A beloved Pune snack shop was losing relevance with younger customers while its older regulars stayed loyal. We rebuilt the identity around a single tension — familiar, but not frozen in time and delivered a logo, packaging system, menu, and storefront that kept the shop's soul intact while making it legible to a new audience.

The brief (and the real problem underneath it)

The owner asked for "a new logo and a fresh look." After two shop visits and conversations with the family, the real problem surfaced: foot traffic was steady but ageing. Delivery apps were flattening the shop into a generic thumbnail next to flashier competitors. The brand had equity in the neighbourhood but no system — inconsistent signage, handwritten menus, packaging that varied by supplier.

The actual brief I wrote back to the client: Make the shop feel as confident online as it feels in person, without making it look like every other "modern" café.

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Outcome

Direct impact on sales increase | Opened 2 new brances in Pune | 500k+ viewership on social media | 2k unique followers

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Resreach

I ran the research track because the design direction depended on it.

What I did:

• 12 customer intercepts at the shop across weekday mornings, evenings, and Sunday rush three very different audiences.
• 5 long-form interviews with regulars (10+ year customers), new customers, and two who had stopped coming.
• Competitor audit of [3] Pune snack brands from legacy shops like [Ganesh and Kalyan bhel to new-wave players like Delhiwaale, Guptaji etc..
• Artefact study — old bills, an older signboard photo from the 90s, family recipe notes, wrapping paper.

What I heard that changed the direction:

1. Regulars didn't describe the food first — they described who they came with. The shop was a ritual object, not just a vendor.
2. Younger customers couldn't pronounce or remember the shop name confidently. That was a wayfinding problem disguised as a branding problem.

Identity decisions (and what we rejected)