SDR Capital
Some stories start with an idea. This one began with a conviction.
After nearly a decade investing in early-stage companies across the globe, Shefali Roy chose to evolve her practice—from venture investing to building a family office of her own: personal, independent, and unapologetically precise.
Shefali wanted an identity that could hold her refusal to accept the industry’s narrow definitions of value and success. The visual language of the financial world often oscillates between two poles: the sterile corporatism of traditional investment firms and the over-stylised theatricality of luxury brands. Neither reflected SDR Capital. In a field crowded by sameness, Shefali wanted to build something unflinchingly human: editorial, intelligent, and grounded in empathy.
From the outset, it was clear this wasn’t solely about logos or colour palettes, but about articulating a philosophy, a way of operating that could live in every detail, from typography to tone of voice. The work became less about creating a brand, and more about designing a stance: a way to move through capital.
Overview—
Our collaboration began with trust. Having worked together before, there was no need for preamble; we could move past surface-level exercises and straight into the work beneath the work. Questions were sharper, conversations more candid—the kind of honesty that can’t be found in a moodboard. What, we asked, does SDR Capital stand for, and how might that belief move through form?
Through this exploration, three guiding archetypes emerged—clarity, defiance, and drive. Clarity, the Sage at work, reflects the ability to navigate complexity without flinching, with intelligence and calm. Defiance embodies the courage to challenge orthodoxy and build new models, the Rebel instinct. Drive is the Hero’s pulse, the momentum that turns insight into action.
Together, these formed the backbone of SDR Capital: the conviction that venture capital can amplify overlooked voices, not merely scale familiar ones.
From there, the visual and verbal languages began to take shape—typography as philosophy, colour as conviction. Every decision held a quiet tension between structure and spirit, discipline and play.
The resulting identity expresses a kind of rebel clarity: composed on the surface, fearless underneath. Every choice balances the rational with the radical.
“I’m trying to change a system, which is a decades-long job and, in the face of the current environment, a very hard one. But a worthy one.”
— Shefali Roy
Tagline—
A brand’s language reveals its psychology. For SDR, words had to do what capital rarely does: feel. The process of articulating SDR’s tagline mirrored its broader philosophy: clarity through distillation. Beginning with purpose, moving through values, we sought a phrase that reflects both intellect and instinct, and embraces the dual nature of the firm, built on reason and risk.
After several rounds of exploration, one line held:
Confidently Daring, Wildly Ambitious.
It captures the brand’s emotional core—balanced between restraint and audacity. A stance, a compass for every decision that followed, guiding tone, rhythm, and voice across all expressions of the brand.
Typography—
SDR’s typography reads like its founder: articulate, deliberate, and a little subversive.
At its foundation sits General Sans, designed by Frode Helland for Indian Type Foundry. A geometric sans-serif chosen for its precision and quiet authority. It mirrors SDR Capital’s own evolution from venture firm to family office: disciplined structure balanced with human warmth. Rational but not cold, it embodies composure, credibility, and conviction.
In contrast, Millionaire Script, designed by Raphaël Verona for Altiplano, draws on the calligraphic heritage of English Round-hand, via George Bickham the Elder. It introduces audacity, an echo of Shefali’s instinct to challenge what’s expected—refined yet rebellious, heirloom-quality but contemporary. It supplies depth and emotion, counterbalancing General Sans’s restraint.
Extending this dialogue, Xanh Mono, designed by Lam Bao & Duy Dao of Yellow Type Foundry, is a mono-spaced serif typeface. Its coding logic nods to SDR’s focus on tech, AI, and finance, while its distinct serifs lend a playful wit and warmth.
Together, the three typefaces form a system fluent in contradictions—structure and intuition, intellect and impulse, precision and provocation.
Colours & Graphic Language—
The colour palette embodies SDR’s essential duality: composure with charge. Deep tones of Black, Off White, Heritage, and Asphalt form the brand’s calm foundation—the discipline of experience. Against them, Sunshine Electric Yellow and Sweet Breeze Cerulean introduce energy and movement.
Sweet Breeze carries composure: the quiet of early ambition, the clarity before takeoff. Sunshine Electric signals ignition: the spark of conviction.
Supporting this palette, the graphic language borrows from classic editorial design: photography and structured grids meet hand-drawn gestures. Crayon-like scribbles and chalked lines appear strategically, textured traces of thought in motion. Each mark is intentionally imperfect, a reminder that precision and personality can coexist.
The result is a visual vocabulary that is intelligent, tactile, and human—a balance of control and spontaneity, intellect and intuition.
The final identity mirrors Shefali herself: measured in presence, fearless in pursuit. Clean, editorial typography anchors the brand’s clarity; subtle gestures—a flick of script, a charged hue—hint at the energy beneath, with a touch of whimsy.
The verbal identity gives this visual world its human voice. SDR Capital’s verbal identity is empathetic, visionary, and courageously human. It speaks with founders, not at them: the voice of a founder who understands both grit and grace. Rooted in conviction and optimism, it favours warmth over jargon and belief over bravado. Personal, direct, and affirming, this is a voice that invests not only in ideas, but in the people bold enough to build them.
Phrases such as Confidently Daring, Wildly Ambitious and Be the Change You Wish to See form its backbone, as statements of intent. The identity holds coherence without rigidity, adapting fluidly across digital and physical contexts.
SDR Capital wears its initials like both armour and invitation: poised enough to lead, bold enough to question—and entirely uninterested in fitting into conventional models.
SDR Capital
—Rewriting the Rules of Capital and Conviction
Website: sdr.capital
Year completed: 2024
Services: Creative Vision, Identity, Logo, Photography & Image Direction, Landing Page
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© 2025