ChhattisKala: umbrella brand creation, identity, imagery system and packaging for a state rural livelihoods mission

ChhattisKala ·

A state full of makers, and no single name the world could recognise them by.

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A state full of makers, and no single name the world could recognise them by.

TypeUmbrella brand creation

MomentIgnite

CategoryPublic and social

ScopeName to district rollout

Delivered in alliance with PwC, ChhattisKala is the official umbrella brand of Chhattisgarh, a flagship initiative of Bihan, the state rural livelihoods mission. It gathers the craft of artisans, the produce of farmers and the enterprise of women's self help groups under one identity.

State branding fails in a specific way. Thousands of producers, hundreds of products, dozens of districts, and no central marketing team to hold any of it together. An umbrella brand does not fail because the logo is wrong. It fails because nobody downstream knows how to use it.

Disciplines

Brand strategy
Naming
Brand story
Manifesto
Values
Stakeholder mapping

The manifesto

We are the voice of the unseen hands ·

(04) The imagery system

Four categories, so thousands of people can shoot one brand.

Most state brands ship a logo and hope. The harder problem here was photography, because the pictures would be taken across hundreds of districts by people who will never meet a design team.

01Expression

Pride, never pity

Front, three quarter and side angles in soft natural light, with expressions that read as confidence rather than need.

02Pose

Community at work

Groups connected by eye contact or a shared task, each person given presence, never crowded into the frame.

03Background

Lived in, not staged

Village homes, fields, community halls and craft studios in earthy tones, with modern clutter kept out of frame.

04Making

Process over product

Hands mid stir, mid weave, mid fold, so the making is visible rather than only the finished object.

(07) What changed

A state's craft, given one name.

One identity, many districtsArtisans, farmers and self help groups now reach market under a single recognised brand rather than dozens of unconnected local labels.

A photography grammarFour imagery categories give hundreds of people a consistent way to shoot the same brand with no central art direction.

Bilingual from day oneDevanagari sits as a second primary rather than an afterthought, so district and national communication carry equal weight.

Build note · Confirm before publishing. Written clearance to name Bihan, the Government of Chhattisgarh and PwC. Self help groups onboarded, producers, SKUs live, retail and e-commerce listings, districts covered and revenue returned to members