Hard Worker Wins Three Honours at Kyoorius Design Awards 2026, Including the Grand Prix Grey Elephant

The Ramco Cements’ construction chemicals brand Hard Worker has won three prestigious honours at the Kyoorius Design Awards 2026, including the coveted Grand Prix – Grey Elephant in the Design in Action track.

The brand also won two Blue Elephant honours – one for Design in Action and another for Packaging, recognising the distinctive design thinking that has shaped Hard Worker’s identity and packaging.

The awards were presented at the Kyoorius Design Awards 2026, which celebrates excellence in design across India.

Launched in 2025, Hard Worker entered the highly competitive construction chemicals category with a distinctive design philosophy built around its brand promise – “Hard-working products for hardworking people.” The brand draws inspiration from nature, using animals and birds as visual representations of product benefits. The camel, for instance, represents the water-retention capability of Hard Worker Eco Plaster, while the cheetah represents the speed and performance of Hard Worker Block Fix. This visual language has been extended consistently across packaging, retail, communication, literature, digital platforms and other brand touchpoints.

The packaging became one of the most recognisable elements of the brand. Rather than relying on conventional construction-category codes, Hard Worker uses bold colours, distinctive animal illustrations and simple visual storytelling to make product benefits easier to understand and remember. The approach was designed to work across diverse markets and audiences, including construction workers and applicators.

“For Hard Worker, design was never an afterthought. It was fundamental to how we wanted to build the brand. In a category that is largely functional, we wanted to create a brand that people could recognise, understand and remember instantly. The Kyoorius recognition is a wonderful validation of this design-led approach,” said AV Dharmakrishnan, CEO, The Ramco Cements.

Balaji K Moorthy, Executive Director – Marketing, Ramco Cements said “In a category where communication has traditionally been product-led and functional, we wanted Hard Worker to stand apart by making design an integral part of the brand experience. From the distinctive animal-led packaging to our communication across consumer and trade touchpoints, every element was designed to make the brand more memorable and the product benefits easier to understand.”

The recognition comes at a significant milestone for Hard Worker. Within its first 12 months, the brand crossed ₹350 crore in sales, reflecting the scale of its market journey since launch.

The latest honours add to Hard Worker’s growing recognition at leading industry award platforms. Earlier in 2026, the brand’s campaign won six honours at the Kyoorius Creative Awards, including the Grey Elephant Grand Prix for its Eco Plaster film.