Four brands, four deadlines: what design sprints taught me
By Jaspal Khalsa · 2026-10-01
A fragrance in 36 hours, a chai café in 48, a ready-to-cook range in 82 and an ice pop brand in 96. What fast work rewards, and what it won’t let you fake.
Some of my favourite projects came with the shortest deadlines. ISHMAM, a luxury fragrance, in 36 hours. Chai to Go, a café brand, in 48. Matzah’s ready-to-cook range in 82. Popxi ice pops in 96. Four very different briefs, and the same lesson every time: speed does not leave room for decoration. It leaves room for one good idea, done all the way through.
1. Find the one shape that does two jobs
When time is short, the strongest marks are the ones where a single shape carries two meanings. It saves you from explaining, and it gives every later decision something to hold on to.
2. Lock the colours early
Colour arguments eat days you don’t have. On Chai to Go, deep green #00734A and chai yellow #FDB913 were fixed early, and everything from the shop sign to the wall menu followed. ISHMAM was gold on black from the first sketch. Popxi went chunky red and yellow, because those letters had to feel cold, sweet and fun at once.
3. Design the system, not just the logo
A logo alone is never what the client needs on day four. Popxi needed a flavour pack system and retail branding. Matzah needed five variants that each stood out on shelf: Ragi Idiyappam, Malabar Paratha, Moringa Chapati, Wheat Paratha and Rice Idiyappam. So the work starts with the rules (layout, hero food, nutrition strip, colour per variant) and the packs follow.
4. Show it where it will live
The last part of every sprint is putting the brand into the world: Popxi on a storefront, a counter, banners, a door and the shelf; Chai to Go on bunting, a standee, a poster and a billboard. It is the fastest way to see what is working, and it is what the client will actually picture when they say yes.
Speed doesn’t leave room for decoration. It leaves room for one good idea, done all the way through.
Each of these projects has its own case study on this site, with the full process from idea to final.