Gandhi Upmarket Indian Takeaway Branding
Mixing history and flavour with a contemporary twist; updating the brand of a well-established community focussed takeaway for a modern, sophisticated audience.
Gandhi is a popular well-established takeaway in West Bridgford, Nottingham.
It all began in spring 1984, Nurul Islam finally decided to take the first step and open his own takeaway at the heart of West Bridgford. He wanted to show his local community what his culture was about, his passion for food and mainly his love and aspiration towards Mahatma Gandhi.
Quickly a bond was developed between the people of West Bridgford and Gandhi. 33 years later Gandhi is still serving West Bridgford. After the passing of Nurul Islam, his wife and children have kept the legacy going in honour of their father and husband to continue his dream of spreading happiness through food.
However, time, styles and fashions were wearing on the Gandhi brand, so the family took the step to refresh the takeaway from top to bottom, from refitting the premises and improving the menu, to rebranding everything.
I worked with the family at Gandhi to create a modern brand that fitted with the vibrant and well-off local high street, helping the new Gandhi sit within a shopping district that included larger premium brands such as M&S food as well as lots of small contemporary independent shops.
The final design centred around a modern colour scheme with a bold dark grey accompanying a rose gold logo. This scheme was rolled out across the interior too.
We explored a number of options but pinpointed the desire to retain the dome shape featured in the existing branding, which had been part of the Gandhi brand since their father had started the enterprise. I was keen to avoid cliché with the design but determined to retain this link to the past.
The solution was to merge the dome with an idea I’d sketched for a simplified rangoli design. By repeating the main dome element I was able to form a traditional rangoli shape, an artful pattern often created for festivals on the Indian Sub-continent, one considered to bring good luck.
By using the dome restriction and applying it to the new shape, a clean contemporary design developed, meeting another desire to make the new brand suitable for the wealthy suburb where it was located.
The rangoli design is complemented by a sleek sans serif font, modified to look a little more exotic with a bold stroke joining the ascending letters of the G, h and d.
In combination, the brand mixes history and flavour with a contemporary look.
I rolled the brand out to a new set of menus and a loyalty card scheme with stamp.
The wider design sees use of the bold grey as well as flashes of the rose gold gradient to keep a high-end sophisticated feel throughout the take-aways offering.
If you’re in the area, I’d suggest giving them a try on 0115 981 7532, or check them out on Instagram at @gandhiindiantakeaway.
