ITC Sunrise
ITC Sunrise
ITC Sunrise
Designing the digital presence for a legacy spice brand expanding beyond its home state.
Designing the digital presence for a legacy spice brand expanding beyond its home state.
Designing the digital presence for a legacy spice brand expanding beyond its home state.
Project Overview
Sunrise is a spice brand under ITC Ltd with over 40 years in the Indian market and a loyal customer base in West Bengal, India.
In 2025, the brand was expanding into states of Assam, Bihar, and Jharkhand, markets where it had the product but not yet the recognition. The website needed to do the work of introduction: communicate what the brand stands for, surface the range while educating the consumer, and give new users a reason to explore and return.
This was not a transactional problem. It was a brand consideration problem. The design had to build familiarity and trust with an audience that had no prior relationship with Sunrise.
Sunrise is a spice brand under ITC Ltd with over 40 years in the Indian market and a loyal customer base in West Bengal, India.
In 2025, the brand was expanding into states of Assam, Bihar, and Jharkhand, markets where it had the product but not yet the recognition. The website needed to do the work of introduction: communicate what the brand stands for, surface the range while educating the consumer, and give new users a reason to explore and return.
This was not a transactional problem. It was a brand consideration problem. The design had to build familiarity and trust with an audience that had no prior relationship with Sunrise.
Sunrise is a spice brand under ITC Ltd with over 40 years in the Indian market and a loyal customer base in West Bengal, India.
In 2025, the brand was expanding into states of Assam, Bihar, and Jharkhand, markets where it had the product but not yet the recognition. The website needed to do the work of introduction: communicate what the brand stands for, surface the range while educating the consumer, and give new users a reason to explore and return.
This was not a transactional problem. It was a brand consideration problem. The design had to build familiarity and trust with an audience that had no prior relationship with Sunrise.
Project Type
UX/UI Design
Year
2024
My Role
Experience Designer
Client
ITC Sunrise
Audit Findings
Audit Findings
We audited the digital presence of every major competitor in the Indian spice category. The pattern across the board was similar: product-heavy layouts, low visual coherence, and little sense of brand identity. For a category built entirely around sensory experience (colour, aroma, origin, tradition), the gap between what these brands are in a kitchen and what they look like online was significant.
That audit did two things. It confirmed the opportunity for Sunrise to differentiate through design. It also raised the stakes: if Sunrise was entering three new markets, the website could not look like every other spice brand. It had to feel like it was made for this audience specifically.
The site’s primary audience is in tier 2 cities and accesses the internet on mobile. All layouts, navigation patterns, and interactive components would be designed for mobile first.
We audited the digital presence of every major competitor in the Indian spice category. The pattern across the board was similar: product-heavy layouts, low visual coherence, and little sense of brand identity. For a category built entirely around sensory experience (colour, aroma, origin, tradition), the gap between what these brands are in a kitchen and what they look like online was significant.
That audit did two things. It confirmed the opportunity for Sunrise to differentiate through design. It also raised the stakes: if Sunrise was entering three new markets, the website could not look like every other spice brand. It had to feel like it was made for this audience specifically.
The site’s primary audience is in tier 2 cities and accesses the internet on mobile. All layouts, navigation patterns, and interactive components would be designed for mobile first.
Visual Direction
Visual Direction
We presented two routes.
The first was clean and product-led: white space, vibrant photography, a minimal UI that put the product front and centre. It was credible and safe, and it would have worked.
The second drew from the visual culture of eastern India: warm, high-contrast, rooted in the colours of the region’s festivals, spice markets, and everyday kitchens. It was a stronger strategic choice for a brand trying to build recognition with a specific regional audience. Generic “trusted food brand” aesthetics would not have meant anything to a first-time Sunrise user in Assam or Bihar.
I recommended the second direction, pictured below. The palette of turmeric yellow, deep red, forest green, and burnt orange gave the interface warmth and cultural legibility. It also gave Sunrise a visual identity that was genuinely distinct within the category.
We presented two routes.
The first was clean and product-led: white space, vibrant photography, a minimal UI that put the product front and centre. It was credible and safe, and it would have worked.
The second drew from the visual culture of eastern India: warm, high-contrast, rooted in the colours of the region’s festivals, spice markets, and everyday kitchens. It was a stronger strategic choice for a brand trying to build recognition with a specific regional audience. Generic “trusted food brand” aesthetics would not have meant anything to a first-time Sunrise user in Assam or Bihar.
I recommended the second direction, pictured below. The palette of turmeric yellow, deep red, forest green, and burnt orange gave the interface warmth and cultural legibility. It also gave Sunrise a visual identity that was genuinely distinct within the category.
