Tara Banatwala

AboutEmailResumé

Previously,
@Studio Rodrigo @Landor 


Carnegie Mellon Class of ‘24
School of Design



Selected Projects      

+ explorations



1/Pushkar Camel Fair


A proposed identity for the Worlds Biggest Camel Fair to represent a bilingual audience. 
BRAND



Projects done during my time working for Brooklyn based design studio. 
BRAND/UI/UX



A self-started initiative creating CMU’s first thrift store with a mission for reuse, crafts and playful design.
BRAND


4/Design Hero


A multimedia project to commemmorate the work 
of the 93 year old Japanese Designer Kazumasa Nagai.

 
BRAND/UI/UX


5/How To Guide


A book written by me, about my anxious thoughts and worries.  
PUBLICATION

6/Kew Gardens


Rethinking visitor flows as a way of decolonizing the Royal Botanical Kew Gardens in London.
UX






TIMELINE:
1 monthROLE:
Conceptualize Brand Directions WITH:
Team, Studio Rodrigo, Cold Cuts
WHEN:
Summer 2023, New York

Our goal was to help rebrand the health startup, Sika Health, working to make HSA/FSA payments easier during checkout. Studio Rodrigo brought in Cold Cuts to help support the brand development. I worked on developing a brand direction. To my surprise, it ended up being the one that they decided to move forward with. Cold Cuts then worked to refine and help implement it in the customer space.










C

CLIENT QUOTE FOR CHOOSING THIS DESIGN DIRECTION:

Direction 4 was dynamic. We loved it early on especially as we were going through the word-mark, vision branding, and typography exercises. The colors are beautiful and play nicely off each other. The roundness of the word mark + typography was exuding the friendliness and wholesomeness of our brand.”












EXPLORING THE PROBLEM SPACE AND BRAND EXPLORATION





The original brand seemed outdated and detached.





There wasn’t a standard for the identity of the HSA/FSA badge. We aimed to create one becomes synonymous with the Sika brand.





I kept this in mind as I went through rounds of iterating various lockups and word marks.







Finally arriving on an adapted logo, giving it a fresh, fun look.








This was my first opportunity presenting my brand direction to a real client. It was scary to do! But I learnt a lot about the different work flows and client responsibilities designers must take on. I learnt lessons on quick iteration, trusting your intuition, and good communication with your team. Cold Cuts studio also taught me a lot about professionalism and working collaboratively. 





Thank you to Beckie, Nathan, Emogene, and Cold Cuts who patiently worked with me and helped me grow as a designer, and Ritik for trusting me with this wonderful opportunity.




PreviousNext