Our new range of holiday and new years cards are in the stores now. I hope people like our innovative use of spices. The papers have spices embedded in their fibers. The tree and star motifs are made from spices matching the papers.
Posted in Whats New
I have just introduced a new range of books and stationery in pure silk ranging from tassar, dupion, matka, etc. I have been sourcing the silks from Bhagalpur, but the sad part is that Chinese silk yarn has deeply penetrated the region. What’s going to happen to our famed Bhagalpuri silk. I did pick up some masterpieces which I will be releasing shortly.
Our journals have handcrafted covers in silk with an intricately cut “Tree” brass motif, pages are ruled and are sold with a matching bookmark.
Posted in Whats New
The other day I was in Dilli Haat and I came across this NGO called Prabhat. They were selling products like file folders, mats, stationery, etc made from recycled music cassette tape/film/reel. I must say this is one of the cleverest recycled products that I have seen lately. The reel/tape was woven with jute to create this unique fabric that has been used to make a variety of products.
This country never fails to amaze me, It has so much of talent waiting at the sidelines.
Posted in Everything else
In my quest for new papers and after the success of the bay-leaf paper, I present to you new additions to the spice family – Cardamom, Cinnamon & Cumin
Posted in Whats New
The paper is hand made by pressing the fibrous stalk of the Water Hyacinth Plant (Eichhornia Crassipes) over craft paper.
(click on the image to view a close-up)
Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia Crassipes)
Water hyacinth is a free-floating perennial aquatic plant. With broad, thick, glossy, ovate leaves, water hyacinth may rise above the surface of the water as much as one meter in height. The leaves float above the water surface. They have long, spongy and bulbous stalks. One of the fastest growing plants, It is known to double its population in two weeks. When not controlled, water hyacinth will cover lakes and ponds entirely; this dramatically impacts water flow, blocks sunlight from reaching native aquatic plants, and starves the water of oxygen, often killing fish (or turtles).
In certain parts of India, paper and other products are being made from them.
Posted in Whats New
How many of you have received a gift which tastes bland and looks like its ages old?
Welcome to the great Indian gifting tamasha which is unfolding to packed crowds this Diwali season. I from an insiders point of view have observed it from the sidelines since I am very much a part of the gifting game.
Chocolates & Edibles:
Every nook and corner of the city has budding chocolate makers who have freshly learnt the art and now profess to be the best in town. What standards do we have in these zillions of chocolates being churned out? We are not talking about the high end chocolatiers in the market as their prices command the premium segment but the level below it. Has anyone even thought about the standards of foil, adhesives used in the box, storage conditions, quality of ingredients, etc. When you get a box of chocolates do open them and peep inside the glitzy foil to check if its even edible after all the passing around. You will see grocery shops out with slickly packed hampers, cookies,etc. Do check the expiry date as lots of them are remnants of the previous year. Sweets, now that’s something which has been written a lot about, the foil or “varq” used on them have been hammered between layers of animal intestine, if you don’t believe me then you can check that out in Old Delhi.
After every Diwali it is a common sight to see maids, sweepers and class four employees going from home to home with a huge collection of rubbish; I mean gifts of which no one has any use. It reminds me of the Cadbury add “Tohfa, Tohfa”. Now now guys nobody is paying me to badmouth, its just such a waste. I sometimes feel like collecting all the trash and making some beautiful products. I wish I had the time. My work is becoming more of a business now and I need to change that. Speaking about trash, let me share a wonderful product with you:
Reacting to document waste, Jens Praet took shredded confidential documents, mixed them with resin and compressed them into a strong MDF mould. This way the office waste can be brought back into the office as a useful piece of furniture.
Gifting is no longer enjoyable but a necessary evil for many. We have drivers ferrying gifts across the city and adding to the chaotic traffic. People go to shops and just look for the cheapest gift without even a cursory glance as to what’s in them. Truck loads are bought without pondering over their use to the recipient. Companies have budgets and categories, the higher ones will have wines, teas, silver ware, crystal, etc and the lower ones will have beer mugs, candles and the lowly street side chocolate, dryfruit or chikki. That’s how it is. Some times our packaging is better and expensive than the gift itself. What a mockery. This year Chinese gifts rule the roost in the wholesale markets. The glitzy electronics will peter out in a few months, but who the hell cares; the purpose was solved – a large gift and you have a happy employee.
