kalā watch company
As a co-founder and head of design at Kalā Watch Co., I’ve had the privilege of blending contemporary watchmaking with the rich cultural heritage of India’s tribal communities. Kala Watch Co. was born from a mission to support and celebrate traditional art that seldom gets any credit for borrowed inspiration and art in today’s commercial creatie industries.
My work at Kalā spans across brand identity, product design, and visual storytelling. I led the development of our visual brand language, integrating motifs from each release in an ethical and modern aesthetic across our timepieces, packaging, and promotional materials.
I also collaborated closely with tribal artists to ensure authenticity in representation while providing them with a platform for sustainable income and global visibility in the form of commission and merchandise. This work goes beyond design for me. It’s about my long-standing goal of building a culturally sensitive brand that honours the traditions that already exist and are often ignored.
The launch is due in August and Kalā is currently an active WIP.
Inspiration pt. 1
This moodboard draws from vintage Telugu pulp novel covers and regional print aesthetics, capturing the raw, vibrant energy of mid-century South Indian visual culture. I curated it during the early branding phase of Kalā Watch Co. to inform a bold yet rooted identity, one that celebrates everyday Indian storytelling through color, illustration, and typography. The saturated palettes, hand-drawn forms, and layered textures guided our exploration of a watch brand that feels both archival and contemporary, echoing Kalā’s mission of reviving and recontextualizing traditional Indian art forms into timepieces.
Inspiration pt. 2
This moodboard explores the bold, maximalist spirit of Indian matchbox art, truck typography, and vintage packaging design. Again, it celebrates the unapologetic energy of everyday Indian design. Bright colors, playful layout, vernacular type, and imperfect printing textures. These references helped inform an expressive visual direction that contrasts and complements Kalā’s more restrained core aesthetic, grounding the brand in both sophistication and subcontinental vibrance.
key takeaways
While Kala is rooted in design, I don’t want it to scream design-company-oriented watches. I should feel homegrown, intimate, and human.
Sophisticated but sombre, playful but intentional.
Think vintage book covers, old-school posters, hand-drawn elements; things that feel analog, textured, and full of personality.
A balance of thoughtful, with character and warmth
No overly polished, corporate-looking campaigns OR heavy-handed branding or marketing fluff
No very obvious references to cultural symbolisms.
Initial Color Palette
PROCESS + EXPLORATIONS
Initial Explorations (not it!)
In the early stages of this project, I explored a bold, expressive colour palette (above) drawn directly from the vibrant moodboards we developed.
Electric deep blues, vivid greens, and punchy accents were designed to echo the spirited energy of our inspiration sources. The combinations were maximalist, aimed at creating strong contrast and layered visual impact.
However, as the visual system evolved, I noticed that while the palette was striking, it often competed with the form and narrative of the brand. The richness in tone sometimes overpowered finer details and didn’t leave enough breathing room for hierarchy or clarity.
So, I refined the palette (below) to preserve its vibrancy but introduce a sharper sense of structure. The new system retains key primaries from the original like the electric blue and luminous green, but pairs them with softer secondaries and more restrained use of accents. The result is a cleaner, more cohesive palette that better serves the brand’s personality and offers greater flexibility across applications.
Refined Color Palette
