This is the story behind the chosen logo.

“This logo combines the Devnagari क and a foot, to bring together the auditory and the visual, the sound and the movement, the communion that is the basis of all dance.

The letter क (K) is for Kala Sahita. क is the first consonant and marks the beginning of all meaning. The story of the storyteller, the katha of a kathaka begins with the क. And finally, Kathak itself begins with a क and ends with a क.
The क of the logo represents the beginning alphabet of the language of dance, which all Kathak dancers learn. The क therefore contains within itself a whole history of kathak through the ages.

At Kala Sahita, the क manifests itself in the dance alphabet we learn, in the stories enacted in choreography, and the stories we make in class and take home.

The foot represents the close connection of Kathak to our feet. Kathak begins with the feet (tatkar) as our primary means of communication with the audience and of communion with the music. At Kala Sahita, the foot is the means to a journey; we take baby steps and grow together, we travel on our feet to new places in dance.”

Kala Sahita is a kathak dance school in Sanjay Nagar, Bangalore. Lead by two fantastic dancers and teachers, Kala Sahita knew exactly what their brand wanted to communicate. The design process was challenging, fun and creatively very fulfilling. It was also not the product of just one person, we really worked as a team to come up with something that rang true.

I’m very glad to also count myself a student of the school. This gave me a unique insight into what it means to part of the school and how to reflect that in the logo. All of us, students, and friends of Kala Sahita love how the logo turned out.

While I dabbled in several colours, we decided to stick with black and white for the logo and brand. That way, depending on the usage, for example, this green facebook ad for classes, the logo can change colour (into a dark blue, for example.)

The brand font I chose was Optima, a humanist san serif typeface that is clean but has personality, in an almost decorative way. The alternating thick and thin line weight of the typeface worked really well with the lines of the “K” Devanagari icon.

Dance is a vibrant form that relies on movement and colour. I made space in the brand to use and incorporate whatever colours are available in costume and lighting, into the creative itself.

For example. in the facebook post advertizing children’s classes, I picked colours from the costumes for the supporting text.

While the rest of the branded stationery (letterhead & envelope) is very stationery, the business cards are imagined a little differently.

I wanted to keep in mind that printing should be kept uncomplicated and at the minimum, so there is no colour in the letterhead or envelope.

However, the business card is a great tool to share snapshots of performances and classes. Printed in small batches, these can be made as and when the occasion arises. All that said, in this age of social media, we are fortunate to not need printed business cards anymore.

Here’s a snapshot of an old logo direction. The design is an abstraction of the ubiquitous bells worn around the feet of a Kathak dancer.

While we pursued this idea for while, it was abandoned for a less abstract but more instantly recognisable symbol.

This is the current design in use on Kala Sahita’s social media.

Every logo has a story behind it.

While this idea was abandoned, I’m proud of the story behind it.

Some colour and placement choices.

How are choices made while creating a logo?

It has to come from a story that means something for a brand. There are many angles and stories that can represent a single brand. This is one that didn’t make the final cut.