But there is also a kind who spend time and effort in choosing the gifts and the packaging. You cannot even imagine the kind of personalisation that we do. We have this gentlemen who starts working on his gifts three months in advance and it takes umpteen meetings to zero on the right gift. I never mind it as I like people who are passionate and have an eye for detail. Every year his gifts are the talk of the town and I personally can vouch for that as I do the packaging. Some people don’t like the mundane hence go for gifts containing books, exotic teas sourced from Assam, Darjeeling and the Nilgiris, etc.
You must be wondering what I have done about gifting this season…
My idea was to personalise a set of note cards with the recipients name along with a nice lamp or candle but as we were busy packaging gifts for everyone else, I had to shelve the plans. I can always do it around Christmas/New years! So much about being righteous, guess i too have joined the rat race.
Posted in Everything else
I just love everything about L’OCCITANE, their products, their packaging, their stores and their social responsibility. I was amazed to see Braille being used on all their packaging – that’s what I call intelligent design. The complete product range has an earthy Mediterranean look and feel and the stuff is just too good to write about. Try their verbena range I am sure you will be hooked for life.
The inside lining of their paper bags have “Thank You” printed on them. These little things add value to a brand. When a company spends time and thought at small things like these, then their products definitely have gone through a lot of research and refinement. This is the way to strong brand recall and loyalty. In today’s world there is stiff competition in every field and small things like these make a company stand out from the rest.
Braille on their packaging. (Click on the image for a larger view)
Posted in Everything else
This is my latest advertisement in Timeout Delhi – October 2nd 2009 & Touchdown(In-house Magazine at Mumbai Airport).
I am following a sustained ad campaign and the response has been encouraging.
Posted in Media Coverage, Whats New
Paper with real spices entwined in its fibre.
I have been working for quite a while on this paper and finally it has seen the light of day. The process started from my affair with stationery inspired from spices. It will be perfect for a restaurant menu and I have in mind a wide variety of designs. The paper featured here has bay leaf embedded in the fibres of the paper, this is a combination of 100% recycled cotton rags and bay leaf and is wood free.
Featured below are a few pieces of our spice range:
The handmade card with chilli and cloves has been around for 9 years and still very popular.
Posted in Whats New
I am must share this with you.
Yesterday I had written the following:
In the year 2000 I was asked to put a poster of our exhibition at a famous clothing store, I showed the owner my card and said “see there is so much hard work in the card”. He threw the card and said “art is not hard work, it should be effortless”. Lesson learned. The whole incident of him throwing my card was disheartening for me at that time when I was searching for acceptance. Guess what! this very person came to visit me today after seeing my advertisement in Time Out – Delhi. While leaving he told me that he liked my work. It has come a full circle from being hard work to being effortless. What would you call this ? Karma!Posted in Old Designs
I was strolling through khan market in the evening and it brought back some old memories. It’s been nine years since I started from scratch and the journey has been
an incredible experience, I remember I was a young boy making cards at home by night and selling them at Full Circle Bookstore which at that time was in Santushti Shopping Arcade. I spent my days reading books on design and drinking endless cups of coffee, all thanks to the incredible staff at full circle. ( In the picture Subhash and Joseph at Full Circle Bookstore in Santushti Shopping Arcade, Year 2000)
The single most important person who opened the door towards my life that is today is Mrs. Poonam Malhotra, owner of Full Circle Bookstore now in khan market. After the majority of shops refused to keep my amateurish cards I had come to Full Circle with hopes of getting a break. She bought my first card and agreed to keep them at her store. With time the cards started moving off the shelves albeit slowly but steadily. I got hands on experience at Studio Printall, a renowned printing press that was owned by a friends uncle. It was here that I learnt the finer nuances of production and manufacturing. The winter arrived and my holiday cards were quite a hit, the expats and patrons of the bookstore bought all of it.
At that time I made all the cards and envelopes, I drew every envelope by measurement and made it by hand (More on this in another post later). For some time I never repeated a design. It was in the month of May when Full Circle organized a small exhibition featuring my work. Below are two photographs, the black and white one is of my brother Praveen and me filling out the invitations at my paying guest accommodation for the exhibition and the other picture is of me standing in the shop alongside my work. (Year 2000)
Then I progressed to my own room….
