The Paper Plane Cocktail Hour: For the Pun of it

You should probably choose your words carefully with Krishna Chavda. She is the founder of NANU Studio in Hoboken, New Jersey, and this self-proclaimed Pun Queen has quite a bit to say about the stationery community and maker lifestyle. Connecting people is about much more than just a vibrant palette, engaging plant and animal imagery, and lots of clever word-play — but these provided the framework for Krishna to carve out a niche for a growing brand!

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https://www.nanustudio.co/

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Transcript

Amy Loewenberg: 0:23

Hello everyone and welcome to the paper plane cocktail hour. I am one of your hosts Amy Loewenberg, relations manager for New York Now and all around retail and maker advocate for buyers and brands everywhere. My focus is to bring you important information, conversations and perspectives from both sides of the aisle, and maybe even feature you on my podcasts in New York Now, or my store tours on Instagram.

Sarah Schwartz: 0:51

And I'm your host Sarah, you may know me as the founding editor and editor in chief of stationery trends magazine, my site, the paper nerd or possibly my other podcasts, the paper fold. I have been covering the stationery and gift industry since 1997. But Never did I imagined that I'd one day be covering the market here in the virtual space.

Amy Loewenberg: 1:11

So throughout 2022, we will be raising our glasses alongside our pencils. As we share stories, compare notes and celebrate three of our all time favorite topics, stationery connection and cocktails.

Sarah Schwartz: 1:26

Cheers, cheers.

Amy Loewenberg: 1:28

So as we record this New York now is still about 10 days out and the team is immersed in market prep.

Sarah Schwartz: 1:35

I can imagine. You know, for years I walked shows pretty much unaware of all that goes on behind the scenes to make that seamless, polished experience for attendees happen. Then several years back, I got to visit Javits on setup day, the day before in New York now opened and wow, I had no idea what goes into it. And of course, 2022 finds us all dealing with the unique problems that 2022 presents. Still, the show must go on. So can you give us a sense of what kind of last minute preparations you're dealing with?

Amy Loewenberg: 2:12

Well, there is so much happening as we approach market. Something that I can share is that this year, I will be curating a booth highlighting some favorite products and lines found in the gift and stationery section. It's called the floor to store exclusive and I'm creating it in the likeness of our beloved retailers that I visit so often. And it's yet another opportunity for buyers to see our brands, visualize this product in their stores and then get them over to their booths.

Sarah Schwartz: 2:43

Wow. Well, how cool to bring a bit of the retail experience to the show floor and Amy with your eye and experience. You're definitely the one to do it. But so is this like a pipe and drape thing?

Amy Loewenberg: 2:57

No, no, it's it's hard walls, I have a 10 by 10 booth. And like I said, it's going to be put, you know, wish me luck, it's going to be made to look like more like a store. And just like most retailers have a cause that they support. I have a cause that I'll be supporting in my store. as well. New York now has a wonderful and long lived partnership with gift for life. And we will be fundraising for the World Trade kitchen through some some great raffles. So please stop by. And then maybe our next conversation, Sarah, we can go into some more details on the market. How about that?

Sarah Schwartz: 3:37

Well, I'd love to do that. And I know that we'll have a lot to talk about. It sounds like you are being pulled in a million directions. But you know, Amy, one monkey don't stop no show and I'm sure you have it all. I like once you can make a trade show happen in a pandemic. There's a few there's challenges in life you can't handle. Oh, cheers to that. Plus, by the time you hear this, the Winter edition will be all over and we'll be looking ahead to SF now in spring and New York now in summer. Yeah, yeah. So meanwhile, Amy and I are continuing with our journey to speak with designer makers who are in their beginning chapters.

Amy Loewenberg: 4:27

I love this agenda and we are well on our way was scheduling our paper plane peeps throughout the year. So who is next in our lineup Sarah?

Sarah Schwartz: 4:36

So for this the second episode of 2022. Amy and I are chatting with Illustrator and surface designer Krishna Chavda, founder of NANU Studio based in Hoboken, New Jersey. She's best known for her humorous illustrations inspired by her childhood in Tanzania. Her work is vibrant, playful and full of clever surprises. As some of her favorite things to draw are animals, plants and puns, Krishna has successfully figured out how to merge her inspirations and interests in her passion for paper goods and lifestyle products.

Amy Loewenberg: 5:12

Yeah, Krishna is also a one woman business with you know, some help of a bookkeeper and the supportive friends and family, and of course, our incredible stationery community. She's created an eco conscious line using recycled paper and non toxic inks in a solar powered printing facility. Her Indian heritage can be seen throughout her illustrations and she's expanding on and developing non traditional cards for Hindu holidays such as Diwali. I love

Sarah Schwartz: 5:45

it. And the way that the card industry will enjoy is if it keeps speaking to the different ways people celebrate and commemorate, you know, different things throughout the year. Yeah. So as a side note, some of her favorite things are sunny side up eggs, greeting cards, cheese. Third, David Attenborough mangoes, throwing a Frisbee, anything knitted or quilted by her sister. This cozy comfy vibe definitely comes through in her work.

