Mother Tongue Design
Mother Tongue Design is a Mumbai-based, founder-led creative studio offering brand strategy, identity, packaging, and campaign design services to consumer brands and enterprises including Forest Essentials, VAHDAM India, Meta, and Netflix.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersMumbai, India
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Mother Tongue Design does
Mother Tongue Design is a Mumbai-based, founder-led design studio established in 2014, operating from Bandra West. The studio offers multidisciplinary creative services spanning brand strategy, identity design, packaging, digital/web design, spatial design, campaigns, and emerging media, serving brand founders, entrepreneurs, and medium-to-large organizations. Its portfolio includes category-defining work for Forest Essentials (a multi-year transformation into a luxury Ayurvedic beauty benchmark), VAHDAM India (seven-plus year creative partnership), P•TAL cookware, Maska Bakery, Soni Sapphire, Meta, and Netflix.
The studio operates on a professional services revenue model, generating income through project-based engagements and retainer relationships with brand clients. Its delivery model combines approximately 70% in-house strategists, senior designers, illustrators, and packaging specialists with 30% freelance collaborators for specialised projects. Technology is industry-standard creative tooling rather than proprietary platforms, with the most recent technical extension being generative AI applied to campaign production — notably the 2025 'In My Soni Era' AI-generated film trilogy for Soni Sapphire.
Go-to-market is relationship-driven B2B, leveraging the studio's public portfolio, client testimonials, and referrals to attract inbound from brand founders and medium-to-large organizations. The company is privately held, bootstrapped, and entirely founder-owned (Shruti Singhi as Founder & Creative Director), with no disclosed external investors, funding rounds, or parent entities. It claims a global market footprint through clients serving USA, UK, and other international markets, although operations remain concentrated in Mumbai.
Mother Tongue Design firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Mother Tongue Design
- Legal name
- Mother Tongue Design
- Website
- https://mothertonguedesign.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Mother Tongue Design is a Mumbai-based, founder-led creative studio offering brand strategy, identity, packaging, and campaign design services to consumer brands and enterprises including Forest Essentials, VAHDAM India, Meta, and Netflix.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Mother Tongue Design industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Brand Design Services
- NAICS
- Graphic Design Services (541430), Graphic Design Services (54143)
- SIC
- Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Industrial/Product & Furniture Design (BPAHAKAM)
Keywords
Where Mother Tongue Design is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Mumbai
- HQ country
- India
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices1 record
Markets served
Mother Tongue Design business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Design and Brand Services: Professional services revenue model providing multidisciplinary design services including brand strategy, identity, packaging, digital design, spatial design, campaigns, and emerging media. Revenue generated through project-based engagements and retainer relationships with brand clients.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels3 records
Mother Tongue Design product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Mother Tongue Design is a Mumbai-based multidisciplinary design studio that provides brand strategy, visual identity, packaging design, digital/web design, spatial design, campaigns, and emerging-media creative services to brand founders and consumer-facing companies. Engagements are delivered through project-based commissions and ongoing retainers, with a culturally immersive Indian design philosophy applied across the full brand lifecycle from strategic definition to packaging, retail, and campaign execution. The studio combines in-house strategists, senior designers, illustrators, and packaging specialists with freelance collaborators for specialised projects.
Product overview
Mother Tongue Design is a Mumbai-based design studio (ESTD 2014) offering multidisciplinary creative services spanning brand strategy, identity, packaging design, digital/web design, campaigns, and spatial design. Their service portfolio includes Identity, Strategy, Packaging and Production, Gifting, Website, and Campaigns. The studio has developed brand identities for multiple Indian brands across diverse categories including beauty (Forest Essentials, Pro Routine), food & beverage (Maska Bakery, Vahdam Spices, Luxmi Estates), cookware (P•TAL), children's apparel (Somersault), and jewellery (Soni Sapphire AI Campaign). Their approach emphasises culturally immersed design rooted in the Indian context, treating design as an evolving language shaped by context and culture.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Multidisciplinary Brand Design Services Core studio offering covering identity design, brand strategy, packaging and production, gifting, website design, and campaigns delivered to consumer brand clients across categories such as skincare, F&B, hotels, real estate, and personal care.
- Forest Essentials Brand Partnership Long-term brand strategy, visual identity, packaging design, gifting ranges, retail packaging, store experience, signage, and brand film for Vogue events for India's first luxurious Ayurveda brand.
- Soni Sapphire AI Campaign - 'In My Soni Era' AI-driven brand campaign for Soni Sapphire jewellery brand featuring a trilogy of AI-generated films exploring femininity and jewellery as emotional portals, across three worlds: sea farer, nymph, and gypsy eras.
- Maska Bakery Brand Identity & Packaging Brand identity and packaging design for a modern-authentic neighbourhood Bombay bakery, including custom identity inspired by Art Deco arches, brand mascot 'Joy', packaging, and visual & verbal language.
