Case study · Naming, identity, touchpoints
PROJECT
Matriarch · invite-only fitness studio · case study made for a marketing agency
MY ROLE
Insight, naming, identity, merchandise and studio direction
SCALE
Wordmark, monogram, palette · Case study
TIMELINE
2026 · 1 week
HOW I GOT HERE
01 · THE GAP I FOUND
57%
of Indian women don’t get enough exercise, against 42% of men.
Lancet Global Health, 2024
5–7.5 hrs
a day go to unpaid housework and care for women in India.
Men give under an hour.
Time-use surveys, India
Every
gym I’ve trained in made me tone myself down: dress ‘decent’, skip the sports bra, I felt watched for lifting heavy.
My own experience
02 · EVERYTHING I WAS THINKING ABOUT
judged for lifting heavy
dressing ‘decent’ to train
black dumbbells that stain
nowhere to recover
women who hold everyone together
self-care feels selfish
strength, not toning
luxury = being looked after
↓ NARROWED DOWN TO ↓
A space that holds the women who hold everyone together.
serious strength × quiet luxury
03 · HOW I NARROWED IT
1 · Notice
Started with me. Judged for lifting, dressing ‘decent’, black dumbbells staining my gym wear mid glute bridge and nowhere to recover.
2 · Listen
Asked the women around me. Mothers, aunts, working women. Same story and they’re always last on their own list.
3 · Cut
Dropped weight loss and the ‘ladies batch’. Kept serious strength and being looked after as the goal.
4 · Build
Rose gold dumbbells, soft neutrals, deep wine, a recovery room, a premium feeling.
Every touchpoint says: this hour is yours.
WHY ‘MATRIARCH’
MATR-
from Latin mater, mother. The one who cares for everyone.
-ARCH
from Greek arkhein, to lead. The one who holds it all together.
A matriarch leads by looking after everyone else. The name gives her the title she’s already earned, and the studio is the one place that looks after her back.
04 · WHO SHE IS
Women, 28 to 55 living in India’s big cities. She trains or wants to but not somewhere that questions her body or feels intimidating. She’ll pay for quality. She just needs a reason to spend it on herself for once.
05 · WHY IT WORKS
Invite-only makes it hers: private, chosen, safe to be herself. Serious strength means she’s here to lift, not to slim down.A real recovery space makes it somewhere to slow down and meet women like her.
The tension
The research gave me the who and the why. The design problem was harder: how does a studio look strong without looking aggressive, and soft without looking fragile?
Pink reads fragile. Black reads aggressive. I needed the space in between: heavy equipment with a soft finish, a room that feels expensive but never loud.
The idea
One promise holds the brand together: when she walks in, nobody needs anything from her. ‘Built for her’ became the line that signs off every piece, from the invite to the tote bag that women love.
Building the world
A flowing script wordmark that feels like a signature, an M monogram that can be engraved, embossed or stitched and a palette borrowed from wine, skin and rose gold.
The M
Two strokes that hold each other up. Engraved on every dumbbell.
Colour
Powder Pink #B76E79, Light Red #E8C4C0, Linen #F7F1EA, on deep wine.
Cormorant
Garamond
Jost
Type & voice
Primary: for headlines, high-contrast and calm like the script.
Secondary: spaced capitals for labels and body, clean and steady.
Touchpoints
From the invite in her inbox to the tote she carries home, every piece is something she’d want to keep. Art directed by me, images generated with AI.
What I learned
© 2026 Kashvi Singhal