Diaspora Co.
ROLE Lead Designer
SCOPE Brand identity, packaging system, merch, social
IMPACT2× digital audience → 100K in 6 months
THE CHALLENGEDiaspora Co. set out to rebuild a centuries-old, opaque spice trade around equity and transparency — sourcing single-origin spices directly from family farms across India and Sri Lanka, paying growers many times the commodity rate, and putting each farmer's name and story on the jar. That radical model needed a brand to match: premium and editorial enough for a specialty shelf, warm and personal enough to carry the farmers' stories, and flexible enough to stretch across a growing line of spices, merch, and a fast-moving social feed.
THE APPROACHI built the identity and packaging system from scratch — bold, saturated color, South Asian truck art inspired typography, and farmer-forward photography that put provenance front and center. Each spice had its own color story and related illustrations so the line stayed unmistakably Diaspora as it grew, while every jar still foregrounded the grower behind it — turning the supply chain itself into the brand's most striking visual.
THE RESULTThe work made Diaspora instantly recognizable in a category of look-alike spice racks — so when demand spiked during the pandemic, that high-fidelity, farmer-first brand was ready to meet the moment, turning a minimal operation into a viral DTC success and doubling the digital audience to 100K in six months. It left the team a flexible system they could run across packaging, merch, and social without me in the loop.
“Working with Swasti is a true joy. I can always trust her to come to the table as a thought partner and to send over deliverables that far exceed whatever I can envision on my own, which is to say that Swasti is great at taking on a project and adding her own glossy, thoughtful, beautiful spin on it.”
VIRALI DAVE
Former Marketing Manager at Diaspora Co.Packaging + Print
Merch Design
Social