Mrunalee Patel

Shakahari

Branding + Site Map and Floorplan + Elevations + Wayfindings + UI/UX

While researching organizations that provide food for those in need, we noticed that many meals are heavily meat-based. This inspired us to focus on offering nourishing vegetarian meals—because we believe people can be cared for without compromising compassion for animals or the planet.

As a lifelong vegetarian, this mission is deeply personal to us. Shakahari organizes community events that help fund and provide plant-based meals to individuals and families who may not have access to them. In addition to hosting these events, we grow our own vegetables to support our efforts.

Our location in the Douglas neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois allows us to serve the community directly. Half of the donations support growing fresh vegetables, while the other half helps prepare and distribute wholesome meals to those in need.

Brand:Shakahari
Industry:Event branding
Target Audience:Vegetarians and plant-based supporters, socially conscious consumers who value community impact, health-focused individuals, and Chicago locals who want to support initiatives that provide nutritious meals to those in need.

Vegetarian food is comfort food for your mind

- Mrunalee / Vegetarian Designer

At Shakahari, our inspiration comes from India’s deep-rooted vegetarian traditions and the belief that food should nourish both body and soul. For generations, Indian cuisine has celebrated fresh ingredients, bold spices, and plant-based cooking that brings people together.

Our goal is to share the warmth, authenticity, and comfort of traditional vegetarian food with every meal we serve. Shakahari is a celebration of wholesome flavors, cultural heritage, and the joy of eating vegetarian.

For the first round of sketches, I explored incorporating leaf elements to reflect the brand’s vegetarian identity and experimented with different leaf styles. Drawing on my experience with blackletter typography, I decided to maintain that aesthetic for the wordmark and experimented with integrating leaf-inspired letterforms within it, which is visible in sketch number 10. Since the brand represents an urban organization, I also explored concepts that included buildings and ways to visually suggest a garden environment. For the final concept, I selected sketch number 12 because the typeface best aligned with the direction I wanted to pursue, and the roof combined with leaf elements creates a distinctive and memorable logo.

Logo Clear Space & Minimum Size

To maintain the logo’s visibility and impact, always surround it with sufficient clear space. No text, images, or graphic elements should enter this protected area.

Clear Space (Live Area):

The clear space is calculated using the height of the logo (x):

Minimum clear space required on all sides = x / 2

Minimum size:

The logo should never be used smaller than 0.5 inches in height.

Color Palette

The Shakahari color palette blends green, deep blue, and saffron to create a distinctive and recognizable brand identity. These colors are the core brand colors used in the logo and are consistently applied across packaging, marketing materials, and digital communications. The logo should always appear in the official brand colors, or in black or white when required. The white version may be used on solid colored backgrounds to ensure clarity and visibility. In certain applications, the icon or the wordmark may be used independently. In all other cases, the complete logo should be displayed in its full form to maintain brand consistency.

Typography

The logo uses the Schwabacher typeface, chosen for its softer and more approachable feel compared to traditional blackletter fonts. For supporting materials such as ID badges, business cards, signage, and other graphics, the Seravek typeface is used in various weights. Because the logo font is highly stylized, a clean sans-serif typeface was selected for body text to ensure readability and balance across all brand materials.

Event location

I chose McCormick Place in Chicago, IL for the event in July because it provides the large, flexible space needed for all the planned guest activities. Since the venue is so expansive, I selected the North Building and reserved a single hall to comfortably accommodate the public while keeping costs manageable.

On the site map, the North Building is highlighted to show where the event will take place. Guests should park in Parking Lot A and walk through the concourse to reach the hall.

The image on the right shows the floor plan of the McCormick Place North Building. Since the event will be held in a single hall, the attached hall has been excluded for clarity. The floor plan is sourced from the McCormick Place website.

User Journey

I was drawn to the layout in the bottom middle image because it feels clean and easy to navigate. The top left design, with all the images arranged that way, feels a bit crowded to me. I especially like the minimalistic look and feel of both the bottom left and top right designs.

Event APP

With our app, guests can easily explore the event schedule, register for cooking sessions, and view or print their photo booth pictures. You can also discover healthy vegetarian recipes, save your favorites to your personal cookbook, and automatically generate a shopping list for the dishes you want to prepare. Everything you need is in one simple app—no need to search online for recipes.

Prototype