A new brand language is emerging from India; culturally rooted, globally confident, and built with strategic depth rather than surface aesthetics. Mother Tongue Design, is a Mumbai-based, design-led creative studio helping shape this evolution.
Helmed by Shruti Singhi, the studio works at the intersection of brand strategy and cultural expression, building cohesive brand systems that extend far beyond logos or campaigns. Their approach is clarity-led; grounding identity in context and human behaviour, then translating it into scalable brand worlds across packaging, retail, digital platforms, campaigns, and emerging media such as AI.
As the creative force behind the brand language of ‘made in India’ brands such as Forest Essentials, Vahdam and PTAL, and partners to TATA, Meta and Netflix, Mother Tongue Design has helped define how contemporary Indian brands express depth, distinctiveness, and cultural nuance on a global stage.
Medianews4u.com caught up with Shruti Singhi, Founder, Creative Director Mother Tongue Design
Q. The aim of Mother Tongue Design is to build cohesive brand systems that extend far beyond logos or campaigns. What does this entail?
At Mother Tongue Design, we don’t see a brand as a logo or a campaign. We see it as something people live with, experience, remember, and carry with them. So we start by asking; what is the one honest truth at the centre of this brand? What does it believe? How does it behave? How should it make people feel?
We define that core clearly, right from the positioning and voice to the way the brand shows up, before we design anything. Once that foundation is strong, everything else follows naturally; the identity, strategy, packaging, website and the communication. When done right, the brand feels consistent and intuitive.
Q. Could you talk about work done with companies like Luxmi Estates, TATA, etc. that stands out?
What connects all these conversations is cultural choreography; i.e., understanding where people are rooted, where they aspire to go, and how a brand helps them make that journey.
With Luxmi Estates, the challenge was resonance and to reframe legacy as luxury. Here was a storied tea company with deep agricultural heritage operating in a global marketplace. Instead of softening its Indian origins, we elevated it. “Made in India” became a marker of craft, provenance, and enduring quality.
With institutions like TATA, the challenge was different. The equity and trust was already there, but familiarity can sometimes feel static. We wanted to give the brand a refresh and renew its voice so it could connect with younger audiences as well – presenting Indianness as forward-looking rather than nostalgia. We explored the idea of “pause” in contrast to the common narrative of India as chaotic, offering a more composed, confident visual and material language.
What stands out across both is depth of integration. Whether its localisation without dilution or evolution without losing legacy, clarity of positioning is what makes the difference.
Q. For 2026 what goals have been set and what is the gameplan to get there?
Our focus this year is on three areas: deepening strategic engagements, expanding sector diversity, and integrating emerging technologies more meaningfully.
We plan to get there by partnering earlier in the business lifecycle (at the strategy stage), and strengthening our work across hospitality, lifestyle, urban spaces/ spatial planning and products.
Q. The approach is clarity led. How has this helped the agency stand out over the past decade? What do you bring to the table?
Clarity has honestly been our edge. We don’t begin with how something looks; rather we begin with why it exists, what does this brand really want to stand for and what can it take authority on without hesitation? A lot of founders feel it instinctively, but it’s often buried under noise, competition, and expectation.
Our role is to sit with that tension and distil it. As brand architects, we bring clarity and intention to the core business, helping brands understand their own purpose and find the one steady idea at the centre. That’s where we start, and from there, everything becomes simpler.
Q. How has AI been integrated into the agency? Is it shortening the time taken to deliver work?
Internally, it helps us iterate and think faster. We use it to map patterns, explore directions, do market studies and identify gaps as well as test visual territories, more efficiently.
Externally, it has opened up new mediums for storytelling. For Soni Sapphire, instead of presenting jewellery as static objects, we used AI-driven films to build immersive, emotional worlds around each piece. The jewellery became a key and opened a portal into a mood, a version of self and a moment.
AI allows us to play with other mediums, dreaming beyond the canvas that we had. So yes, it has shortened certain processes but more importantly, it has also expanded possibility.
Q. The focus is on strategic depth rather than surface aesthetics. Are brands thinking of brand identity and design as being mostly about a logo still a challenge?
