Blog
October 25, 2026
From Rathi Sir to Amit Bhaiya: Three Jobs, Two Years and One Builder Who Stopped Asking Questions
He first walked in full of questions, after a bad experience with another vendor. Three jobs later, he handed us a free hand and barely glanced at the costing. This is the story of Rathi Developer’s site gate, society signs and office front.
Case study · Rathi Developer, Pune
From Rathi Sir to Amit Bhaiya
Some clients stay clients. A few become friends. Amit Rathi of Rathi Developer started as Rathi Sir, a builder who walked in with a long list of questions. About two years and three jobs later, he was Amit Bhaiya, and he no longer needed to ask.
This post walks through all three jobs, in the order we did them: the gate of his Nova Residency site in Tathawade, the Yashodhan housing society in Aundh, and the front of his own office in Kasba Peth. It's long, because there's a lot to show: our proposals, the workshop, the finished signs, and four drawings of how they're fixed.
The client
Rathi Developer, Pune (Amit Rathi)
Three jobs
A site gate, a society, his own office
Three places
Tathawade, Aundh, Kasba Peth
Over
About two years, up to February 2025
Job 1 · Nova Residency, Tathawade
Once bitten, twice shy
When Amit Rathi first came to our office, he was looking for someone to make the signs for his Nova Residency site in Tathawade. A previous vendor had let him down, and it showed. He wanted to know everything before he said yes.
That's fair. A sign at a project gate is the first thing a buyer sees, and a builder can't afford one that fades or fails.
What materials will you use?
Our proposal named every sheet, profile and LED, with a photo of each material.
What are the specifications?
Every letter drawn to size, and the sign drawn on a photo of his own gate.
How long will it last?
Outdoor-grade acrylic and aluminium, warm white LEDs, and our warranty on fabricated signs.
What will it cost?
A price for each sign, written in the proposal before anything was cut.
The arch
His design, redrawn to light up
The builder had already put up a steel gate arch, about 3.6 m wide. Amit wanted the project's name on it, big and bright: an LED sign people would notice from the road.
We made NOVA as channel letters: black aluminium sides with mango-yellow acrylic faces, the tree logo in the O with a white face, and warm white LEDs inside, so the faces glow from the front.
From our proposal
One change to his design
In the client's design, RESIDENCY was a line of thin letters under NOVA. We set it in a box of its own, with a white face and mango letters on top, so the whole line reads clearly by day and lights evenly at night.
Left: the design the client sent. Right: our redraw, with RESIDENCY in its own box.
Fixing
A frame on top of a frame
Letters can't hang in mid-air between the arch's beams. So we built a frame of our own, a few horizontal and vertical bars that every letter and the RESIDENCY box are fixed to, and welded that frame to the top of the arch.
Our proposal showed exactly where each letter meets the bars, so there were no surprises on site.
From our proposal: the sign drawn on a photo of the actual site, arch and all.
Planned, then built
The night view we promised, and the real thing
Our proposal showed the arch lit at night. Here's that page next to the arch at dusk, with the building still going up behind it.
Our proposal
Letters glow from the front, not the sides.
At the site
NOVA RESIDENCY on the gate arch at dusk, Tathawade.
Left: a page from our proposal. Right: a real photo of the site.
How it went
Quicker, and cheaper than the other quote
The Nova signs were done quickly and cleanly, and at a lower cost than another vendor had quoted him. That mattered more than any promise we made in the meeting.
Most of our proposal answered his questions before he asked them. The rest, the finished arch answered.
The gate wall
A logo with no screws in sight
Next to the guard cabin, the wall got two signs. On top, a NOVA RESIDENCY plate: the name in mango-yellow acrylic on a clear acrylic base plate on four corner studs, so the grey wall shows through. It's not lit.
Below it, the big one: the Rathi Developer logo and name, made like our backlit logo letters fitted straight on the wall. Each piece is built in layers, and the screws that hold it disappear under the top layer.
Illustration: a white WPC base screwed to the wall, a gold mirror face pasted over the screws, LEDs behind. Not to scale.
In our workshop
Gold faces on white bases
Here are the letters in our workshop before fitting. The thin white line around each gold letter is the edge of its WPC base, laser-cut to the same shape.
From the front
The logo, RATHI and DEVELOPER laid out on the table.
From the side
You can see the depth: white base, gold face.
Real photos from our workshop.
After dark
A halo, not a lightbox
The logo and RATHI stand about an inch off the wall, with warm white LEDs behind them. At night the light spills onto the wall around each letter, a soft gold halo, while the faces stay solid gold. DEVELOPER and the NOVA plate are not lit.
From our proposal
What we said it would look like
Our night view and prices for the wall: ₹4,800 + GST for the NOVA plate and ₹11,800 + GST for the lit logo and name.
Materials
Every material, on one page
This is the page that answered Amit's first question. Clear acrylic for the plate, mango-yellow acrylic for NOVA, white WPC for the bases, gold mirror acrylic for the faces, and warm white LEDs.
From our proposal: the materials for the Nova gate wall.
