Retrace | Priyanka Khurana

CLIENT:

Pragati Group

INDUSTRY:

Real Estate

TEAM:

Parentheses Studio

ROLE:

Lead Designer

SERVICES:

Brand Identity

Publishing

Infographic and Data Visualisation

Copywriting

Illustration

Web Design

Retrace: Where Carbon Casts No Shadow

Pragati Group, in collaboration with 2+ Architects, introduced a groundbreaking project to India: Retrace. This self-sustaining, low-carbon luxury residential community harmonizes nature with people’s lives. The community is built around three core principles: carbon neutrality, community impact, and unparalleled luxury.

The challenge was to develop a brand identity that effectively conveys these visionary ideals while resonating with an audience accustomed to the utmost sophistication and luxury in life.

The designed identity should further be able to lend to an extensive publishing project, and translation of various academic processes undertaken at Retrace to ensure carbon neutrality, dealing with complex data and systems, and conveying these to potential buyers in an appealing way.

BRAND IDENTITY AND

VISUAL DESIGN

The Retrace logo is a wordmark built on the typeface "Dedale", featuring a period between the "Re" and "Trace". The period acts as a visual and linguistic pause, serving as a moment for reflection of our daily, carbon-intensive practices.

Additionally, the two syllables are visually distinguished using different weights of the Dedale typeface- the "Re" appears in a lighter weight, representing almost fading-away traces of the succeeding word.

EXPLORATIONS &

CONCEPTS

Earlier explorations for the visual identity involved treating imagery and graphics as "Traces", derived from the project name. The big idea was to visually use these trace effects to highlight the underlying carbon impact of our daily actions.

The proposed type usage was simple, with low-weight default typefaces like Times Roman, to carry forth the project ideals of simplicity, self-sufficiency and basic necessity. These default, low-weight typefaces could also be hosted on web to create websites with lower carbon footprints.

Visual trace effects involved experimenting with dots/ stippling, and halftone effects across illustrations, graphics and imagery.

ILLUSTRATION STYLE

A central element of the designed identity is the use of crosshatched illustrations, which serve as the primary graphic feature. These illustrations mirror the "skeletal" essence of the wordmark and subtly represent the hidden ecological footprint we leave in carbon through our daily activities.

Each stroke in the crosshatched pattern, when viewed as the whole of the image it forms, can also be seen as a metaphor for the collective impact of individual actions.

TYPOGRAPHY

The typographic treatment involves using two weights of the Dedale typeface, Light and Regular across all header and paragraph styles. The headers use both weights in tandem for impact and trace effects as needed. Footnotes are written in Minion Variable Concept.

PUBLISHING:

COFFEE TABLE BOOK

The primary outcome for the project is a Coffee Table Book to be circulated amongst the potential clientele.For these consumers, who are well-acquainted with luxury and possess a hefty real-estate portfolio, the book must encapsulate the vision of the residential haven that is Retrace. It must also translate the complex ideologies and processes thatmake Retrace first-of-its-kind in India, into easy-to-understand information.

With the audience in mind, Retrace’s intellectual aspects needed to be framed as appealing and desirable, shifting away from an academic tone.

The lifestyle at Retrace was presented by positioning self-sufficiency as the ultimate luxury.

The flow of the brochure was set unlike from a conventional real-estate coffee table book. The traditional industry-favoured sectioning was forgone in favour of value-based indexing.

INFOGRAPHICS &

DATA VISUALISATION

Over 200 spreads of raw data on electricity generation and consumption, water usage and conservation, food security, construction processes, accessibility, waste treatment, and more needed to be visually reimagined. The resulting visualisation were not confined to a single style but incorporated crosshatched illustrations, photographs, flowcharts, graphics, typography, and various other design elements, to retain freshness and engagement.

To provide visual contrast amid the dominant greens, a secondary illustration style and color palette was introduced, used sparingly yet effectively throughout the book.

Information was divided into primary and secondary categories, with much of the "secondary" content presented through supplementary booklets—one dedicated to each of the eight initiatives.

Focus was given on how to present the book in a luxurious exterior- experimenting with non-traditional cases and boxes.

signage and outdoor

Outdoor Advertising, Print advertising are crucial extension's to a real estate project's communications with potential clientele.

Retrace's identity was extended seamlessly to these touchpoints for effective communication.

DIGITAL DESIGN

In addition to the coffee table book, we extended Retrace's intellectual and personality into its digital presence. The illustrations lent to an interactive website experience, combined with rich academic content. The social media also fosters a sense of connection, reflection and community, creating an inviting space where users can learn and reflect.

Credits:

Design Team: Parentheses Studio

Copywriting & Research: Rough Paper Creative