Saamuhika Shakti -

How do you improve the quality of life of waste pickers?
How do you build a resilient and systematic change in the waste management ecosystem?

Kaboom, a social impact creative agency was approached by The /Nudge Foundation to create a Brand Identity for a campaign that strives to bring a positive change through collective action amongst the waste pickers of Bangalore in India.

The branding exercise was a highly collaborative exercise with 8-partner organisations focussing on various aspects of the campaign, providing key insights that proved crucial to creating the identity.

As the first part of the identity, we arrived at the Indic name; Saamuhika Shakti, which translated to 'The power of the Collective'. Since waste pickers form a community, the campaign strives to bring a positive change through collective action.

The solution is a modern and bold statement that clearly states ‘with and for the waste picker’. This logo is inspired by the shape of a garbage heap. A heap that comes with a negative connotation has been turned on its head to create a positive metaphor. The colours that are a spectrum of greens bring a positive connotation, that is vibrant and holds within itself the change that the campaign strives to achieve. The guideline and design system stresses upon the fact that Saamuhika Shakti represents a collective and not an individual. It is a collaboration build on respect and trust. Therefore, it is never about the ‘I’ and always about the ‘we’.