Lemon Design

Designing for ADI’s 20th Pune Design Festival
began with a simple question, what happens when a country becomes the lens through which design is examined?

The India Lens shaped the identity and visual language of the festival, drawing from the idea of the lens as a two-way device, not only how we look at India, but how India looks at the world, and at design itself. Blur and sharpness became core visual elements, a way to frame, distort, reveal and question, much like the realities designers navigate every day in a country defined by complexity and contrast.

The system was built to be modular and adaptable, extending across digital media, environmental graphics, merchandise and motion. At the venue, the language moved into space through large-scale installations, geodesic domes and mirrored interventions that invited reflection, shifting perspectives and moments of pause within the festival’s energy.

In a place as layered as India, clarity and ambiguity often coexist. This identity embraces both, holding design against the light of India’s many realities, and allowing new ways of seeing to emerge.

The foundation of this transformation lay in crafting a robust, scalable design system—one that balanced structure with flexibility, clarity with impact, and innovation with familiarity that is habit forming and easy to adapt to.

We reimagined every aspect of the on-screen experience, ensuring a seamless flow of information while maintaining a visually striking presence. Key elements like the Live bug were redesigned to feel modern, intuitive, and instantly recognizable. The OnScreen Motion Graphics were refined to ensure readability that is habit forming while integrating seamlessly into a new age visual language. The entire information architecture and wireframe was carefully mapped to optimize how viewers absorb news on-screen—placing critical updates where they matter most, decluttering and removing unnecessary elements, and ensuring a logical flow in every quadrant.

The intentional predominant use of white, with red and gold accents was done to reinstate Zee’s identity and recall while lending a sense of sophistication and credibility. The design language itself is digital-first, borrowing cues from the interconnected information networks, data flows, and hi-tech digital universes that define the modern news landscape. From typography to animation, the system ensures that Zee News stands out—not through excess, but through simplicity, precision, clarity, and unmistakable identity.

This wasn’t just about making something look good. It was about making news feel clear, accessible, and authoritative in an era of overwhelming information. (2/3)

Creative Direction:
Motion Graphics and Design:
Content & Strategy:
VizRT adaptation: