Devika is an experienced user researcher who Deepak worked with on and off over the last 10-12 years. In April 2023, she approached us to see if we’d be interested in crafting a brand identity and a website for a user research conference she was planning.
To summarise the brief from Devika, the Indian research community was reeling from recent layoffs. Everyone felt a sense of uncertainty. This felt like the right time for researchers to come together as a community. To reflect, take a step back, learn, or unlearn to move forward as a discipline in a new and energised way.
Branding the event
Time was of the essence. The 3-day virtual conference was slated to go live in the first week of May 2023.
We got to work promptly. Deepak approached the project in an agile manner but consciously avoided shortcuts. Out of a bunch of naming options we recommended, Devika’s group picked RoohSearch as the name for the conference.
“Rooh” is the Urdu word for soul. Combined with “search” it forms the made-up word – RoohSearch, meaning soul-search that alludes to the stated goal of the conference which is reflection and soul-searching. What’s more, it phonetically resonates with “research”.
Lifting the spirits with a cheery logo mark and fun colours
Next, the visual system needed to create a sense of excitement and anticipation, bring about a sense of cheer.
The three options we further developed…
..and finally the chosen option in action!
Ultimately, a few kind words for Stoodio Iterati
“In addition to a great design sensibility, Deepak is a very approachable and collaborative designer.
I have enjoyed working with him over the years – I first worked with him, as a colleague at Yahoo! and most recently during a research conference (RoohSearch 2023) that was put together as a voluntary effort to strengthen and energize the user research community in India.
Despite being busy with his own new venture Stoodio Iterati, Deepak chipped in on coming up with an amazing name for the conference, as well as creating a design language and logo. In addition, he managed the effort to create a conference website. And all this was completed in an aggressive timeline of 2 weeks!
While we were blown away by his creativity, what stood out was his calm and assured manner of working with a rather chaotic set of volunteers and an aggressive timeline.”
–
Devika Ganapathy
Founder, Researcher, Anagram Research
Credits
Brand strategy, design direction, illustrations & copy:
Deepak Pakhare
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