The article below is a selection of edited excerpts from a series of conversations the Vaastuyogam team had with him in Delhi, Ahmedabad and Canada:- What is “Image”? Your image is many things, but most importantly, it is what you want to project yourself as to the world at large. You have an idea of what you are and what you want and where you want to go. You want this to be conveyed. Unfortunately, how you dress and how you carry yourself comes in the way. The co-ordination between your personality and your style is your image.

Read more

Flipkart.com is India’s first billion-dollar· valued Internet company. It was started as an online bookstore in 2007 by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, former employees at Amazon.com, Inc. Flipkart later introduced electronic items such as mobile phones, televisions, cameras, laptop computers and home appliances such as refrigerators and vacuum cleaners. The Bansals have since been feted at home as poster boys for entrepreneurial India, establishing their company, Flipkart, as a leader in the fledgling Indian e-commerce market. Flipkart is now India’s biggest online bookseller, with over 10 million titles distributed from warehouses in five cities. It has branched from books into...

Read more

This article makes an attempt at understanding the significance of the color Green and its use in corporate logos. Green is primarily associated with nature and the environment. When we talk about “green technologies”, we mean scientific advances that are renewable or environmentally friendly. Green also represents positive values like growth, newness, freshness, fertility, healing, and safety. On the other hand, green also represents a few negative ideas like jealousy (you’ve heard the term “green with envy”), illness, and...

Read more

CORPORATE LOGOS I am proud to introduce Corporate identity and  Logo specialist Mr. Khantil Mehta. Our team met him at his Ahmedabad office. Excerpts from the interview :- “The Logo is all about shared ownership.” - Khantil Mehta

Read more

I am proud to introduce Corporate identity and Logo specialist Mr. Sapan Jhaveri Excerpts from the interview with Sapan Jhaveri The logo is the principal fulcrum of corporate identity. If there is no logo, there is no corporate identity. It does happen, especially with smaller companies, that the name itself is the identity. The font and typography they choose for writing the name will suffice in the beginning. However, if companies want to grow, they will need...

Read more

Fiat was the largest automotive company in Italy – a position it has retained since. Fiat was the largest automotive company in Italy — a position it has retained since. Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino, more commonly known as Fiat S.p.A. is an Italian automobile manufacturing company based in Turin and established in 1899. Fiat has held a leading role in the automotive industry since its inception at the dawn of Italian industrialization. From the moment they first appeared on the market, Fiat automobiles have been extensively developed...

Read more

IBM is 100 years old By a celebratory coincidence, IBM turned 100 years old on June 16 2011, the same year that it passed $100 billion in sales. Unlike HP and many other Silicon Valley start-ups, IBM start in 1911 was not in a garage but with the merger of four companies that became the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. In 1924, the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company adopted the name International Business Machines Corporation. In 100 years, the company has gone from selling cheese cutters and punch-clocks to laptops and supercomputers. It has been...

Read more

Networking and Internet giant rides high on a unique logo Cisco Systems is the world leader in manufacturing Network-related equipment. An extremely successful networking company, Cisco was present when the Internet was emerging. It was there before the Internet took off as a giant industry and it grew with the Internet.  Its devices, routers and switches are the backbone to a large percentage of the structure of the Internet. In addition to organic growth, Cisco also expanded through the acquisition...

Read more

Introduction Apple Inc. has revolutionized personal computing since its founding in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Ronald Wayne and Steve Wozniak. For more than 30 years, Apple Computer has introduced ground breaking products and accessories that truly defy the technological barriers. It has now become one of the world’s most famous computer brands and has introduced innovative products such as iPods, Macintosh, QuickTime, etc. The first Apple logo was designed by Ron Wayne, co-founder of...

Read more

Colours evoke feelings and represent ideas. In logo designs, knowledgeable and appropriate use of colour is critical. Most people are unaware of the power of colour – but few are unaffected by it. We begin this year – as we did the year before – with a special essay related to colour and its uses in corporate logos. Last year we spoke briefly on the colours Red, Yellow, Blue, Orange and Green. This essay...

