Jagat Restaurant - Rebranding

Jagat Restaurant has been a household name in Nagpur for decades — one of the city’s earliest multi-cuisine family restaurants. Started by Jagat Sir and now run by his son and daughter-in-law, the place holds deep sentimental value for the older generation. But while the restaurant evolved operationally, the identity remained untouched: a hand-drawn logo made long ago by a close family friend. It carried emotion, but it couldn’t support the brand as the city grew around it, or as the family planned for expansion.

This rebranding started from a personal observation, a belief that the restaurant deserved a visual presence that matched its heritage and future ambitions.

Despite being well-known by name, the restaurant had no structured branding.
The identity was informal, inconsistent, and visually disconnected from the experience they offered. The founder was initially hesitant about any change, a reaction rooted in personal attachment, not resistance.

The core challenges were clear:

• Modernizing the brand without erasing the emotional connection
• Creating a system that respects its history
• Making the identity relevant to younger diners
• Building visuals that can scale as the business expands

The task wasn’t just to redesign a logo. It was to bridge the gap between legacy and relevance.

The direction focused on keeping the essence intact while bringing clarity and structure. I aimed to create an identity that would feel familiar to older customers yet visually compelling to the newer generation.

Key considerations:

• Retain the spirit of the original red — tied to food, spices, and the founder’s memory.
• Design with empathy — honoring the emotional weight of the old mark.
• Build a system, not just a symbol — something that could expand to signage, packaging, and other materials.
• Understand the family’s perspective — through conversations, moodboards, and transparent design reasoning.

This balance guided the entire visual development.