Those were the days when a table and a chair were a luxury. This is how I worked. I still have the wooden plank that I used to work on. Below you can see the state of my so called studio in those trying times. I worked 12 hours during the night stitching, cutting, painting, drawing, packing, etc. Those days seem like a distant memory now.
Then I got myself some racks and a low table….
As I progressed from being a hands-on craftsman to an employer I moved to my own apartment cum studio cum workshop. I painted the walls orange, the doors and windows green. It just happened that the painter was asking far too much to paint it therefore I along with my helper painted it ourselves and we were truly satisfied. I was quite rebellious at that age therefore the unique colors and products.
Some incredible people that I met along the way and some who were my inspiration have moved on in life. My heartfelt thanks to all of you. Without you this journey wouldn’t have been possible. My school and college friends who were my strength during the trying times I faced; thank you for giving me your support and thank you for patiently bearing with me.
(In this picture Shashank is seated and my younger brother Praveen is standing at the back)
My school friend Shashank Shekhar who I have known for 25 years, a lawyer by profession who in my opinion is a born craftsman, he spent numerous nights toiling with me doing stained glass cards and tearing away at edges(torn edges are one of the effects that I give to paper). We had bundles of 1000 sheets at a time to tear, we tried everything to shield our hands, from plastic to tape; blisters were a sweet joy as the task was accomplished. Shashank Shekhar, my heartfelt thanks to you my friend.
(In this picture Bharat Thakran is to my left and Dr. Ahmar Tarique is to my right)
Bharat has been a friend since college times, a friend always ready to help anyone and everyone. I can always count on him. He dreads coming to my studio because whenever I have told him that it would take me half an hour to wind-up and leave, it has actually always taken a few hours, Mr. Thakran I am truly deeply sorry. Dr Ahmar and I are friends since Wynberg Allen, While in Delhi he has always been successful in marketing my products and the funny part is that he does not know what handmade paper is. During a craft workshop with Japanese women he was busy marketing my products, it never looked as if I were the designer. That’s what you call a true marketing genius! to be able to sell anything anywhere. Sometimes his conversations go so deep that he forgets his true purpose which incidentally was to market/sell my work. I guess there are two sides to a coin.
It was during the exhibition at Full Circle when I tasted my first media exposure. HT City did a front page on us. It was the moment of truth; I had arrived. I was craving for recognition and in the coming years I did get a kick in seeing myself in the news. I remember breaking the news to my parents about my work after a hiatus of two years. I knew they would call me back to Daltonganj, Jharkhand if they ever got an inkling of what I was up to here.
This article in The Hindu happened later, guess how? I had to promote myself therefore I tried to do my own PR, I took some pictures and actual products and posted them to the journalist, she liked them and she said she would write about it. The dilemma was how she would put my contact address without sounding like she was promoting me; read for yourself:
“C-7/244 SDA, Hauzkhas is probably a house that does not generate much garbage. For the young bloke living inside waste/scrap has immense potential…….”
Thank You Anita.
This article in The Hindu was read by Mrs. Sunaina Suneja, a member of Delhi Comonwealth Womens Association, she tracked me down and offered a stall at the Spring Mela held at the British High Commissioners residence. I couldn’t afford a full stall so she offered me half a stall, the other half she kept for her fashion work. During the course of the mela I met an NRI who was trying to set-up his IT company(year 2001). He offered to make me a website at a relatively low cost, having a website at that time was quite a thing. Thank you Mr Ravindra
While planning my website i realised that I should have something stunning and different just like my work. A friend knew Akhil Bakshi the renowned photographer so he took me to him. I told him the purpose and also that it had to be something creative. I suggested I paint my hands as I loved playing with colours; I am a hands on designer. Here my friends are the photographs, I was told not to smile therefore the expressions…
Sometimes I wondered how weird or creative (its the matter of 
perception) some news photographers were, like in the news article on the right the HT photographer made me lie down below a glass table and shot the products on top….what would you call that! phew!
The day this article on the left got published was a very sad, interesting and weird day. The sad part was the Gujarat earthquake. The interesting part is that it was my birthday and the weird part was that while I was reading the article in the morning on the terrace at home, the earthquake happened, the building was shaking massively and I remember the trees swaying in front….guess what I was doing? I was trying to read the article faster so that I finished before anything happened…those were the days!
Since then I have never looked back. My optimism is blatant; I think it’s just a matter of time before I get my due.
