That Madras Place

A quirky little bistro in Chennai serving continental cuisine, coffees, and a relaxed atmosphere for those looking for spending some quality time and food, The Madras Place is the place to hang out to the fullest. The identity for the brand, which was created by SMITTEN, therefore reflects the ambience and cuisine, with an informal typeface inspired by a string of spaghetti.

Task & approach

To bring a new dynamic to the environmental graphics of The Madras Place in Chennai, SMITTEN was assigned the task to illustrate one stretch of the wall in the restaurant with pop cultural and local cultural references while remaining on brand. With this approach, SMITTEN peppered the wall with illustrations in an informal ‘doodle’ style while connecting it across the room with the ‘spaghetti string’ anchoring the visual elements across the room to the brand.

Masala Times

Masala Times, a restaurant in New York City, serves Indian cuisines like rolls and biryani. The brand plays up a slightly kitsch visual identity, and connects its brand element—a star—to Bollywood-related content that caters to NRIs and fans of Indian culture.

Task & approach

Major task for SMITTEN in the environment graphic project of Masala Times was to create a graphic section separator within the restaurant that complements the interiors. Since the restaurant’s interiors worked with exposed bricks and natural material, the creative team of the design firm created a pop, typographic wall, portraying a visual break in the space with branded visuals and on-brand content.

Aromaflage

Aromaflage is a botanical fragrance cum insect repellent available in the US. This popular high-end product is common among travellers using it as a fragrance that repels bugs without usual clinical repellent smell. The product is made from natural ingredients, embracing natural living.

Task & approach

SMITTEN’s task in the project was to create a backdrop signage for kiosks that the brand Aromaflage would set up at exhibitions. In this, a vertical lawn was set up to highlight the natural ingredients of the product, and its usage outdoors. The logo of the brand was mounted over the grass, in a brass plated cut-out, to highlight the premium nature of the brand.

About SMITTEN SMITTEN is a graphic design studio and brand consultancy firm with its offices in New York, Dubai, Madras and Bengaluru. The firm boasts a creative team having a great mix of skilled graphic designers, copywriters, art directors, strategists and consultants, all under the aegis of Smita Rajgopal, founder-director, SMITTEN. The team is specialised in brand identity creation as well as other inventive tasks like brand logos and identities for startup companies across the world. So far, SMITTEN has been associated with a string of truly international clients, namely, Bacardi, Hindustan Unilever, Ashok Leyland, Taj, Panasonic, SD Corp, Mattel, Disney, among others. For more information, log on to: http://www.smitten.in or www.smittennewyork.com