Chennai

Why this icon The gopuram of the Kapaleeshwarar temple, the heart of Mylapore. Source: tamilnadutourism.tn.gov.in

Zostel

The story

Early morning at Mylapore's temple tank: the Kapaleeshwarar gopuram towers over the water and its pillared mandapam, people walk the far steps and a peacock sits on the temple wall, while on the near steps pigeons peck and a traveller pours filter coffee.

Why this picture

The east gopuram of Mylapore's Kapaleeshwarar temple, about 37 m of stepped, colour-banded tiers built in 1906, towers over a neighbourhood of low old houses and the temple's great stepped tank, with its 16-pillared mandapam in the middle. Mylapore means the land of the peacock; the temple keeps peacocks. Mornings here start with South Indian filter coffee, poured between tumbler and davara to froth it, and in Margazhi (December and January) the mornings are the mildest of the year.

The sky wears Kolam, from Tamil Nadu and the south.

The motion

The coffee falls from tumbler to dabara; pigeons peck on the steps and wheel overhead; the water's lines run; the sun's rays turn. A 16-second loop.

Colour

Rani Pink #ED145A

Apricot #FFCE7B

Gulabi #EE3C96

Chennai takes Gulabi #EE3C96, one of the three Flowers colours — with its icon in white on it.

Another moment in Chennai

A second scene: another true moment at Chennai, drawn in the graphic vocabulary with the animals and city symbols that belong there. Wide for screens, tall for a phone held upright.

The story

A January evening at the Mylapore Festival: on the open-air stage in the street the mridangam waits on its mat for the concert under a string of lights, two locals in festival silk have come for the music, bunting hangs over the old houses of the Mada street as their windows light up, a peacock shows its fan on a wall, and far behind the gopuram stands dark against the big setting sun.

Why this moment

Chennai's music season runs through Margazhi (mid-December to mid-January), and in January the Mylapore Festival fills the Mada streets round the Kapaleeshwarar temple with kolams, food and free concerts of Carnatic music on open-air stages; the mridangam, the double-headed drum, is the rhythm of every concert. Mylapore, 'the land of the peacock', is named for the peafowl, and its old houses still line the streets round the temple, whose gopuram rises over the rooftops.

The motion

The sun's fan of rays breathes; the stage's bulbs chase in turn; the bunting flutters; windows light up along the street; a flock of crows crosses the sky; the two locals nod to the beat. A 16-second loop.

In the picture

Its files

wide: wide second scene, SVG wide second scene, Animated SVG wide second scene, PNG
tall: tall second scene, SVG tall second scene, Animated SVG tall second scene, PNG

Also in the kit's zip, in its own folder.

Chennai in symbols

Beside its icon, the things that are Chennai, drawn in the Brand Manual's city language: a monument in the city grey with its openings cut, the things of the place in flat landscape colours. Each comes in colour and in the city grey. Every place's symbols

A banana-leaf mealOf the place
The Tamil meal on a banana leaf: rice with sambar, idli and a dosa, chutneys and appalam laid on a leaf that is folded inwards when you've eaten.
SVG Grey SVG PNG
A kolamOf the place
Kolam: drawn at every Chennai doorstep before sunrise in white rice flour, a line looping round a grid of dots; in Margazhi they cover the width of the road and are coloured in for festivals.
SVG Grey SVG PNG
A mridangamOf the place
The mridangam, the double-headed jackfruit-wood drum that keeps the rhythm of every Carnatic concert of Chennai's December music season; its smaller head carries the black tuning disc, the soru.
SVG Grey SVG PNG

Also drawn for Chennai 38

Detailed icons from the library that name Chennai among their places: one drawing, on the page of every place it belongs to. Those drawn for Chennai alone come first. Every detailed icon

Say hello to Chennai's Zobus

Zobu in Chennai's own dress, on the palette. Hover or tap one and it waves. Each comes still and alive — idle, hello and hop — for stickers, stories and the app.

Every destination's Zobus →

Female
Still Idle Hello Hop Face Wave
Male
Still Idle Hello Hop Face Wave

Their faces, poses and moves 29

Chennai's Zobus from the rig: a face for a profile picture, a pose for a story, a move as a still; each opens its file. Every Zobu in motion

Faces 20

Poses 9

Show all 9

The animals of Chennai

Animals and birds the research behind Chennai's picture names, drawn in the Brand Manual's animal style, in colour and in the city grey. All the animals of India

Indian peafowlPavo cristatus
SVG Grey SVG PNG
Olive ridley sea turtleLepidochelys olivacea
SVG Grey SVG PNG
BlackbuckAntilope cervicapra
SVG Grey SVG PNG

The kit

Everything Chennai needs: its profile, its cover, wide and tall, its icon, tile, display picture and lockup, its loop and the symbol becoming it, its second scene, its city map, its city symbols and its Zobus — every file ready to download.

51 files in one zip, the cover, its second scene, its symbols, its Zobus and its city map included

Profile

Chennai’s page as a story, 1080 × 1920: its cover, its tile, its name, its line and its verbs — for stories, status and a phone’s lock screen.

SVGOther formats

Cover, wide

1600 × 900, for screens: a page’s top, a slide, a share card. The still is the loop’s first frame. The animated SVG loops in 16 s; where it shouldn’t move, use the still.

SVG Animated SVG PNG

Cover, tall

900 × 1600, composed for a phone held upright: stories, reels, a lock screen. The animated SVG loops in 16 s; where it shouldn’t move, use the still.

SVG Animated SVG PNG

Tile

The icon in one colour on Chennai’s own — for a grid, a story, a sticker.

SVG PNG

Icon

A monument: city grey, its detail cut out. Transparent; the mono takes any one colour.

SVG PNG Mono SVG

Loop

Festival bunting flutters above it, or confetti points twinkle. 7.2 s, seamless.

Animated SVG Lottie JSON

Motion

The symbol becomes Chennai and turns back — a Lottie loop for stories, the app and the web.

Lottie JSON

Display picture

Circle-safe: the colour, the icon and the name — for chats, socials and the app.

SVG PNG

Lockup

The horizontal lockup, with Chennai under the wordmark — for signage, email and merch.

SVG

City symbols

Chennai’s symbols, each in colour and in the city grey, as SVG and PNG — in the zip’s symbols folder.

See them with their files

Zobus

Chennai’s Zobu pair, still and alive (idle, hello, hop), waving still and as a face (a profile picture) — in the zip’s zobus folder.

Female SVG Male SVG

Also made for Chennai 5

The rest of what the library holds for Chennai: the pattern of its region, the card its links share, each opening its own file or gallery.

The map we made for Chennai

44 things to do around our Zostel, two walks and 16 quests, on one A2 sheet that folds to A6 — a map made for travellers. Print it, fold it, go.

Download for print (PDF)Download the map (PNG)Download the guide (PNG)

A2, both sides, folds to A6. For print: double-sided, flipping on the long edge; at a print shop, the PDF at actual size.

ClickTap the sheet to zoom in

The mapClick to zoom in

The guideClick to zoom in

Its pieces on the map 67

Every spot on the Chennai sheet, by what you go there for, each drawn with a drawing of the library. A piece opens its drawing with its files; the line under it names the other places that drawing belongs to.