Amy Loewenberg: 6:18

I love it. I have to say we have definitely bonded over the love of cheese. And the fact that David Attenborough is in here. I can't tell you how many get this VCR tapes. I used to VHS VCR you know those big clunky things we used to put it wasn't Betamax. Oh, gosh, you're dating me? Oh my gosh. Anyway, um, all of this fun. Energy comes through in her personality as well. But we will see that for sure after we bring her on. Welcome, Krishna, thank you for joining us today. We're so excited to talk with you.

Krishna Chavda: 6:57

I'm so excited to be here. Thanks for having me.

Amy Loewenberg: 7:00

You're very welcome. Um, I have a couple of questions. But first, I'm, I am curious about the name of your business nano studios. Where does that come from?

Unknown: 7:10

So nano is actually my family nickname. It's a variation of another nickname, which is non cool. And both mean little in Gujarathi, which is the language I grew up speaking. And my Naco was like a teeny tiny version of nano. And so as I aged, it became I evolved from non non code to nano. But I've been drawing for as long as I can remember. And that's just I just associate creativity and being comfortable and doing my only thing with my nickname versus my formal name, which is Krishna. And that's just really an external sort of thing for me.

Amy Loewenberg: 7:49

Interesting. Well, now I know that I've been saying the name incorrectly. So now let me let me amend that. And am I saying that correctly? Non new yet? Did I? I said it right,

Unknown: 8:02

right? No, no, no, no, no, no, either way. All right. So it's not new.

Amy Loewenberg: 8:07

It's not Nana, which is what I said originally. So listeners just ignore that first one. And let's say this correctly, because you're a little bit of a newer business too, which we'll talk about later. Okay, so you say that you associate with your creativity, and your overall curious spirited nature which which definitely comes through for me, mostly in your famous animals in history range. For example, you've got bob cat Ross, which is inspired by Bob Ross. And you've created an image of an effort feline with a painter's palette. I saw Ziggy starfish, which is an eccentric Rockstar starfish with Bowie hair and a jumpsuit and all, can you provide us with a little peek into your process for coming up with these wonderful images?

Unknown: 8:56

Sure. So the idea actually came from one of my friends who is an illustrator and Professor down in Georgia. My name is Katherine. And she had texted me one day in 2014, saying, Vincent van Gogh for make it happen. And then she went dark for many, many hours. And I was dying to know where this idea came from and why she was making me do it because she also draws and also loves puns. So it turns out that one of her students had misspelled Vango on a test and spelt as geo pH and not Gog. Ah, and so her mind went to Gopher, and since I draw faster than she does, because she does highly detailed portraits and graphite work. She was like I needed instant gratification, so I passed it off to you. So I made it and then once I made the one it just, I couldn't stop. And now I have a running list that I've been working on for about seven years at this point. Oh my god. And it's actually part of the reason why I got into stationary bike. as people started loving them, and we're like, Oh, I'd love this on that card. And you know, I totally buy a poster of that. So I started printing cards at home, and then got more into the greeting card side of

Amy Loewenberg: 10:12

stuff. What an incredible segue into your work now, I mean, it was completely organic and derived from humor.

Unknown: 10:21

Yes. And my friend jokes now she's like, I should really be getting royalties on all these projects.

Amy Loewenberg: 10:28

Well, Sara and I are pretty good at coming up with ideas on the fly. So we may send your way. At the end of the interview, do you have any favorites?

Unknown: 10:37

Oh, it's hard to say. All my favorites. I love Bob Ross, the bobcat Ross because he and I share a birthday. Like my artist, soulmate, in some ways. The Frida Kahlo, I love as well. Yeah, I'm Neil deGrasse. Bison, because I just really love how I ended up doing the cosmos behind them. Are all my babies?

Sarah Schwartz: 11:04

I mean, do you find that like, are some best sellers? Do some perform better in different areas of the country? Like what? How do you see them? Like, what kind of response do you get?

Unknown: 11:15

They it varies. So some, oh, they do really well in stores that have that are not just like, gift shop, but have more, and you're like artsy things involved? Oh, like other artists who sell their whether it's jewelry or tapestries or something along those lines, but that's where it generally does better or museums. Yeah, that's what I was totally

Amy Loewenberg: 11:37

going to ask you about is if you found that there were certain types of stores that relate to your product and humor more than others.

Unknown: 11:45

Yeah. And for that line, it's more along the artisan type stores and museums, and then the rest of the greeting card line is kind of all over the board, which is

Amy Loewenberg: 11:55

good exposure.

Sarah Schwartz: 11:57

Yes. Right. Right. And it's nice to have, you know, more than one, you know, all your work relates to each other. But it's nice to have more than one sort of theme, I guess, for lack of a better term. You know, people who walk in your booth, so to speak, like, well, you know, if you have a lot of artists product, like these are going to speak to you. But then we also have, you know, X, Y and Z,

Unknown: 12:23

right. And sometimes I just, you know, the animals because I tend to showcase those really large in the booth. They will draw people in and then they see everything else. And they're like, Oh, those hysterical? And we'll end up buying just the greeting cards or will, you know, be like, hey, this doesn't fit with my store? Can I buy them for myself somehow? And they'll buy for themselves on like, my website, and then we'll actually order for the store but order different things.

