Images are respective brand’s properties, and are used here for illustration purpose The recent FSSAI notice issued to Lotte India over allegedly misleading packaging claims caught my attention, not because regulators issuing notices is unusual, but because this is Lotte. This is one of the world's largest food companies with decades of manufacturing experience, global systems and established quality processes. When an organisation of this scale receives a regulatory notice o

Image credits: https://www.bbwinc.com/ Across Europe and North America, the sustainability conversation has become incredibly granular. Brands are redesigning not just bottles and cartons, but caps, labels, gift cards and even the plastic sleeves wrapped around shipping trays. Bath & Body Works recently eliminated a seemingly insignificant polybag from its supply chain, while innovators like Blue Ocean Closures are investing in fibre-based bottle caps—proving that even the sm

In the last few projects, I’ve noticed a pattern that is hard to ignore. Clients and teams are coming in with references that look eerily similar. Clean beige packs. Minimal grids. Loud product names. A few health badges. A bowl shot. Repeat. Most of these are AI-generated. And now, they are no longer just references. They are shaping the visual direction of real brands on shelf. The recent Bingo Kitchen Style launch fits right into this pattern. It is well-executed. It is cl

On Music, Design, and the Art of Making Something Unforgettable A great song is like a logo. It works on you before you understand why. Neither one explains itself. It just lands, and you spend the rest of the day humming it, or remembering it, or both. Some of the most legendary musicians in the world understood this without ever being told. They did not just make music. They built entire worlds you could see as clearly as you could hear. It is the same instinct that drives

The way consumers discover, evaluate, and buy products has changed fundamentally. The retail shelf, once the sole arena of brand competition now shares that role with digital storefronts, e-commerce platforms, and the fast-moving world of quick commerce. A product is no longer judged only in the aisle; it is judged in a thumbnail, in a search result, and in a two-minute delivery window. In this new reality, packaging must work harder and smarter — performing across physical a

I popped into the neighbourhood mall the other day to buy a gift for a friend, and wandered into The Body Shop. The attendant walked me through the in‑store gift packs; nothing really clicked, and thoroughly bored, I was just about to leave. Which is when the store manager, clearly blessed with the gift of the gab, waved me over to their newest collection - Dew Berry. I smelled it, loved it, and before I knew it, he dropped the line, “It’s a limited edition - a comeback fro

Frugal bouquet & rapid sketch by a student candidate, stickers as a token of love from Tarundg, Tickets curtesy NID travel desk and admission cell There are some weeks that don’t just exhaust you—they rearrange you a little. I came back from six days of sitting on the interview panel for the M.Des Graphic Design program at National Institute of Design, and I haven’t quite been able to switch off since. Not in the way one recovers from long workdays or travel fatigue. This was

Background How do movements begin? It is a question that has stayed with me through different phases of my life — as a potter, a designer, and now as a Chief Creative Officer. Movements rarely begin with technology. They begin with attention. The trigger for this line of thought came when I encountered the work of the artist Hubert Duprat. His practice is extraordinary not because of what he makes, but because of how he makes it. He collaborates with living organisms — speci

Over the past year, a long-standing client of Therefore Design, a strategic packaging and brand design studio in India, has been actively exploring growth and diversification opportunities. Our partnership with the brand spans over five years, during which we have worked closely as brand custodians and strategy consultants. In this time, our work together has not only sharpened and amplified the brand’s visibility in the market, but has also contributed to a significant reven

In a world where markets shift overnight and technology rewrites long-held rules, leaders often feel compelled to keep running—to deliver more, scale faster, and stay ahead. Yet the most transformative year in my two-decade career came from doing something counterintuitive: pausing intentionally to learn. This year, I leaned into structured learning across global business strategy, social sector leadership, design academia, and AI-driven transformation.From the Stanford See

If you’re part of India’s thriving dairy industry, you probably already know that the country leads the world in milk production, climbing from 146.30 million tonnes in 2014-15 to an impressive 239.30 million tonnes in 2023-24*. *Source: https://www.pib.gov.in/ However, as milk production increases, so do the challenges that accompany it. Ensuring the quality of that milk all the way to consumers hinges on one critical factor: smart and compliant packaging . Studies over th

Tea. Once a valuable resource that had the potential to start wars, it now just implies that I can’t keep a secret. Tea has held a great...

Walking through the buzzing halls of Anuga Select India 2025, it was easy to sense the scale of change underway in the Indian food and...

It’s a mad-mad brand world out there. New products and startups launch almost every single day, each vying for its fair share of...

Over 9,000 years ago, a cat looked at a human settlement and said, “That’s a lucrative business partner.” Since then, cats have been an...

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to speak to a group of students and budding professionals on Succeeding as a Creative...

When you think of iconic brands like Coca-Cola, Nike, or Apple, what comes to mind? Most likely, their logos, colours, slogans, and the...

With increasing consumer awareness of environmental issues, brands must be mindful when making eco-friendly claims. The Government of...

The Power of Fixing One Parameter Creating a brand identity is an exhilarating process filled with endless possibilities. However, the...