Priya Cement is one of the leading cement brand in South India marketed by Rain Cements since 1986. It supplies cement in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. Priya Cement had been in the market for 30 years and at this milestone, they wanted to take the brand to the next level.
It started with an in depth understanding of the cement manufacturing process, from the mines to the loading dock
As we studied the brand in detail, we realised that the brand presence was pretty inconsistent resulting in to a poor recall. Also, the dealers were not feeling motivated enough to push the brand in the market. So, we had to give it a complete revamp than just an overhaul. It needed a new face, an aggressive stance and a strong positioning which would be an evolution of its current positioning.
After some rigorous brainstorming sessions, we mutually agreed on something that we all felt had ticked all the check boxes : the strength, durability, quality and purity.
PRIYA CEMENT : LIVES FOREVER
When it came to creating a pictogram / symbol we picked something that is immovable, indestructible and a guiding point : The Pole Star
5 corners of the star stand for the 5 elements of nature while the trowel becomes an integral part of the design.
Everything seemed easy until we got in to creating the multilingual word marks. Since the brand majorly catered to the artisans and builders from the small towns, it was necessary that they felt the brand was easily approachable. Considering the market Priya Cement operated in, we had to create word marks in 8 regional languages.
The challenge was that there is not one type family which works across all the Indian scripts alongside Latin, exceptions being Ek Mukta (by Ek Type) which covers majority of the scripts while still adding some new ones and the recently added NOTO (by Google and Monotype).
So, we literally sketched out each word mark to match it with the Latin character styles, after all, all the logos had to look like one family. Thanks to Ek Type team for their timely guidance in the critical situations.
Understanding the styles of the latin typeface Merriweather Sans
Application of the style in the regional word marks
English | Telugu | Hindi | Marathi
Tamil | Malayalam | Oriya | Kannada
Full set : Identity in 8 regional languages
Testing the ease of painting the identity on walls (Hand painting the logos on walls is a common ritual across India)
Testing the backlit signages for the low light visibility
Test prints across different materials to ensure consistency
From 8-10 different bags catering to different markets, we came down to just 2 standardised designs across the states
