Korak Studio channel compassion, care and generosity in their illustrative identity for Go Dharmic

The story of NGO Go Dharmic began with the founder, Hemal Randerwala, walking the streets in the rain with a friend and a handful of bananas as they looked for people to feed. Compassion is the unwavering core of the company, which can be seen through its numerous social action campaigns and humanitarian projects in India and worldwide.

The team at Belgrade-based studio Korak worked with Go Dharmic, creating an identity system to help them in their noble mission. The NGO’s principles of openness, simplicity and sincerity led the development – resulting in a simple and welcoming illustrative visual language. The main concept was to represent the dharmic fundamentals of compassion, care and generosity. The ancient texts of India unanimously declare that, “dharma is love for all beings.” The call to “Go Dharmic,” is a universal call to serve, volunteer and help make our world a better place. 

With the message of Go Dharmic in mind, the team aimed to spread joy and sincerity through the illustrative elements – paired with a wide colour palette representing the charity’s diverse programmes. Korak Studio’s Creative Director Kosta Rakicevic tells us that the initial intention was to create forms that look “semi-abstract and resemble children’s drawing and cut-outs,” he notes, “simply because Go Dharmic’s projects at that time were focused on raising libraries and helping underprivileged children.” 

At one point, the team limited themselves to drawing each illustration for the charity in less than 45 seconds. This approach provided “raw” aesthetics whilst being simple and honest. As Rakicevic notes, “if GD is helping people to get basic things in life – we wanted to get basic enough with visual language.” The resulting illustrations – depicting birds, leaves and rainbows – call to mind the abstract works of Saul Bass and Henri Matisse – two iconic creators whose works the studio admired. 

The identity’s typeface, Fivo Sans Modern, was selected for its compatibility with the illustrations – due to its similar cut-out feel. The heavy sans serif’s unique character also makes it the perfect standalone typeface for headlines and posters, aided by its large ink traps.

Korak Studio

Go Dharmic