Typography
Typography
Helvetica Neue was used across the site. This was the font in the brand's existing guidelines, but it worked for the case we were building too. With a palette and photography this expressive, the type needed to stay neutral. Introducing a more characterful typeface would have created noise rather than adding anything. The visual weight was already carried by colour and imagery.
The heading treatment gave the typography its personality instead. A horizontal line sits above the first letter of each heading, borrowed directly from a Sunrise logo element. The first word is set in regular weight and the remainder in bold, a pairing that reflects the brand’s own tension between heritage and momentum. It gives every heading a consistent rhythm across the site without introducing a second typeface.
Helvetica Neue was used across the site. This was the font in the brand's existing guidelines, but it worked for the case we were building too. With a palette and photography this expressive, the type needed to stay neutral. Introducing a more characterful typeface would have created noise rather than adding anything. The visual weight was already carried by colour and imagery.
The heading treatment gave the typography its personality instead. A horizontal line sits above the first letter of each heading, borrowed directly from a Sunrise logo element. The first word is set in regular weight and the remainder in bold, a pairing that reflects the brand’s own tension between heritage and momentum. It gives every heading a consistent rhythm across the site without introducing a second typeface.
Icons
Icons
The icon set was designed around a semicircle form borrowed directly from the Sunrise logo. Every icon in the system carries this element. It is a subtle detail, but it meant the UI and the brand identity could speak the same formal language.
The icon set was designed around a semicircle form borrowed directly from the Sunrise logo. Every icon in the system carries this element. It is a subtle detail, but it meant the UI and the brand identity could speak the same formal language.
Key Design Decisions & Features
Key Design Decisions & Features
Dynamic Product Tabs
Dynamic Product Tabs
On product detail pages, the full range sits in horizontal image tabs. Selecting a tab enlarges it at the centre and loads the details below. The full range stays visible throughout.
This came from a practical constraint: the range is wide, and pagination or dropdowns would have fragmented the browsing experience on mobile.
On product detail pages, the full range sits in horizontal image tabs. Selecting a tab enlarges it at the centre and loads the details below. The full range stays visible throughout.
This came from a practical constraint: the range is wide, and pagination or dropdowns would have fragmented the browsing experience on mobile.
The Interactive Spice Box
The Interactive Spice Box
A 'masala dani' is a round steel spice box found in most Indian kitchens, with individual compartments for daily-use spices.
We designed a digital version on the product listing page. Users tap a compartment, the box rotates, and a fact about that spice appears: its origin, its role in Indian cooking, a usage tip.
The decision to frame product discovery this way came from the brief's emphasis on education. A standard product grid would have been skipped. A familiar, tactile object given an interactive layer earns attention.
A 'masala dani' is a round steel spice box found in most Indian kitchens, with individual compartments for daily-use spices.
We designed a digital version on the product listing page. Users tap a compartment, the box rotates, and a fact about that spice appears: its origin, its role in Indian cooking, a usage tip.
The decision to frame product discovery this way came from the brief's emphasis on education. A standard product grid would have been skipped. A familiar, tactile object given an interactive layer earns attention.
Can’t Decide What To Eat?
Can’t Decide What To Eat?
A short quiz that asks a few questions about what a user feels like eating and recommends a recipe to match. It addresses a real and common moment: opening a site without knowing what you want. The recommendations naturally surface Sunrise products through the recipe content.
A short quiz that asks a few questions about what a user feels like eating and recommends a recipe to match. It addresses a real and common moment: opening a site without knowing what you want. The recommendations naturally surface Sunrise products through the recipe content.
Flavour Profile Tags
Flavour Profile Tags
Recipes are tagged and colour-coded by flavour profile: spicy, tangy, mild, aromatic.
It reduces the cognitive load of browsing a large recipe collection, especially for users who are new to the brand and do not yet have a reference point for what Sunrise makes.
Recipes are tagged and colour-coded by flavour profile: spicy, tangy, mild, aromatic.
It reduces the cognitive load of browsing a large recipe collection, especially for users who are new to the brand and do not yet have a reference point for what Sunrise makes.
What Was Shipped
What Was Shipped
Responsive design for ITC Sunrise, covering the full product range, a recipe collection with cook-along functionality, spice education, blog content, about page, and the above named original interactive features.
Designed and handed off in 4 weeks. Live at sunrisespices.in.
Responsive design for ITC Sunrise, covering the full product range, a recipe collection with cook-along functionality, spice education, blog content, about page, and the above named original interactive features.
Designed and handed off in 4 weeks. Live at sunrisespices.in.
Rights owned by VML India.