Read more

This article examines the changes to the Airtel logo and the ensuing fallout . Airtel, now; has a new identity, complete with a drastically changed new logo and, for the first time, a separate symbol. A new television campaign, shot in Prague with models fresh out of acting school, is on air; its international look and feel is unmistakable. The old Airtel logo has more or less been replaced at all shops and billboards in the country, television shows, cricket fields et al. Airtel has...

Read more

In our last essay on Corporate Logos, we saw how the Rupee symbol was a part and parcel to national pride and a component of the Brand India building exercise. This essay explains to the reader the new wave of protection of Geographical Indications in India that is gaining momentum. In India, the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 came in force with effect from September 2003. What is Geographical Indication? According...

Read more

A Daunting Design Task To Say The Least. “I shall not now speak of the knowledge of the Hindus… of their subtle discoveries in the science of astronomy – discoveries even more indigenous than those of the Greeks and Babylonians – of their rational system of mathematics, or of their method of calculation which no words can praise strongly enough – I mean the system using nine symbols. If these things were known by the people who think that they alone have mastered the sciences...

Read more

Power Companies of India-2 Transmission & Distribution This article is in continuation of the essay: Logo Power – Power Companies of India which appeared last month. In that article, we had focused on the logos of power generation companies. Here we talk about the logos of companies engaged in the transmission and distribution of electricity in India. The total installed power generating capacity in India is over 148,700 MW and the total number of consumers is over 144 million. Apart from an extensive transmission system network which was developed to transmit power from...

Read more

In this essay, we shall restrict the discussion to logos of power generation companies. The logos of companies into the business of transmission and distribution of power will be discussed in the July 2010 issue. The electricity sector in India is predominantly controlled by the Government of India’s public sector undertakings (PSUs). Major PSUs involved in the generation of electricity include National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) and Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCI). Besides PSUs, several state-level corporations are also involved in the...

Read more

Logo Power And Indian Corporate Biggies. State Bank Of India State Bank Of India, SBI With 11,448 branches and a further 6500+ associate bank branches, the State Bank of India (SBI) is the largest bank in India. According to Forbes the SBI is the 29th most reputed company in the world. With more than 21000 ATMs across India the SBI ATM network is the biggest in India. In recent years, the bank has sought to expand its overseas operations by buying foreign banks. It...

Read more

Logo Power And Indian Corporate Biggies. WIPRO   WIPRO About Wipro Wipro (an acronym of “Western India Palm Refined Oils”) started as a vegetable oil trading company in 1947 from an old mill at Amalner,Maharashtra,founded by Azim Premji’s father. This company later became Wipro Products Ltd, Wipro Technologies and Wipro Corporation. Under Premji’s leadership Wipro embarked on an ambitious phase of expansion and diversification. The Company began manufacturing light bulbs with General Electric and other consumer products including soaps, baby care products, shampoos, powder etc. In 1975, Wipro Fluid Power business unit...

Read more

Logo Power And Indian Corporate Biggies. L&T – Larsen & Toubro Larsen & Toubro (L&T as it is popularly known) is a technology-driven engineering and construction organization, and one of the largest companies in India’s private sector. It has additional interests in manufacturing, services and Information Technology. The company is synonymous with top-class quality and it is this that has enabled it to sustain leadership in its major lines of business across seven decades. With factories and offices located around the country, further supplemented by a wide marketing...

Read more

One of Dr. Ravi Rao’s novel but consistent wizardry  has been his special understanding of corporate logos and the role their colors and design play in the success of a company. The Corporate Logos is a series of researched essays that throw light  on various aspects of logo design and includes case history etc on the backgrounds of  famous company logos. This article essays, one of Dr. Rao’s   favorite logo battles – the Pepsi vs  Coke story as seen from the angle of their logos and the colors used. In all my speeches and essays on the subject I have always stressed...