In the year 2000 I was asked to put a poster of our exhibition at a famous clothing store, I showed the owner my card and said “see there is so much hard work in the card”. He threw the card and said “art is not hard work, it should be effortless”. Lesson learned. The whole incident of him throwing my card was disheartening for me at that time when I was searching for acceptance. When I see young artists visiting my studio…I see myself, my struggles and my hard work.
There have been countless souls who helped me gain a foothold in the design field and I am truly thankful to all of them. I am sorry if I have forgotten to mention your name.
more later…
Posted in Media Coverage, Old Designs
I sent my work for the London International Creative Competition, and I missed the prize.Its happening too often that I am missing the first prize……Anyways I am too optimistic to let that affect me. I have realised that being self-taught is a sure no-no. But who cares, people love my work. Hopefully in the near future I should get my due. Last year there were more than 5000 entries from 95 countries. This year I am sure were more.
The following three entries of mine were shortlisted…I guess in the top 100:
1. Stationery from Cow Dung Paper 2. Luxe – Brass Metal Range 3. Paper Jewellery
The following entry was in the honourable mention:
My entries in detail:
Luxe
“Luxe” is a limited edition of chic and trendy range of stationery, books, invitations and business cards. Each piece is handcrafted from recycled brass metal and is avant garde in its look and feel.
Paper Jewellery
My first love and medium of choice is paper. While working with this medium I feel a sense of joy and belonging and I am always trying to mould it into a variety of products. This range of paper jewellery is handmade from recycled and 100% wood free paper. It has a special transparent coating to make it water-proof. The black border holding the quilled pendant is also recycled board.
This in other words is environmentally responsible fashion.
Spice
Spice range of stationery, recipe books, invitation cards, etc are quintessentially very me. I am a rebel and I love to create the unusual. The mediums I use are varied but simple. The Spice range was designed keeping the food connoisseur in mind as it brings a certain level of ingenuity to the otherwise mundane recipe books and invitations. It simply spices it up.
Cow Dung Range
This is a range of journals and greeting cards handcrafted from paper that is 100% recycled and handmade from cow dung and cotton rags. Cow dung is typically full of short to medium grained fibrous materials from the cows diet which when processed makes excellent paper. Naturally dried cow dung from cow shelters (also called “gaushalas”) is brought back to the village unit to make beautiful handmade paper. GauShala, a Sanskrit word, means the sanctuary or the abode for old, sick, abandoned and stray cows, calves and oxen.
(In Sanskrit, Gau means cow, Shala means a sanctuary).
Time Piece
This piece of art epitomises the experimental part of me. The inspiration for this “timepiece” runs back to the time when I was a young boy and the wooden scale with its rudimentary appeal was a constant source of fascination; it was a multipurpose tool and also a toy. This timepiece is sold by invitation.
Egyptian Hieroglyphs
The fascination with Egypt and its mysterious civilisation inspired me to create this unusual range of greeting cards, journals, bookmarks and gifts. All products have hieroglyphs with its meaning in english printed at the back. The hieroglyphs have been printed on a specially designed and environmentally responsible handmade paper that mimics a peeling wall texture. The papers that hold the hieroglyphs have been hand coated and brushed to give it that authentic look. This range has been developed after months of extensive research on hieroglyphs, papers and textures.
Hello Everyone,
I need to choose one of the below for an advertisement and the problem is that I like all of them…..please help me!!!
Range of products featured above:
Ecologique (Eco-friendly), Papier Fibreux (Fibrous paper), Spice
Handmade Cards ~ Bags ~ Journals ~ Scrapbooks ~ Photo albums ~ Gifts ~ Stationery
Chic and exclusive paper products in limited editions. A variety of designs and concepts to choose from. All the above are available at our Studio & Store
Anand’z Creation – 32, FF, Shahpur Jat, (Near Asiad Village), New Delhi – 110049 India
Posted in Media Coverage, Whats New
This is the first glimpse of our new range of embroidered cards. We have gone a step ahead of what we had earlier in terms of embroidery. The latest range uses more intricate forms of hand-embroidery like “dabka” “aari” etc. The fabric used here is silk georgette. The envelopes too are premium quality with a lining of grained gold foil.
Posted in Whats New | Tags: Anandz Creation, embroidered card, greeting card, handmade card
The latest issue of TimeOut Delhi has a small write-up and a paid advertisement of our new range of products named “Naturelle”.
Posted in Media Coverage, Whats New
