol can be applied to a variety of collaterals.

The identity for the JV brings together the elements from their respective individual symbols in a dynamic combination.

The identity programme covers various applications, ranging from stationery to signage.

Press coverage

1. Anthony Lopez spoke to Vinay Kamath from The Hindu BusinessLine: The challenge was how to get high recall for the entire group all over the country and project the intellectual wealth of the group. View the article

2. A. Vellayan, Executive Chairman, Murugappa Group expressed his views: We wanted to reflect a new vibrancy, new daring, new energy. We didn’t want to give up the peacock as that reflects our heritage and our values and beliefs don’t change but we wanted to contemporise it at the same time. The group’s peacock that has changed from blue to red now is to reflect group’s ambition of becoming a little more daring and adventurous. Quoted in  The Hindu BusinessLine and The Financial Chronicle

3. Articles covering the launch from The Economic Times, Management Next, CampaignIndia, Exchange4media.com, Yahoo Finance, and CommodityOnline

“The new branding exercise comes after a pan-India study commissioned by the group after drawing its near term growth plans. It was found that while the group was recognised for business ethics, the diverse businesses of the group were not known. The group felt the need to deepen the understanding with core customers and also to connect with future generation.”  View the article in The Financial Chronicle

The soft curves in the typography were inspired by the rounded curves of the Dravidian scripts.

Unveiling the brand, A. Vellayan, Executive Chairman, Murugappa Group said, “This contemporary rendition of the Murugappa Peacock is a sign of the Group’s global outlook and the dynamic targets we have set out to reach. Red as a colour embodies vigour, power, passion, drive, energy and is renowned for its excellent visibility. The clean lines and the unique lower case style in which ‘murugappa’ is written help connect with audiences through simplicity and elegance.”

The Murugappa Red is a personification of the brand’s energy and optimism.
The new brand logo is the first step in the group’s brand campaign reflecting its ambitious growth plans with the theme Energy Unbound.

The Corporate Identity Programme covers various details of the applications, including font family, letterheads (above) and employee access cards (below).

The Brand Manual clearly defines the visual relationship of the umbrella brand with the with group company identities.

Visit www.tiindia.com
View the Murugappa Group identity redesign case study

Above: A few templates from the website.

Below: A screenshot of the CMS showing tagged articles.

Lopez Design has been involved in Nomenclature, Identity and Interface Design of the website.

Press coverage: Business Standard. AlooTechie.com.

The homepage has an extremely minimalistic and de-cluttered feel, with a clear emphasis on the unique search and service offerings.

Standard metaphors were adapted in the HeadHonchos brand vocabulary for the icons across the site.

A muted color palette creates an understated feel on the website.

An existing reception which looked very dull and old-style is now revamped into a space which is welcoming and modern, yet not cold and unfriendly. The custom designed wooden furniture with the subtle, earthy fabrics, the white accents and the effect of light, both natural and white, add a touch of class and warmth.

The show-stopper installation created with 3 layers of printed glass slabs required tremendous design detailing and extremely careful handling during installation. The paneling is designed to take the weight of the heavy glass, and can be opened for maintenance.

The rigid and heavy wooden doors have been replaced by sleek glass and aluminum systems for greater transparency and an open feel. The white ceiling and flooring are accented by the bright modular graphics on the walls.

This department was previously a closed cabin office seating 12 people without a meeting space. The first challenge was to accommodate 17 people with larger work spaces, an executive cabin and 2 small meeting rooms in an area of 1800 sq.ft. When introducing an open office system, noise and disturbance was a major concern. After extensive research, a noise cancellation device along with the modular ceiling of a high NRC and carpet tiles were installed, which helped reduce the noise levels drastically.

A cubicle for senior executives.

A modular system was developed to showcase the various Rights of Children at the lobby landings across the facility. The system allows the client to update/replace the units and thus refresh the look periodically.

The B/W images in the passages contrast with the stark Cyan, Magenta, Yellow palette in the lobby ares, as shown above, while offering the same modularity.

The cafeteria has been transformed into a place with improved layout, acoustics, aesthetics, colours and furniture. A vibrant tree of life installation on the wall livens up the space. Apart from this, the acoustical ceiling helps reduce clutter and overall noise levels. Little details like the frost film on the glass, the table colours, the flooring, all make a huge difference to the cafeteria which was merely a place for lunch earlier, and is now a favorite breakout space for the staff.

The Basement Lounge: The basement was a dark and gloomy space and was mostly used as a store area. Comfortable furniture, ambient lighting, ethnic rugs and wall graphics have effectively transformed the space into an elegant lounge.

The extensive library has adjustable shelves to house books of varying sizes.

The mezzanine is made inviting with images of smiling children and the Rights of Children text.

A custom-designed room signage system in SS allows the staff to update the signages using regular printers, while adhering to the brand vocabulary.

The beehive pattern along the staircase was an ordinary grill, until we came along : ) Each of the slots was carefully fitted with colored glass that was cut to size at site and fixed with great precision by skilled labour.

Detail of the staircase installation that changes hues and casts colorful shadows at different times of the day.