Yes, it’s still a challenge, but the shift is happening. For a long time, brand identity was seen as largely aesthetic. The encouraging shift now is that more organisations understand storytelling and brand systems. They’re beginning to see that identity goes beyond a logo or a colour palette and that it includes behaviour, tone, experience and culture.
With the conversation moving towards ‘what’s the intent behind this?’; everything deepens, that’s when brands start to connect directly with audiences and give people something they can see themselves in, resonate with, and return to.
Q. In trying to build a brand identity for Bharat rather than just for India what do companies have to keep in mind to succeed? How are culturally intelligent brand systems shaping the next chapter of Indian business and culture?
If India is a country on a map, Bharat is a collection of lived experiences, and to design a brand identity for Bharat, brands have to move beyond surface symbolism. It’s about understanding the layered identities be it language, craft, ritual, regional pride or aspiration, and respecting them.
Across all our work, we are conscious about authenticity. The new Bharat gives equity to many voices, and not just one narrative. With P•TAL, for instance, we didn’t start with how the metal looked. We started with what it meant, the rhythm of the Thatheras’ craft, the ritual of cooking, the feeling of holding something made by hand – and that depth is what gives a brand credibility. Here, it was all about the rootedness and craftsmanship. Representation has to feel lived, not appropriated or borrowed.
When brands are rooted in context (in real stories and behaviours) they resonate more deeply and travel further. Culturally intelligent brand systems are shaping the next chapter of Indian business because they can build that trust. And as Indian businesses expand globally, their distinctiveness becomes their advantage. Mother Tongue Design is betting on that future.
Q. With Forest Essentials the agency was shaping a brand identity that had no precedent. How was the challenge tackled of broadening the Indian mindset towards Ayurveda and what were the learnings?
In 2011 with Forest Essentials, we wanted to transform the perception of Indian Ayurveda from a homegrown do-it-yourself tradition towards positioning as a luxurious lifestyle practice. It became clear to us that we were creating a category and that this was not done before. We experimented with styles of art for the brand’s visual identity and set ourselves the challenge to broaden the Indian mindset about this ancient repertoire of knowledge and ritualistic care.
The challenge was reframing Ayurveda from nostalgia to sophistication. So, we focused on rituals, symbols of luxury, and potency of the ingredients, presenting Ayurveda as a practice – which is grounded and tactile. The key learning for us was that when heritage is articulated with confidence, perception shifts organically.
Q. How much research went into creating a brand language for Vahdam Spices to represent, refresh, and reinterpret the image of Indian spices on a global market, at par with other competitors, while still retaining the ethos of India?
Research for Vahdam was both hemispheric and human. We studied the brand and the market and everything from global spice narratives, culinary behaviours, export expectations, cultural associations, as well as observed how spices live in kitchens, markets, memories and habits.
Through this approach, we wanted to position Indian spices for the global market and so our strategy balanced modern minimalism with intent-driven storytelling.
Q. How difficult is it for a legacy company to rebrand itself to appeal better to Gen Z and Gen Alpha?
At Mother Tongue Design, we believe that design has to reflect a unique point of view and a core claim that a brand stands for. Once that is clear, the real challenge is bringing that out into the aesthetics, for instance across packaging, communication, digital behaviour, community spaces, etc. If there’s a gap between what you say and how you show up, younger audiences will see it immediately.
This generation is looking for experiences they can connect with and communities they can belong to. So the real shift isn’t cosmetic, rather about authenticity showing up everywhere, in a way that feels coherent and lived.
Q. What role does packaging play in driving repeat customers and building loyalty?
Eventually, packaging sits in consumers’ hands and homes, and when it feels intentional, it communicates trust and care long before the product is used. With Forest Essentials, for example, the packaging carried the idea of luxury Ayurveda.
The materials, detailing, and structure justified the premium pricing, but more importantly, they made the experience feel indulgent and deeply personal and timeless. As a brand, Forest Essentials, has claimed to be a custodian of Ayurveda in India, not just selling skincare, but offering rituals of luxury. When packaging reinforces identity and aspiration, it creates habit. And habit builds loyalty.