Read more

Logos represent a special achievement. They are a compact vehicle to communicate complex messages. Logos embody specific qualities that connect with and linger in the minds of the intended audiences. They employ appropriate and supportive typography, and are imbued with a color sense that resonates with viewers. Colors make a great impact on product selling, marketing and advertising in physical as well as virtual world. In logo design, color selection presents a challenge. In fact altering the color choices changes what the overall composition communicates. When the colors change, the message changes, too. Color offers an instantaneous method for...

Read more

Videocon is on an expansion and acquisition spree. It is moving towards global positioning, acquiring new real estate, changing its work culture and throwing out old systems. Looking at an aggressiv multi-fold growth with an emphasis on technology, quality, innovation, value and services penetration, Videocon Group has unveiled its new eco-friendly green brand identity and tagline: ‘Experience Change’ Videocon (annual turnover of US$ 4.1 billion) is an Indian multinational with interests in consumer electronics, home appliances, colour picture tube glass, and oil & gas. It was founded in 1987...

Read more

Procter & Gamble  (P&G) is a Fortune 500, American multinational that manufactures a wide range of consumer goods.  As of 2008, P&G is the 8th largest corporation in the world by market capitalization and 14th largest US company by profit. It is 10th in Fortune’s Most Admired Companies list (as of 2007). William Procter, a candlemaker, and James Gamble, a soapmaker, married sisters, Olivia and Elizabeth Norris. Alexander Norris, their father-in law, called a meeting in which he persuaded his new sons-in-law to become business partners. Thus, on October 31, 1837, as...

Read more

Tata is one of the oldest and best-known groups of companies in India. The group takes the name of its founder, Sir Jamshedji Tata, a member of whose family has, so far, almost invariably been the chairman of the group. The present chairman is Ratan Tata , who took over from the justly renowned J.R.D. Tata in the 1990s. In terms of market capitalization and revenues, Tata Group is the largest private corporate group in India and has been recognized as one of the most respected companies in the world. It has...

Read more

The company was founded in 1891 by Gerard Philips, a maternal cousin of Karl Marx, in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Its first products were light bulbs and other electro technical equipment. Today, we are all used to seeing the name ‘Philips’ in uniform capital letters and in a sans-serif font. It may appear in different sizes and colors, but the basic shape of the seven capitalized letters is instantly recognizable wherever in the world we encounter it. However, the exact form of Philips’ shield emblem and the Philips wordmark was defined in...

Read more

It was on November 29, 1945 that Bajaj Auto came into existence as M/s Bachraj Trading Corporation Private Limited and started importing two and three-wheelers in India.  In 1959, it obtained license from the Government of India to manufacture two – and three-wheelers and it went public. Over the last decade, the company has successfully changed its profile  from a scooter manufacturer to a manufacturer of scooterettes, scooters, motorcycles and three-wheelers. According to the authors of Globality by early 2000 Bajaj had grown operations in 50 countries by creating a line...

Read more

The Story Of The Re-launch Of Thums Up The Indian soft drink beverage market is dominated by Coca-Cola India and PepsiCo. The market had grown over the years to become the third largest consumer of beverages after the US and China. The fact that the per capita consumption of soft drinks in India remained among the lowest in the world added to the high growth potential of the market. Since the 1990s the market had witnessed many price, distribution, and advertising wars between the two cola giants as they...

Read more

Amazon.com is a pioneer in the online retailing business. The company was founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 and began as an online book store. However today Amazon sells anything and everything under the sun including CDS, DVD, Baby Products, Furniture, electronics, clothes etc. You could say that they sell everything from “A to Z”. The Amazon logo represents the very same message that they sell everything from A to Z and the arrow below the logo represents the smile that customers would experience by shopping on the Amazon.com website. When people began...

