SCOPE OF PROJECT:
- Theme logo + Branding
- Packaging Design
- Art Direction
- Social Media
- Exhibit Design
Theme logo + Branding - Yard Tales
Theme logo + Branding - Santa’s Woodland
The Backyard’s 2025 Christmas carnival was themed around the North Pole and captured that winter magic at the Yard. The logo is a wordmark of the event name, along with the silhouette of Santa on a reindeer-pulled sleigh. For the event’s social media communication, live images of The Backyard were transformed into a cosy woodland through the use of generative AI.
Print Design (Bistro Menu)
Print Design (Burger Menu)
For their special Burger Menu launch, we designed a card to go along with each gifted burger box. Simple, line illustrations with minimal colours were used to represent the burgers and a quirky name assigned to each. The card was enclosed in an envelope designed to look like the rays of the sun, as the menu was launched in the beginning of summer.
Art Direction
With the play areas at The Backyard being an established and familiar space for the audience the communication strategy has shifted towards promoting the Bistro and all its new additions. The same is reflected in the art direction for the brand, which is now focused on capturing the epicurean offerings at the Yard.
Art Direction: Design Piñata
Photography: Harshika Tantia
SCOPE OF PROJECT:
Theme logo + Branding - Gingertown
The Backyard Gingertown, inspired by the story of the Gingerbread Man, was Kolkata’s very first sustainable Christmas carnival. The logo for the same uses a minimal font with an illustration of a gingerbread house in festive colours. The event also had its very own mascot called Gingy, the gingerbread man, along with various Christmas-themed illustrations. The print deliverables and social media strategy for the event struck a balance between informative and interactive.
Theme logo + Branding - Ice Cream Bar
The Ice Cream Bar logo is an extension of the main logo created in 2024. It was designed keeping the expanding vision of the brand in mind. The main logo of The Backyard is modified to show an ice cream cone peeking out.
Print Design
Packaging Design
Taking ahead the existing packaging for the brand, we envisioned new collaterals for the Bistro and Ice cream bar alike. Large hampers with mini boxes, containing treats from the Yard — designed in a manner to be practical, compact and attractive.
Art Direction
With the Bistro being heavily promoted along with the play areas, a shift in brand strategy was reflected in the design and marketing. The art direction now covers the Bistro and its dishes extensively, with the inclusion of more adults in the shots and the addition of slightly moodier lighting along with the usual sunlight-filled shots.
Art Direction: Design Piñata
Photography: Harshika Tantia
Social Media
Applying the elements of discovery, inclusiveness, and open-ended play to the social media strategy, we spotlight the various activities at the Yard. Bright colours and animated characters are used to add an element of interest to the digital feed, keeping in line with the tone of the brand.
Exhibit Design
For the newly opened Ice Cream Bar, we designed a mural wall using simple line illustrations and stick figures central to the brand identity. The mural is a happy and imaginative depiction of the space.
SCOPE OF PROJECT:
Theme Logo + Branding - Young Sharks
Young Sharks is an entrepreneurship and financial literacy workshop for children organised by and at the Backyard. For the logo we toyed with the idea of manipulated letters and turned the apex of the letter ‘A’ into the fin of a shark. Additionally, finance-themed illustrations were created in The Backyard style. The brand’s soft, pastel colour palette is complimented with clean and simple social media layouts. The overall branding is easy to engage with, and carry forward edition after edition.
Theme Logo + Branding - Waste Wizards
Organised by the Backyard, in association with Living Pink – Waste Wizards is a waste-management and sustainability workshop for the environmentalists of tomorrow. The logo unit uses a wordmark with the recycling symbol turned into a playful wizard hat and placed on the ‘W’ of the wizards. Illustrations were created, themed around recycling and sustainability in the brand’s signature style.
Art Direction
While capturing dishes at The Backyard Bistro, the overall set up is kept clean and organic, showing visitors being served or enjoying their meal. We also captured children in their natural element at the Yard — playing, giggling around and having fun together. The natural lighting and bright mood remain constant across all photoshoots done for the brand.
Photography: Harshika Tantia
Social Media
The brand’s social media allows a lot of room for experimentation with design elements. The communication strategy includes content, sharing with the audience the importance of stories, free play and how it supports the overall development of children.
Brand Identity
At the very heart of the entire brand identity lies the word ‘discovery’. The Backyard is a space with no set rules, where each individual is encouraged to find their way around the space, and play as directed by their imagination. Conversations with several children made us realise that they see the world rather differently from the way we imagine them to. Black is a ‘happy colour’ for them. This led us to choosing an unconventional colour palette and font selection for the brand. The stick figures have no gender, age or clothing. The tone of voice and the visuals have been created such that they are inclusive and adaptable. The term ‘Yardbirds’ was coined to refer to the children who visit the space.
Logo Design
Young Sharks is an entrepreneurship and financial literacy workshop for children organised by and at the Backyard. For the logo we toyed with the idea of manipulated letters and turned the apex of the letter ‘A’ into the fin of a shark. Additionally, finance-themed illustrations were created in The Backyard style. The brand’s soft, pastel colour palette is complimented with clean and simple social media layouts. The overall branding is easy to engage with, and carry forward edition after edition.
Print Design
We added multiple points of discovery to the yard — from staff uniforms to menus, interactive tablemats & coasters, and stationery designed for the brand. A special Spotify playlist was curated for the brand and printed across tablemats and menus, with the intention that you would walk away humming a tune that reminds you of your time at the Yard. The tablemats also became a space for us to get interactive – every word incorporated across these collaterals was written keeping in mind child psychology, while keeping the vibe interesting and enjoyable. At the heart of every print collateral was the feel good factor – if it made us smile, giggle, pause, or ponder, it made the cut.
Packaging Design
Taking ahead the colours & fonts chosen for the brand identity, the packaging concentrates on the use of words. The tone of voice for The Backyard is one that is comfortable, fun, friendly with a bit of tongue in cheek involved – capturing the way adults and young adults communicate with each other. The words and sentences used focus on the emotions evoked by food and the positivity it brings.
Art Direction
The set up for any photoshoot at The Backyard is organic – capturing the spirit of play and exploration. We started off by lensing the space and the people who brought it to life – the artists, designers and the inspiration behind it. Since the Yard has ample open space, we made use of the natural light available highlighting the bright and happy mood of the brand. A similar mood and setup is used for food photography as well.
Art Direction: Design Piñata
Space Photography: Quarter Melon Studio
Food Photography: Harshika Tantia
Social Media
The social media strategy focused on introducing the space to the audience — familiarising them with the concept of a sustainable free-play area, explaining the various nooks of the Yard and introducing the team behind the venture. A series of videos and posts show the sustainable materials used to bring the space to life. A conscious decision was taken to have a personal approach to the social media language. The same elements of discovery, inclusiveness, and open-ended play have been incorporated across digital creatives.
Website Design
Exhibit Design
The open air mural was created to add a splash of colour and a wall of imagination for the Yardbirds. Divided into 3 sections (sea, land, and air), it was created keeping in mind the concept of discovery. A coming together of the real and the imaginary worlds, the mural invites one to find and create their own stories as they stand before this wall.
Social Media
For their special Burger Menu launch, we designed a card to go along with each gifted burger box. Simple, line illustrations with minimal colours were used to represent the burgers and a quirky name assigned to each. The card was enclosed in an envelope designed to look like the rays of the sun, as the menu was launched in the beginning of summer.