Chilipili LokaIdentity Design and Brand Development for a community kitchen within the Quest Learning Observatory. Chili Pili Loka is an open learning space for people to converse, discuss, debate and explore. Residing previously in the heart of Koramangala, it has now developed into a community kitchen, workspace and store as a part of the Quest Learning Observatory, in Kengeri.

Taking cues from its name, that translates to “where all kinds of birds gather” in Kannada, a comprehensive identity and brand system was developed that evoked a sense of lightness and play, much in line with Chilipili’s ethos.


CreditsNia Thandapani Studio, Quest Alliance & Chilipili Loka
Art DirectionNia Thandapani 
The intial branding exercise-to make sense of the concept of ‘coming together-ness’ involved developing early explorations of bird forms and formations that vaguely or directly corresponded to the Chilipili Loka idea. 

I spent a considerable deal of time in this process-drawing more than five hundred birds by hand, and taking great care to maintain their quality of being unfinished and child-like. An approximate group of fifty were selected from this enormous diversity of birds according to their form, distinctiveness, and consistency. The pattern that arose from this exercise, as well as the monogram, were intended to represent the notion of maintaining one's individuality but yet feeling a sense of community belonging.

The "Chilipili bird" was selected as the main mascot, with the rest of the birds forming a supporting pattern. A custom handrwitten logotype was also constructed to form the logo lock-up, drawing ideas from the form, curves and contours of the birds. The colors and other graphic assets followed a similar selection process. 

A comprehensive guidelines that aided application of future branding instances was also part of the scope of work. 
Chilipili Loka, from the kitchen to the store, was committed to being environmentally conscious and easily accessible. As we worked on the packaging, this was one of our main considerations. This resulted in the development of a method for sealing unbranded packaging material using branded packing tapes. In this way, the expenses associated with putting branding on something that was always meant to be primarily disposable were significantly reduced.

Using this method, the menu was also created. It offered flexibility for ongoing adaptation and modification with its straightforward layouts, various birds serving as accents to denote the many categories of items available (such as specials, lunch, high tea, etc.), and notepad-style distribution.

Additionally, I had the pleasure of working on a mini project within this larger project, which involved applying this chilipili loka identity onto a very cute auto rickshaw. From creating stencils using the autos measurements, to liasing with the production team to handle the painting and application, this was indeed a very sweet end to my contribution to this project. 

The current existence of the chilipili loka brand can be seen on Quest Learning Observatory's social media handles.