Lopez Design has done extensive work for the development and not-for-profit sector and was able to create the India website in alignment with their goals. The website was developed in strict compliance with the international branding guidelines.

Visit www.usaid.gov/india
View more work for USAID India

Lopez Design helped USAID India set foot into Social Media territory.

USAID India Twitter page.

USAID India has uploaded an extensive set of videos on YouTube.

Almost a decade later, Sify realized the need for reinvention to connect with the customers of today, and tomorrow. A brand audit translated into a complete visual makeover for brand Sify. The purpose of the audit was to check if  ‘Sify the identity’ matched ‘Sify the brand’. The results made the solution fairly obvious for the client. One, that they needed a new identity and two, that we would be the design studio best equipped to design a comprehensive brand identity programme across all business verticals.

We simplified and standardized the complicated brand architecture.

The Sans is the house font for all applications.

The Brand Manual provided guidelines for designing the websites in line with the new identity. View details of Sify’s online makeover.

A detailed iconography covered all aspects of customer touchpoints, from retail to print and web.

The DAAD India Newsletter has been designed and developed with a custom CMS that allows publication in both English and German versions.

Alternate mastheads can be applied through the CMS.

The newsletter grid is flexible to accommodate various combinations of stories and images.

Interface design for the microwave ovens.

Interface design for the washing machines.

Standardized typography and the star mnemonic brought the various sub-brand identities under a common visual umbrella.

An extract from the Brand Manual.

Spreads from a handout created for IRC.

The new BSA identity as applied on a 2-wheeler crest.

Nomenclature, brand identities and visual vocabularies for the sub-brands.

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the creation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Lopez Design produced a compelling infographics-driven presentation  to commemorate key landmarks regarding the MDGs.

View the presentation

Sify Corp is one of India’s leading integrated Information Communications Technology companies. They helped define Internet and networking in India, pioneering services, infrastructure, processes and setting standards along the way. In the late 90s, Sify was India’s first private ISP with a dial up service, making Sify a household name and the kite identity ubiquitous.

The Brand Manual included specific instructions for online typography usage.

The scattered online properties were unified on a common platform.

A detailed iconography covered all aspects of customer touchpoints.

‘The New Norm’, the theme set for this year’s Designyatra is to encourage thinking beyond the conventional, on an individual level, as a design studio and as an industry. On day 3 of the event, Anthony shared his views and experiences about working with design as a strategic tool in India.

The Made in India label is going places

An alumnus of the National Institute of Design, Anthony is the CEO and Principal Designer of Lopez Design. Not the typical swash-buckling media person, Anthony is a reluctant public speaker and tries to get his studio’s work to speak volumes for itself. Perhaps that’s why he was chosen to be a part of a team of 12 Indian designers who represented the Indian design industry at the ‘Open Minds India’ programme in Netherlands last year.

It’s our time now

A man with varied interests ranging from basketball and jazz to business and politics, Anthony draws upon the rich mixed palette of experiences that life has to offer when it comes to providing design solutions. The studio is accordingly, composed of a merry medley of people from different disciplines besides Art and Design. This includes subjects like Political Science, Business Administration, English and even Malayalam literature!

India is the land of entrepreneurs

The German Embassy in Delhi needed a website for the German Information Centre, to cater to the South Asian sector. We delivered a website that follows the minimalist German aesthetic, with the information design taking precedence above all else. The project deliverables included information architecture, interface design and back-end CMS development.

Namaste and welcome to PwC Gurgaon!
The Hello Wall is a standard feature of PwC Receptions across the world.

We interpreted the PwC message of ‘connectedthinking’ as a series of puzzles, which tease you and invite you. These were supported by interactive games which enable viewer participation, and not just passive viewing.

In the Waiting Lounge at Bangalore, the visitors can spend their time guessing how each word relates to the number 6,  the floor number.

Yes, ‘bordeaux’ is connected to ‘republic’ by six degrees of separation.

The Texting Wall was initially launched as platform for motivational messaging, and has evolved into a vibrant forum for self-expression

Scrabble was a hit from the word go. This image was taken about 15 minutes after installation.

Connect-4 provides a welcome break from work.

Motivational messages dot the employee areas in Bangalore.

Icons from the global navigation.

Lopez Design has designed and maintained the USAID India website since 2005, including two redesigns.

Visit USAID India

A panel from the BSA Go Look Book

An extract from the Brand Manual

BSA Go Retail Stores

We have worked with Subhiksha on three in-house product lines:  Oral Care, Home Sanitation, and Instant Noodles. Being mass market products, with a multitude of competitors, each one was a unique challenge.

Dr. Beam identity, packaging and product graphics for the Oral Care line.

One of the three variants for the Dr. Beam line of toothpastes.

A distinctive blue pack with strong red branding helped Tacho get noticed on the shelves.

Zooooop! That’s the sound that you make when you slurp up these long noodles, and that’s the name we gave to Subhiksha’s in-house brand of noodles. Apart from nomenclature, we also designed the identity and packaging graphics for the individual and family packs.

