KOCHI: In the ‘about’ section of the website for her newly launched stationery venture ‘Make’, architect, artist and art director Malavika A K claims she is akin to that crazy cat lady we are all familiar with. But this, she clarifies, is just when it comes to notebooks, sketchbooks, pens, pencils and markers. As a young kid, Malavika would find her architect father’s desk peppered with different kinds of office supplies. Fascinated, she would yearn to doodle with them.
“I have always seen my dad use fancy stationery for his work, so I knew there was more in the world than just I2 pencils that we would carry in school. He was very encouraging and didn’t impose any restrictions on me. I could experiment with all his tools. That was how my obsession for stationery slowly evolved. Everywhere my mom and dad go, they get me stationery more than anything,” says Malavika who has helmed a number of art direction projects for the popular music band When Chai Met Toast.
As someone who owns a wide collection of sketchbooks and uses them in quick succession, Malavika is an aficionado of well-crafted paper. This is why her very first line of products under Make comprises paper-based items. Of the two products currently on offer, one is a ‘Tear-away’ calendar for the upcoming year which comes as 12 loose sheets with a wooden stand. While the right side is marked with dates of a month, the left is a 12x12 cm postcard-sized print of an illustration by Malavika that can be detached.
The other product, aptly named ‘The art of just drawing lines and a little bit of colouring’, comes with a smaller book that guides beginners in drawing straight lines and a larger colouring book featuring Malavika’s art that is predominantly line sketches.
“I was particular about the brand representing my style and aesthetic. My best friend came up with the name which has all my initials and also conveys an impetus to create something. I designed the logo keeping in mind how it would represent the products. I was very keen on the aesthetic of the brand - clean, minimal and pleasing to the eye. So ‘Make’ reflects my personal design ethos,” says Malavika.
The 24-year-old who has for long dreamt of starting her own line of stationery products has been working towards its inception for the past years even as a college student. “It took me a while to make it a reality because I was adamant of doing everything alone which I realised is not feasible. I have invested in the venture but my friend Ashwin Gopakumar, the lead singer of When Chai Met Toast, is currently helping me with the operations side of things.
My younger sister Devika does all the visuals for the brand. Next in the line are a set of notebooks and sketchbooks which will go live on our website in a couple of weeks,” says Malavika who is juggling a full-time job at an architecture firm and freelance commissions apart from her newest foray as an entrepreneur.
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