Child Central

Healthcare

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Brand Name & Logo Design

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On Going Communication

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Website

Story

The brand name and visual identity was developed for a team of leading pediatricians in Bangalore – Dr. Jagdish Chinnappa and Dr. Aruna Jagdish.

Backstory

Aruna and Jagdish were my first clients. They were my clients even before I started my design studio. They used to have a pediatric clinic opposite my house and when my daughter Isha was born in 2001, they became my doctors and adopted next door parents. In early 2002, Jagdish learnt of my advertising background while I was languishing as a stay at home mom, with a toddler in hand and another one on the way, and he asked me to design some posters for a new clinic he wanted to open in Koramangala. I had tons of Isha’s baby pictures, as do most newborn mothers, so I quickly did a poster campaign on Milestones – what changes to expect in the first year of a baby’s life. Aruna also started an infant daycare centre in the new clinic and it was a pleasure designing my first end to end project – Baby’s Day Out. I have been their in-house designer since. This also marked my entry into the medical fraternity, doing national and international medical conferences, working with hospitals (Manipal Hospital, NIMHANS) and leading doctors and promoting the best healthcare practices in India.

Jagdish and I were going back and forth on a name for his pediatric clinic and at one point he said that if I didn’t come up with something interesting, he would go ahead with his surname – Chinnappa. I made some joke and said make it ChinnaPappa, which means small baby in Tamil. He loved the idea and if anyone has the audacity to carry that brand name ahead, it would be Jagdish. Thankfully, ChinnaPappa was thrashed by Aruna and their daughter Madhavi. So I was back to the drawing board. Sundays were usually spent with the rain tree at Victoria for a lazy brunch and beer, and news broke that Victoria was to be sold to make way for a mall. Bangalore Central!

And so was born Child Central.

As an aside, Jagdish is half a designer himself, a bad one though, and I am half a pediatrician myself, a good one though.

What can I say about Aruna. When I was young and heady, I was often told to tone down my naturalness and model the behaviour of good girls. Better to be docile and submissive than to be aggressive and ambitious. I spoke loudly. I still do. My volume control doesn’t work. Coming from a woman, this is perceived as aggression. I didn’t negotiate my fee. I still don’t. My profit and loss calculations work. Coming from a woman, this is perceived as ambition. Rather than shrink in this smallness, Aruna showed me how to expand and occupy my space. Early on, she gave me a sticker that read, ‘Well behaved women seldom make history.’ This was to become the baseline of MGP India.

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It is a pleasure to work with Monica because of her unique insights into creating world-class design elements in whatever she does. In addition she is also extremely efficient and delivers ahead of time.

2002 – present