Read more

It was 2004 and the Sunder Group was restive. It had drawn up growth plans. Yet, some   nagging loose ends were causing loss of sleep. Enter Dr. Ravi Rao who was introduced by a close friend. The successful Vaastu turnaround story of the Sunder group will be featured separately in a couple of months. This article takes a look at the logo that was designed for the group by an Ahmedabad based designer under Dr. Rao’s direct supervision. The Sunder group logo was designed keeping in mind the growth potential of the...

Read more

From athletic shoes to sports equipment and from apparel to accessories, Nike has revolutionized the sportswear industry. Endorsed by superstar athletes like Michael Jordan, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, the Williams sisters and many more, Nike is complimented by its mission of ‘bringing inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world’. Simple, Fluid and Fast. These are the words used to describe the “Swoosh” in the Nike logo that has become one of the most recognized symbols in the world. The Nike SWOOSH logo represents the wing in the famous statue of...

Read more

Introduction The GTL logo was designed by an Ahmedabad based design house under the direct supervision of Dr. Ravi Rao. The Company Part of the Global Group with a total group turnover of over 1900 crore,  GTL Limited is a public limited company , offering services and solutions to address the Network Life Cycle requirements of Telecom Carriers and Technology providers. The Brief In early 2002 the company was looking for a image make over that would showcase not just its identity but also its aspirations and size. The brief was to position the company...

Read more

The Company Founded by Karl Friedrich Rapp in 1916, BMW AG is a leading manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles in the world. It is based in Munich (state capital of Bavaria), Germany. The name BMW AG stands for Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft, or Bavarian Motor Works/Company in English. The company was BMW is also the parent company of the MINI and Rolls-Royce car brands. The Logo The BMW logo is one of the world’s most recognized symbols that exemplifies class, personality and sophistication.The logo reflects the origins of BMW as a...

Read more

Dr.Ketan Shukla and his wife Dr.Ridhi Shukla elaborate here how Vaastu intervention in the logo design of their mobile hospital magically solved all their problems. Dr.Ketan: I personally designed the symbol Dr. Rao only added Dr.Riddhi:We had started a new project of a mobile unit for removing stones from kidney without surgery. It was a unique project in as much as we were the first to launch it in India. The machine that removes the stones is very costly and therefore only the big hospitals can...

Read more

Lindon Leader senior director of Landor Associates, San Fransico, designed the current FedEx logo in 1994, replacing the original one done by Richard Runyan in 1973.The  logo has a right-pointing arrow located in the negative space between the E and x. While the arrow becomes quite obvious when pointed out, most people don’t   notice it otherwise. The arrow has been occasionally pointed to as a mild form of subliminal advertising symbolizing forward movement and thinking. The brand consultants convinced the company to shorten their corporate name and logo from “Federal...

Read more

Is there more to Corporate Logos than meets the eye? How does one define a logo as “good” or “bad”? In this new series, Dr. Ravi Rao de-mystifies the occult issues underlying the design of Corporate Logos. Perhaps the most startling and gripping facet of Dr. Rao’s practice is his wizardry in the matter of Corporate Logos. He has – in a manner of speaking – cracked the color code complying with Astrological and Vaastu tenets. By altering or fine-tuning the logo to Astro-Vaastu principles Dr. Rao has swung the fortunes of many companies for the better.

Read more

Mr. Jayesh Shah is the leading Plastic Processor in East Africa. He is heading Sumaria Group in East Africa. In the recent Interview with Vaastuyogam, he shared some of his experiences with regard to logo and Vaastu. Excerpts: Tell us something about your company’s logo? We took long time in developing our group logo. We realize that the logo was strain and it was not showing right spirit of our group. So we decided it needed a branding that will clearly and cohesively present the company’s features on the...

Read more

Read more

What is the definition of ‘Logo’ and how does it impact the corporates or businesspersons worldwide?  The understanding of corporate logos will be easier when the definition of this term is clear. The origin of the term ‘Logo’ can be traced to Greek ‘Logogram’ or ‘logotype’signifying a graphic portion, symbol or an emblem that is meaningfully prepared.   A logo always displays the mission or core values of a specific company or product(s). A logo is a design that...

Read more