But imagery aside, what I was inspired by the most was what was sacred to her- the hibiscus flower. Of course, hibiscus tea already exists, so that was perfect! The only issue now was making a brand that wasn’t stereotypically me (think dark, gothic, witchy, perhaps even edgy).

It would be incredibly easy to fall into that trap, yet I persisted. Fighting my urges to make this ultra goth, I wanted to focus on Kali’s motherly, nuturing aspect, yet still having that fierce, almost snappy touch to her. The goal was to showcase her multifaceted nature, not to cleanse her of any “unpalatable'“ characteristics or ferocity. So with that, I set out to design a beautiful campaign.

Oh but this sketch, it was perfect. The tongue, the hibiscus flower, the everything! I knew I had to make this work in any way, shape or form I could. So I did.

Showing off my process a little bit, I wanted to showcase the two sketches that landed me to where I’m at now! At first, I really fell in love with sketch 7, but after some playing around with it, I leaned more towards something like 6. It just felt too dated, like it was a Sobe bottle (if you remember that brand).

The concept for this ad was to be a gentle reminder that Kali always wants you to nuture and take care of yourself, as if you were tending to the garden that is your body, and this drink (a representation of her) would help aid you in that way. This was also the pivotal moment where I developed a co-cause for this beverage… But more on that later, let’s get to my billboard!

Oh! Speaking of, here it is! This is potentially my absolute favorite deliverable because this is how I got away with drawing a figure-well, arms. I love being a smartass, can’t you tell? But hey! It worked out well. I imagined the can itself to be harnessing Kali’s energy, so in this billboard I showed off that idea by making the can her body.

Moving onto the non-print deliverables, I made a hoodie (mockup)! Honestly, I’d love to have this in real life. Maybe I’ll get around to actually doing that one day. Y’all want one?

Now… This stage design just about took me out. taking the tongue motif, I made it stretch across three screens and have it grasp a can of my lovely beverage. It was quite the challenge to get everything to where I wanted it to be, but through trial and error, I persisted!

Meet this absolute goldmine of a foundation; Swayam! This is a non-profit foundation based in India that helps survivors of domestic violence educate and empower themselves to lead fulfilling and happy lives. In my research throught this entire campaign, I was searching for the perfect organization work alongside Kali Maa in order to honor the goddess and give back to the beautiful country that developed the Hindu religion.

Well I made social media ads of course, and I went very illustrative with it. I think it’s cute! For the first ad, I talked about the more health focused aspects of the tea, pair it with a trendy song and badda bing badda boom, you got yourself an Instagram story.

Lastly, we have the tent! The idea behind this was to have Kali Maa come to the consumer, bringing free drinks, henna and- well you can read it. She’s a cute little pop up! At some point, I’d love to make some stickers to go along with this idea. Remember what I said about my co-cause? This is also a part of it! So with that being said, let me explain my idea.

Eventually, when I did come across them, I knew it was a perfect fit. Not only do they help DV survivors out of their situation, they teach them feminist literature, idealogies and practices in which they can empower, nuture and evolve themselves to be the best they can be. This is something I find resonates deeply with Kali’s message, as she teaches defiance, fearlessness, freedom and what it means to fight against those who opress you. Finding this foundation was such an amazing find, and I hope that this will shed a little more light on all of the wonderful work they do. But how did I show this?

Now for the second ad, this is where I touch on the collaboration with the Swayam foundation, as this is my secondary selling point for this can, I don’t want folks to think that this beverage was created for the sole purpose of being a part of thre Swayam foundation if that makes sense.