Job 2 · Yashodhan, Aundh
“Don’t stint on materials”
His next project was Yashodhan, a co-operative housing society in an upscale part of Aundh, next to Kotbagi Hospital. This time Amit Bhaiya gave us only one guideline: it's a premium society, so don't stint on materials or cost.
Then he left the rest to us. When we sent him the proposal and the costing, he barely glanced at it and told us to go ahead.
“You decide how to do the job yourself. Just tell me how you propose to take it forward.”
The gate wall
यशोधन in gold steel on black granite
Amit Bhaiya had a black granite wall built at the gate, 81 x 108 in. On it went the society's name in Marathi, यशोधन, and the Rathi Developer logo, in 304 grade gold stainless steel letters, each about an inch deep.
By day the steel catches the sun. Behind every letter sit warm white LEDs, so at night the letters glow from behind against the granite. That's the photo at the top of this post. A PROJECT BY is flat-cut steel, and not lit.
From our proposal
What glows, and what doesn’t
Our specification page: 3D steel letters that glow from behind and not from the front, 1.5 watt LED modules with branded chips, and 2D letters that stay unlit.
Materials
Steel, LEDs and a waterproof power supply
The materials page for the gate: 304 grade gold steel letters with a one-inch side, warm white LEDs, and an exterior-grade waterproof power supply. It's the same kind of metal letter with a back glow we make for shop fronts.
From our proposal: the materials for the Yashodhan gate letters.
The lobby
Too intricate for a base plate
In the lobby, Amit Bhaiya wanted the society's logo: a mandala about 44 x 41 in, full of fine curves and cut-outs. And he didn't want it sitting on a base plate.
Intricate designs are always a challenge to fix without a plate, because there's so little material to hold. Here's how we did it.
1
Cut it twice
We laser-cut the whole logo twice: once in 8 mm white acrylic, once in 3 mm gold mirror acrylic.
2
Screw the base
The 8 mm white layer goes on the wall first, screwed in through its face.
3
Cover the screws
The gold layer goes on top with double-sided 3M tape. It hides every screw.
4
11 mm of depth
The two layers together lift the logo off the wall and give it a shadow.
How it fits together
One shape, two layers
The base is exterior-grade 8 mm cast acrylic; the face is 3 mm gold mirror acrylic. It's the same layered idea as the RATHI letters at Nova, just without the lights. More gold logos like this are on our acrylic sign boards page.
Illustration: the white base screwed to the wall, the gold face on top. Logo simplified. Not to scale.
The name board
A board that outlives its residents
The lobby name board had to match the premium feel, so it's white acrylic and gold mirror acrylic, 47 x 58 in, with the society's name and logo on top and a strip for every floor.
Here's the clever part. The board has two kinds of parts: the ones that stay forever, and the ones that are made to change.
Fixed for good
The white base, the gold society name and logo, and the floor strips.
Made to change
Each flat's names, printed on a clear acrylic strip held by two studs.
When a flat changes hands
Open two studs, slide in a new strip. The board stays as it is.
Why it matters
Updating the board costs one small strip, not a whole new board.
Watch
The name board, in 47 seconds
This board turned out so well that we made a video about it. It's under a minute long, and it explains the idea better than a paragraph can.
The base is white acrylic with a glass-like finish. The society's name and logo are laser-cut from metallic gold mirror acrylic. And the names of the people in each flat are printed on clear acrylic sheets that come off easily.
Illustration: the fixed parts of the board, and a name strip coming out. Names are placeholders. Not to scale.
Say Mr. Rao on the fourth floor sells up and moves to a beach hut. Nobody has to redo the board. His strip comes off, the new owner's strip goes on, and the gold and white board looks as good as the day it went up.
Planning a board like this? Our name directory boards guide shows more of them, for societies, hospitals and offices.
From our proposal
The name board, part by part
Our materials page for the board: white acrylic for the base and floor strips, gold mirror acrylic for the name and logo, and 3 mm clear acrylic strips with the names printed on them, each held by studs.
Gate wall, lobby logo and name board for Yashodhan: ₹78,400 + GST, November 2024. Amit Bhaiya barely looked at the figure.
Job 3 · His own office, Kasba Peth
Then he gave us his own front door
Two sites done, the third job was personal: the front of Rathi Developer's own office in Kasba Peth, in February 2025. The office was getting a makeover, and he had already had a grey ACP front put up.
We first proposed gold letters with a back glow. Then he told us he was fitting small spotlights into the ACP anyway, so he didn't need to pay for lit letters as well. Fair enough: we went non-lit.
Choosing the panel
Brown or grey?
Before the ACP went up, he asked us to show the letters on a brown wood-finish ACP, both lit and unlit. We drew it on a photo of his own building, by day and by night.
Seeing it made the decision easy. He went with the more corporate matte grey ACP, with gold letters sitting on top.
From our proposal
Two sizes to choose from
We also drew two size options for the logo and letters, A and B, so he could pick how much of the front they fill.
From our proposal: size options A and B for the office letters.
Fixing
Flush on a hollow panel
The letters are brushed gold stainless steel, an inch deep, and not lit: our non-lit letters fixed straight on the wall, only in steel. The question was how to hold them on an ACP panel with nothing solid behind it.
