Responsible Business India is a bilateral co-operation project between the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA), the think tank and capacity development institution set up by India’s Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the federally-owned German international cooperation agency for sustainable development with world-wide operations.

1. Responsible Business India
visual brand identity
Created by
Anuradha Altekar

2. The client
The IICA-GIZ Business Responsibility Initiative is a bilateral
co-operation project between the Indian Institute of Corporate
Affairs (IICA), the think tank and capacity development institution
set up by India’s Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), and Deutsche
Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the
federally-owned German international cooperation agency for
sustainable development with world-wide operations.

3. Responsible Business India’s mission, objectives
Develop an India-specific common understanding of business
responsibility.
Promote widespread adoption of responsible practices by
Indian companies.
Assist IICA in developing norms for practising and reporting
corporate social responsibility initiatives.
It is mandatory for India’s top 100 corporates to report their role in fulfilling
social, environmental and economic responsibilities as defined in the National
Voluntary Guidelines (NVGs) developed by the IICA-GIZ initiative, and released
by India’s Ministry of Corporate Affairs in July 2011.

4. The brief
To create a strong brand identity for ‘Responsible Business
India’. The identity should communicate and reaffirm the
IICA-GIZ’s joint mandate to raise, among India’s corporates,
consciousness and commitment towards sustainable
business practices and reporting on parameters defined in
the National Voluntary Guidelines (NVGs).
The identity will be used on the client’s offline and online
platforms namely the Responsible Business India portal,
social media sites, events, and literature.

5. The process
Open contest calling for logo designs
All entries screened by the project secretariat
Shortlisted designs reviewed by eminent jurists
Winner declared

6. The identity

7. Logo logic
The peacock is perhaps the most compelling visual
metaphor for beauty, grace and balanced poise, a symbol
of the Earth's precious fragility that is our duty to preserve
and protect.
Resplendent in India colours—saffron, green, and blue—
Responsible Business India peacock’s nine plumes allude to
the National Voluntary Guidelines (NVG) for sustainability:
ethics, transparency, and accountability; safe and
sustainable products and services; employee well-being;
respectful and responsive stakeholder engagement;
human rights; environment; responsible political
advocacy; inclusive growth and equitable development;
and consumer and customer value.

8. Jurists’ commendation
Anil Sinha
Mentor, Faculty of Design, and
member of the Policy and
Planning Committee, National
Institute of Design (NID),
Ahmedabad. Author of the
book ‘Ideating Identity’.
A fresh, memorable,
simple, inspired,
balanced visual
depiction of the
NVGs. Indian-ness
is clear without
being old-fashioned.
Very modern.
Nima Namchu
Head of Creative Services, Cheil
Worldwide, Nima Namchu has
worked with Sista’s Pvt Ltd
(now Saatchi & Saatchi), TBWA,
Leo Burnett, Capital
Advertising, McCann Erickson,
Publicis India and Contract.

9. The Designer
Anuradha Altekar is a specialist in brand transformation and
sustainability with nearly 3 decades of award-winning, highvalue multi-stakeholder communications at some of India's
most prominent companies such as Tata Steel, Dr Reddy’s
and Lupin. Since 2004, as co-founder of Ubiquus, she has
advised several businesses - ranging from start-ups to
international conglomerates - on brand identity, reputation
strategy and traditional and social media outreach and
analytics. She is an executive alumnus of IIM Kozhikode,
holds a master’s degree in economics from Pune University,
and is a post-graduate diploma in marketing management
from the Institute of Marketing Management, Delhi.