STL, India’s second margest fasteners manufacturer,  is one of our earliest clients. In the course of our 10-year long relationship, we have created their brand identity programme, and reinvented their visual vocabulary twice. Along the way, we have created annual reports, websites, exhibition graphics, and a wonderful relationship of mutual trust.

Visit www.stlfasteners.com

The Brand Manual provides clear instructions for contextual implementation, such as on delivery trucks and factory uniforms.

A spread from the corporate brochure showcasing the product range.





A spread from the corporate brochure with factory shots.





The website carries forward the brand’s visual vocabulary.

View web + interactive work for Headstrong

Visit www.headstrong.com

For Headstrong’s branded environments, our brief was to reinterpret the brand and make it relatable, engage the users and bring a smile on their faces. The challenge lay in revitalizing the existing visual vocabulary, while communicating the corporate values. The elements eventually created were large scale wall graphics, room graphics, a wayfinding system, posters on mirrors and a user-driven digital display.

The proud baker formed the inspiration for the identity.

The visual programme covered all aspects of the brand, right upto distribution.

A merry mix with something for everyone – that’s the best way to sum up the trio of Environment Design projects done for EY. The projects became a reflection of the urban Indian mindset, with a mash-up of popular Indian culture and global references. The content research was possibly the best part of it, with some unexpected findings. For example, did you know that Tim Burton has a deep connection with our very own Aryabhatta!

On the Music panel, you will find Ilaiyaraaja next to Dylan and Baez, laid over a tabla beat.

The Sports panel accommodated a vernacular Scrabble and 70s Bollywood songs featuring Badminton along with Quidditch.

The Board Room installation is a tribute to Indian classical music.

The following double-panels are from a series featuring Indian Achievers, ranging from Amrita Shergill to Amartya Sen. The installations for this facility were driven by the theme of knowledge and the spirit of achievement.

This panel from the Mumbai series had type composed out of used tea leaves and discarded tea packaging.

The Pragati Calendar is a visual feast. Indian in spirit, yet contemporary in look and feel, it interprets the group’s corporate values with dance mudras and cites popular legends. Each sheet is a rich tapestry of images and typography, rendered with cutting-edge printing techniques, such as printing opaque offset white ink, overprinting on holographic film, foil stamping, and lenticular 3D effects.

In the wake of discrimination against children with HIV/AIDS in society, this was a collaborative effort between the Government of India, UNICEF and NACO. The theme of ‘I am not alone’gave new hope to children that there are people who care for them and fight for their rights.

This campaign advocated education for the girl child by showcasing real life stories of exemplary girl stars. The idea was to surge ahead ‘full speed’ and transform ordinary girls into extraordinary individuals.

The aim of the campaign was to increase awareness about HIV/AIDS among adolescents. Being armed with knowledge about the deadly disease is the best prevention against it. Accordingly, the theme of ‘Knowledge is Power’ worked very effectively.

A campaign for creating awareness about HIV/AIDS among youngsters by using sports stars as spokespersons. The ‘No defeat, no surrender’ theme was built around a sportsman’s ‘never say die’ attitude. The red ribbon wrist band or ‘Suraksha Bandhan’ was designed as a symbol of their commitment in the fight against AIDS.

A multi-media fundraising campaign for UNICEF used by the India country office to raise funds internationally for the ‘BCC Campaign’ which would contribute to state-wide results in 8 states in reducing infant mortality and malnutrition, improving sanitation and hygiene, and raising awareness about HIV and AIDS.

A collaborative effort for child protection and development, KCCI was a coming together of numerous organizations for a single purpose. The identity accordingly used a common Indian motif.

Visit www.headstrong.com

View more work for Headstrong

Flash Film (stills below) was developed to communicate the mission, vision, history and corporate philosophy to the visitors at the Reception.

The Digital Graphic Clocks are the interactive, community aspect at each facility. We created a Director-driven application that runs as on Plasma screens. With four columns displaying time and ever changing images in the background, it’s an abstract visual window into each city. A simple backend allows the employees to change the names of the city and update images accordingly, making it a unique community-driven display.

The CMS allows users to customize the images and time zones as desired, thus allowing the display to be run on large Plasma screens at their facilities across the world.

]]> http://www.lopezdesign.com/services/interactive/headstrong-com-and-new-media-displays/feed/ 0 http://www.lopezdesign.com/services/interactive/stlfasteners-com-gets-a-new-face/ http://www.lopezdesign.com/services/interactive/stlfasteners-com-gets-a-new-face/#comments Mon, 28 May 2007 11:19:31 +0000 saurabh http://www.lopezdesign.com/?p=950 STL, India’s second margest fasteners manufacturer, is one of our earliest clients. Over the years, it has become one of the leading OEM suppliers in India with a client base that spans leading automotive companies in India. The website featured below is part of the visual vocabulary redesign, taking inspiration from their wide range of standard, chassis, engine and special fasteners. The visualizations are bold landscapes using fasteners at an architectural level.

Visit www.stlfasteners.com

View the STL identity programme

IRG Identity and color palette.

The identity programme implemented on electronic (above) and print collaterals (below).

The website homepage.