Each letter has long screws coming out of its back. We drilled through the ACP, pushed the screws through, and locked them with nuts from behind, in the hollow space behind the panel. The letters sit flush and tight, and nothing shows from the street.
Illustration: the letter, the ACP, and the nuts in the hollow space behind. Not to scale.
On site
An inch of steel, up close
Our team made and fitted everything on the front. The ACP panelling was the client's own.
Up close
The logo stands an inch off the grey ACP.
Fitting day
The last letters going up, February 2025.
Left: a still from our site video. Right: a real photo from the installation.
The reception
One sign we only have on paper
Inside, we made a gold acrylic logo board for his reception, for ₹4,800 + GST. Honestly, we don't have a photo of it installed. This render from our proposal is the best we can show you.
It was almost two years ago, and the photos we have from that job are all of the front.
From our proposal
The reception logo
3 mm gold acrylic letters and logo, not lit, for the reception wall.
From the street
Gold on grey, in the middle of Kasba Peth
Kasba Peth is old Pune: narrow roads, busy shop fronts, colour everywhere. The grey and gold front stands out by being calm.
The specs
What we made for Rathi Developer
Client
Rathi Developer (Amit Rathi), Pune
Nova arch, Tathawade
NOVA RESIDENCY in lit channel letters: black aluminium sides, mango-yellow and white acrylic faces, warm white LEDs; on our frame, welded to the builder’s 3.6 m arch
Nova gate wall
NOVA plate 42 x 27 in, mango acrylic on clear acrylic, not lit; Rathi Developer logo in white WPC with gold mirror faces, raised about 1 in and lit from behind
Yashodhan gate, Aundh
यशोधन and the Rathi Developer logo in 304 grade gold stainless steel, about 1 in deep, warm white back glow; on an 81 x 108 in granite wall
Yashodhan lobby logo
About 44 x 41 in; 8 mm white acrylic base screwed on, 3 mm gold mirror acrylic on top on 3M tape; no base plate
Yashodhan name board
47 x 58 in; white and gold mirror acrylic; each flat’s names on a clear acrylic strip held by two studs
Office front, Kasba Peth
RATHI DEVELOPER in brushed gold stainless steel, 1 in deep, not lit; bolted through the client’s grey ACP
Office reception
3 mm gold acrylic logo, not lit (no installed photo)
When
Nova first; Yashodhan November 2024; the office February 2025
What it cost
The prices, job by job
These are the prices from our proposals, all plus 18% GST, made and fitted by our team. The Nova arch price isn't in the papers we still have, so for a sign like it, ask us for a quote.
Nova gate wall (plate + lit logo)
₹16,600 + GST
Yashodhan gate, lobby logo, name board
₹78,400 + GST (Nov 2024)
Office front + reception logo
₹28,600 + GST (Feb 2025)
3D LED letters and logos today
about ₹2,000 per sq ft + GST (indicative)
Good to know
What to send us
A photo of your gate, wall or front, its size, and your logo.
The proposal
Free, with every sign drawn on your own site, by day and by night, and every material named.
Lead time
Fabricated signs typically take 1-15 days after you approve the proposal.
Warranty
Six months from installation, as on all our fabricated signs.
Building something? Send us a photo of your site gate or your office front, and we'll make a free proposal that answers your questions before you ask them.
Looking back
How a client becomes a friend
Nothing we did for Amit Bhaiya was a trick. We answered his questions in writing, showed him the sign on his own site before we made it, and then made exactly what we'd shown, on time and for the price we'd quoted.
Do that once, and the second job comes with fewer questions. Do it twice, and the third one is the front of his own office.
Answer in writing
Every material, size and price in the proposal, not just in the meeting.
Show it on his own site
Day and night views drawn on photos of his gate and his building.
Make what you showed
The finished sign matches the proposal, down to the layout.
Then step back
By the second job, he told us what he wanted and let us decide how.
Next time you’re in Tathawade, Aundh or Kasba Peth
Look for the gold
Pass Yashodhan in Aundh after dark and look for the glow behind the Marathi letters. In Kasba Peth, look up for the gold on grey.
Every photo is on the Rathi Developer job page, with more signs for builders and housing societies in Our Work.
Related
Our work
All three jobs, photo by photo
The Rathi Developer job page: Nova, Yashodhan and the office, with every photo.
See the job page →Our work
Another society name board
Bravuria: floor-by-floor name directory boards for a housing society.
See the job →Your turn
Got a site gate, a society or an office front to sign?
Send us a photo on WhatsApp. We'll plan the letters, the materials, the lights and the fixing, and put it all in writing.
Looking for any specific product?
Drop us a line. Send us your query. And we’ll get back to you with solutions and answers.
Mitesh Sanghani
Mitesh lives, mostly for Saturdays.
But when forced to work, you’ll find him heading Orchid Digitals – a printing press in Pune.
If it’s an emergency, try looking for him in the hills behind his house. You’ll almost certainly find him… lazing under a tree, with a book in hand.
Latest Products & Blogs