- P•TAL Brand Transformation Comprehensive brand transformation for India's first cookware brand honouring Indian craftsmanship, including brand strategy, positioning, architecture, identity, visual & verbal language, illustration development, scalable packaging system, UI/UX design, and e-commerce website.
- Somersault Brand Identity & Packaging Brand identity and packaging design for a children's apparel brand designed around childhood spontaneity, featuring custom balloon animal characters, a custom typeface, and growth-focused packaging.
- VAHDAM Spices Packaging & Brand Identity Packaging design and brand identity for Indian spices positioning for the global market, featuring kolam-inspired designs, colour-coded labels based on spice profiles, and modern-meets-traditional visual approach.
- Pro Routine Brand Identity & Packaging Brand identity and packaging design for a skincare brand at the intersection of science and lifestyle, featuring a manifesto-driven approach and visual language around self-care and self-love.
- Luxmi Estates Brand Rebrand Brand rebrand for a made-in-India tea brand for global markets, featuring minimalistic illustration style, region-based and functional tea nomenclature, and packaging with estate-specific flora and fauna.
Companies that use Mother Tongue Design
Customer profileNamed customers9 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Mother Tongue Design technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability3 records
Mother Tongue Design partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators2 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Mother Tongue Design competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Pentagram: Global partner-led design consultancy with a boutique-at-scale model. Competes for high-end identity and packaging briefs in consumer goods, though with far broader geographic coverage and a different operating structure.
- Landor & Fitch: Global brand consultancy with significant India presence offering brand strategy, identity, and packaging at enterprise scale. Competes for the same premium Indian and multinational brand briefs but with much larger teams and global reach.
- Jones Knowles Ritchie (JKR): Independent global brand design agency with strong CPG and packaging credentials. Directly competes for premium packaging and identity work in the same consumer categories Mother Tongue serves.
Regional players
- Mucca: Italian boutique branding and packaging studio with a comparable multidisciplinary, founder-led model serving premium consumer brands. Operates in a different geography but mirrors the boutique scale and creative orientation.
Direct peers
- Elephant Design: India-based multidisciplinary brand and packaging design studio with a comparable service offering (strategy, identity, packaging, digital) and similar premium positioning across Indian consumer brands. Closest direct peer in scale and category.
- Think Design: India-based design and innovation consultancy offering brand, packaging, and digital design to enterprise clients. Comparable in service mix and Indian market focus, though larger in headcount.
- Umbrella Design: Mumbai-based boutique brand and packaging design studio serving Indian and global consumer brands. Similar in size, geographic base, and service scope to Mother Tongue Design.
- Sagmeister Inc. Austrian/American boutique design studio led by a single principal with a small team, known for category-defining identity and campaign work. Closely analogous in founder-led, award-oriented boutique model and cultural depth.
- Manja Design Studio: Boutique India-based branding and packaging studio serving premium Indian consumer brands. Similar in scale, craft orientation, and target client profile (D2C, F&B, beauty).
- Lollipop Design Studio: India-based brand and packaging design boutique with a comparable craft-led, founder-led operating model serving Indian premium consumer brands.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Mother Tongue Design social profiles
Digital presenceMother Tongue Design financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Mother Tongue Design leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Mother Tongue Design funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Mother Tongue Design M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Mother Tongue Design
What does Mother Tongue Design do?
Mother Tongue Design is a Mumbai-based multidisciplinary design studio that provides brand strategy, visual identity, packaging design, digital/web design, spatial design, campaigns, and emerging-media creative services to brand founders and consumer-facing companies. Engagements are delivered through project-based commissions and ongoing retainers, with a culturally immersive Indian design philosophy applied across the full brand lifecycle from strategic definition to packaging, retail, and campaign execution. The studio combines in-house strategists, senior designers, illustrators, and packaging specialists with freelance collaborators for specialised projects.
Is Mother Tongue Design a public or private company?
Mother Tongue Design is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Mother Tongue Design founded?
Mother Tongue Design was founded in 2014. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Mother Tongue Design based?
Mother Tongue Design is headquartered in Mumbai, India, in the Asia region.
How does Mother Tongue Design make money?
One revenue line is on record: design and Brand Services.
Who are Mother Tongue Design's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Pentagram, Landor & Fitch and Jones Knowles Ritchie (JKR). Mucca is listed as a regional player. Direct peers are Elephant Design, Think Design, Umbrella Design, Sagmeister Inc., Manja Design Studio and Lollipop Design Studio.
Does Mother Tongue Design have an API?
No public API is recorded for Mother Tongue Design.
What industry is Mother Tongue Design in?
Mother Tongue Design's product category is Brand Design Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAHAKAM, Industrial/Product & Furniture Design. Its NAICS code is 541430 and its SIC code is 7330.