CHARI®WORKPLAY


Hello!

I’m Aishwarya Chari, a graphic designer and illustrator drawn to projects where research, narrative, and material exploration overlap. My practice moves between brand identity, editorial systems, packaging, and quietly odd personal work—paintings, hand-made crafts, and experiments with food, textiles, and found materials.

I’m interested in how place, memory, and everyday ingredients can shape visual systems, whether that’s through a slow, coastal magazine about Goa or a dashboard of data about what we eat. When I’m not designing, you’ll usually find me cooking, testing recipes, or making a mess with new tools and surfaces—all part of the same ongoing attempt to listen closely, then translate what I learn into thoughtful, grounded design.


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ABOUT



Education
Maryland Institute
College of Art
Graphic Design MFA
Baltimore 2026


Indian Institute of Technology
UX Design and Technology
Hyderabad, India 2024

MIT Institute of Design
Bachelor of Design
Pune, India 2021





Employment Maryland Institute
College of Art
Graduate Intern
Baltimore, USA
2024-2026

Beanly Coffee
Senior Graphic Designer
Delhi,India
2022-2024

MyMuse Wellness
Graphic Designer
Mumbai,India
2022

Sleepy Owl Coffee
Full Time Designer
Delhi,India
2021-2022

Eureka Moments
Graphic Design Intern Mumbai,India
2021

Clay Studio
Design Intern
Mumbai, India
2019



Skills
Brand identity systems, packaging design (CPG, F&B), design systems & guidelines, 360 campaign systems, typographic storytelling & layout, environmental and experiential design,, UX‑informed visual design.  

Tools: InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Figma, After Effects, Premiere Pro, Cavalry, Procreate, AI-assisted image and motion exploration.

Tools
InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Figma, After Effects, Premiere Pro, Cavalry, Procreate, AI-assisted image and motion exploration.




AwardsKnots - Balloon Sculpting
Kit Brand Identity
Communication Arts Awards 2025
Brand and Identity - Runner-Up






Last Updated 03.05.26






Fruit
Futures


Nine Lives imagines catnip as a small daily ritual shared between humans and their cats. The brand centers on the line ‘Catnip for every life your cat lives,’ translating it into three strengths and moods—each with its own color, iconography, and blend effect. I designed the wordmark, ornamental pattern language, packaging, and campaign headlines, focusing on a voice that’s playful, slightly mystical, and still premium enough to sit alongside boutique pet and wellness brands.”










Packaging
System



The Nine Lives packaging system turns three catnip strengths into a cohesive family of boxes that feel both whimsical and premium. The front keeps a consistent wordmark framed by swirling linework that literally ramps up in density from low to high strength, while the back uses a shared cat silhouette and modular info grid; color, icons, and the “Blend Effect” scale then shift to clearly signal each blend’s mood and intensity.












Year
2024

Mentor
Jeniffer Cole Phillips
Category
Brand Identity
Typography
Packaging System
Environmental Graphics
Overview
Nine Lives is a celebration of feline moods and rituals, seen through a typographic and ornamental lens, brought to life as a speculative premium catnip brand. The project begins with three strength‑based blends—low, medium, and high—each mapped to a distinct “life” your cat lives, from soft purrs to full chaos. Flourished linework, a characterful wordmark, and a tight copy system turn every box into a tiny narrative, inviting humans to read, smile, and imagine exactly how their cat will perform this particular mood.


Challenge
How do you bottle the weird, shifting theater of a cat’s day—naps, zoomies, side‑eye—and still deliver something clear, shoppable, and premium? The brand needed to feel whimsical without slipping into novelty, trustworthy enough to sit alongside boutique pet and wellness products, and flexible enough to differentiate three strengths while still reading as one coherent family on shelf and in campaign.


Solution
The system starts with the central idea—“Catnip for every life your cat lives”—and translates it into visual and verbal rules for each blend. Swirling linework hints at motion and mischief, while color, strength scales, and back‑of‑pack “blend effects” clearly signal intensity and intended mood. A refined, slightly mystical wordmark anchors the system across packaging, billboards, and social, so every touchpoint functions as both product and story: an immediate read from afar, and a quiet, nerdy cat‑lover’s universe up close, turning Nine Lives into a brand that treats each dose of catnip like a mini ritual between human and cat.