It was while studying at the Sir J.J. School of Arts that Disha Mehta realised she wanted to focus on event invites and customised stationery to express her design aesthetic and creativity. She found that when anyone in Mumbai wanted an invite designed for a wedding or similar event, they had only two options available — either head to the local markets where you’d get a mass-produced, template-style invite for anywhere between Rs 50-200; or if you could afford it, go to a high-end designer who wouldn’t craft a card for you for anything under Rs 1,500. So what would those whose tastes didn’t match what the mass market had to offer — but didn’t have deep enough pockets for the second option — do?
It was this question that prompted Disha to set up her lifestyle design studio — Customizing Creativity — in 2009. She was joined by her husband Harsh Munshaw in the enterprise, and today, the couple are the go-to option for those wanting personalised stationery, custom invites and couture packaging. When filmmaker Rakesh Roshan’s family was planning his 64th birthday celebrations, the Munshaws crafted the invites. When the Chopras — Pamela, Aditya, Uday and Rani — wanted personal stationery, the Munshaws customised it for the family.
“Over the years, we have learnt that providing a customised service is what will take us a long way,” says Harsh, explaining why the devil is indeed, in the details for Disha and him. “(When working on invites) we enjoy dealing with couples and their families; we try and get a sense of their style and personality and portray that through the work we do for them.” Disha says that the design process varies a fair bit from project to project — depending on how much flexibility the client they’re dealing with, allows the duo. While they go over an idea with a client, they constantly make notes about what he/she may like: Notes about fonts, sizes, shapes, colours, text alignment. “Mood boards” with colours, images, patterns and textures are created, to serve as the inspiration for the final design.
One of the most recent projects the Munshaws worked on, was invites for a destination wedding in Bhutan. “We thought, why not bring out the culture of Bhutan and let the guests receiving the invite get a sense of all the culture and colours that they are going to experience as part of the wedding celebrations?” says Disha. “It was very satisfying to work on in terms of the concept and design.”
A “passport” style wedding invite
Apart from such project-specific design influences, the Munshaws say they draw creative inspiration from the rich cultural diversity of India. “Our culture is so vibrant and colourful,” says Disha. “Every community we work with gives us a sense to explore and take inspiration from their culture — be it a Gujrati, Marwadi, Punjabi or a Bengali family. Working with communities from across the country has given us a different perspective.”
While gorgeous event invites will perhaps continue to find favour with customers for a long time to come yet, isn’t the idea of personalised stationery a bit of an anachronism in these digital times, when people would rather shoot off a WhatsApp message or email than a handwritten letter? The Munshaws disagree, and say there’s plenty of room to express their creativity via the medium — and they don’t see that changing anytime soon.
“There are lots of people who would still prefer the old school style of sending a personal note to their loved ones or just a small thank you note to someone who invited them to an event,” says Harsh. “Those are the people we love reaching out to. Very recently, we worked on personal stationery for Rani (Mukherji) and Aditya Chopra, Pamela Chopra and Uday Chopra. It was nice to see Rani Mukherji give so much time to make sure she got exactly what she wanted, she was involved in the smallest details.”
