Kaytra Brand + Packaging

A celebration of South Asian Beauty

To build a celebration of beauty through packaging.

Client

Services

AVA & AP Naturals Pvt. Ltd CARE (INDIA)

Secondary Research | BRAND Strategy Development | PACKAGING ARCHITECTURE BRAND ASSETS | PACKAGING DESIGN

A celebration of beauty through brand & packaging design

Kaytra, a brand under the AVA Group, was launched in partnership with India’s most celebrated beauty expert, Ambika Pillai. Rooted in Ayurvedic wisdom, Kaytra offers a range of skin and hair-care products crafted from natural ingredients. At the time of launch, the brand needed a distinct identity and packaging system that could translate its philosophy—“a celebration of Indian beauty”—into a modern yet authentic brand experience.

BRIEF

To build a celebration of South Asian beauty through brand & packaging design

The goal was to design:

A brand identity that merged the richness of Indian tradition with contemporary appeal.
Packaging that conveyed authenticity, premium quality, and approachability.
A visual language that could scale seamlessly across categories, reinforce Ambika Pillai’s endorsement, and resonate with a wide consumer base.

ACTION

Identity Design: Created a logotype blending Devanagari and Roman letterforms, symbolizing a modern Indian sensibility rooted in tradition.
Visual Language: Developed supporting assets, including a monogram stamp as a seal of authenticity and trust.
Packaging System:
- Illustrated hand-painted botanicals to showcase the core natural ingredients.
- Applied a luxurious purple palette to convey royalty and sophistication while maintaining warmth and earthiness.
- Added a personal note from Ambika Pillai to strengthen authenticity and consumer connection.

TASK

Develop a Brand and Packaging system positioning Kaytra as a distinct identity that could translate its philosophy—“a celebration of Indian beauty”—into a modern yet authentic brand experience.

DESIGN PROCESS

Design Execution: Balanced antique-style illustration with minimal modern typography, creating a timeless aesthetic. The system was designed to be flexible, adaptable across substrates, and scalable for different product lines.
Brand Building: Supported launch with Ambika Pillai’s celebrity endorsements, social media storytelling, and advertising campaigns to amplify reach and credibility.

An Indian Twist: a modern amalgamation of the Devanagari and the Roman characters

The new Kaytra identity reflects a modern amalgamation of the Devanagari and the Roman characters. The core identity, inspired by the earthy and natural surrounding, the essence of Ayurveda incorporated (in all things natural) in a new and unique organic typestyle. This is reinforced through supporting brand assets, a monogram stamp; the latter is used across the portfolio as a quality seal and mark. The visual language is a depiction of the core ingredients of the products beautifully illustrated to give it an earthy feeling.

A warm yet luxurious and royal colour (Purple) envelops the brand across touch points, capturing Kaytra’s true brand essence of Celebrating Indian Beauty through its natural products.

Traditional in its roots but modern in its approach

The product identity and packaging, utilized an illustrative style to communicate a hand-crafted sensibility. Drawing on the past for inspiration has always been a very valid technique to capture a sense of nostalgia and a more wholesome aesthetic. Nature has in its store some of the best solutions for all kinds of beauty related issues. Ayurveda our very own Indian science of medicine, hailing from ancient times is a storehouse of a number of herbal remedies. So it was refreshing to take cues from the past.

To surrender to the bounties of nature

The process began by first understanding the key components of the products i.e.; extracts of natural herbs, fruits, flowers etc. that were carefully handcrafted by the beauty expert herself.

This conclusion gave way to a journey which lead to a marriage between Kaytra’s USP (of all things natural) and its philosophy of being a celebration to Indian Beauty. The result was a packaging design which comprised of beautiful hand-painted ingredient illustrations and a personal note from Ambika Pillai.

IMPACT

Established a brand equity rooted in authenticity, Ayurveda, and the founder's reputation.

Delivered a cohesive and authentic brand identity that positioned Kaytra as a unique fusion of Ayurveda and modern Indian beauty.
Crafted packaging that stood out on shelves, resonating with consumers through its handcrafted yet premium appeal.
Established brand equity rooted in authenticity, Ayurveda, and Ambika Pillai’s reputation, supporting Kaytra’s test launch in Kerala and setting the foundation for broader expansion.
Positioned Kaytra as not just a product, but a celebration of inner and outer beauty, drawing strength from India’s natural and cultural heritage.

Antique-style botanical illustration finds the perfect modern partner in clean typography and minimal layouts

The design is very simple in its ideation and execution and is built from a few elements that have been wonderfully handled and laid out to deliver a very classic looking packaging solution that expresses a genuine sense of detail and craft. The illustrations have been intelligently crafted by hand, digitally enhanced and delicately styled to bring in old-world edge to sleek and modern packaging.

Co-heading Kaytra’s strategy and brand palette taught me
HOW design and business goals intersect.

This project highlighted the impact of strategic storytelling in packaging, where hand-painted botanicals and the founder’s personal note built authenticity and trust. It also underscored the value of designing a flexible brand system—from palette to illustrations—that could adapt seamlessly across substrates and categories, and the importance of collaboration, bringing strategy, design, and business perspectives together to deliver a holistic solution.

This project was part of a business collaboration through my entrepreneurial venture, where I worked as Co-Founder/ Principal Designer/ Strategist at TAN TA DAN DESIGN. Explore more projects