Amy Loewenberg: 12:53

Yeah. Which is nice that you have both of those options, you bring up a really great point about how to set up a booth and you know, especially being new in the business to really understand, you know, what work is going to speak to what demographic of buyer and who you're going to be speaking to, you know, sorry, my phone just rang. Welcome to the water podcast.

Sarah Schwartz: 13:13

2022

Amy Loewenberg: 13:16

never going to end. But that is a it's a really great point to feature what is bringing in the most attention, obviously, especially, you know, I say in a trade show, wink wink.

Unknown: 13:32

Yeah, it's they're good. And like they do nicely as large posters. And so it's really, it's really helped bring in people like, Hey, I see you have a museum tag on you're hanging on your neck. Come check out my famous animals. Look at the rest of my life.

Amy Loewenberg: 13:47

There you go. A boring saleswoman.

Krishna Chavda: 13:50

Oh, people in

Sarah Schwartz: 13:52

No, I think that's awesome. You know, when I, if a shopper in a store, looking at greeting cards may look at a given card design for let's say, a second, if you're lucky, if they're scanning, and then if they see something, then they you know, investigate further. I mean, I've got to imagine walking a trade show that you know, you have a similar thing with buyers, you have like a few seconds to quickly draw them in as they glanced at your booth. And if they if there's nothing that sort of you know, nothing shine, you know, nothing that catches their eye, then they then they just keep walking. So that's wonderful that you're able to do that. And that's a that's a really nice approach. And your images have so much detail in them that they do lend themselves to that large scale.

Unknown: 14:42

Yeah, it works really well. And the cool part was sort of going backwards a little bit, but also talking about them being new. My very first show was, I think, the last national stationery show in May 2018. And I had a booth way in the back people would come in with their wasn't like that much traction, and I couldn't figure out why. And at some point, I met Giuliana from good juju, Inc. and loved her line. I was like, Alright, we have similar humor. Maybe I can like talk to her for a bit. So we started chatting, and then we got along really well. So it's like, Hey, would you mind coming and giving me like a critique of my booth? Since you've done this a bunch of times, and I haven't. And so she gave me a whole bunch of feedback. And her husband came and gave me a whole bunch of feedback. They're awesome.

Sarah Schwartz: 15:25

Ryan and my favorite pay Bernards

Unknown: 15:29

we text each other every now and then. No, it's like, we're, we're, we're paper pals.

Sarah Schwartz: 15:34

And I can see how you're sorry, dinner, I can see how your rate like, they sort of complement each other, your work and her work,

Unknown: 15:43

right. Like it's very has that sort of not really highbrow, but I guess like intellectual element to it. And like, different levels of detail. Mm hmm. aspect. But yeah, advice. And it's really helped. And I have another friend who also has her own store. And she's a massage therapist, but she has her own studio, and she would help me out on some of the days and was like, let's move this over here. Because people are responding better to it. I love the support

Amy Loewenberg: 16:13

within the community, because that is how we learn. So there is I say it all the time, there's nothing stronger than the paper community is really, yeah,

Sarah Schwartz: 16:24

there's an I always get such a kick out of like, knowing brands, and then going to an event and being like, Oh, those people and those people are friends. Oh, I can totally see that. Like they get along, you know, it's really fun to see the front, you know, to get acquainted with a body of work and then see, you know, get to meet the person in real life and then interact with the community. Like, it's one of my favorite things. And it's one of the my favorite things about shows is that you get to, you know, you get to see that as well. And along with all the great products, you get to

Unknown: 16:58

cover, you've seen them, you just meet new people, and they become part of like the stationary family and you're like, hey, I need to bounce an idea off. He was that okay? Man.

Sarah Schwartz: 17:09

I mean, I love it. And you know what, what I think is always really interesting to me. And getting acquainted with a range is like when I see that someone licenses, their illustrations, and then like you you share, you know, on your site, you share, you know, some of the work that you've created for clients. So like, I'm looking at yours now, they're really fine. I mean, there's one for chocolate chip cookies, there's a there's a bunch for bakeries, like a lot seem to be food

Krishna Chavda: 17:39

related. There's a lot of food related things,

Sarah Schwartz: 17:42

which is awesome. I mean, baby food related needs love. So I'm curious, like, what your favorite jobs have been in this realm. I mean, obviously, when you're working with a client, it's so different than when you're creating your range. So, like, do any jump out at you as being some of your favorites. Um,

Unknown: 18:03

yeah, the sub stack project was probably one of my favorites along with the project I did for Fordham University. But the sub stack one was actually in 2020, and was about to say last year, but it's not last year, anyone. And then is all relative

Amy Loewenberg: 18:20

right now.

Unknown: 18:22

But they reached out to me and said they wanted portraits for their fellowship program that they do annually. And it was supposed to start off as five portraits that they were going to offer to their fellows, and they expand the program to 10. So I ended up doing more work for 10 people. And it was a little chaotic in the sense that I didn't there wasn't a single art director that to communicate with each fellow independently. And each thing each illustration was its own separate project. And so ended up being five portraits and five, like logo type icons, that represented the writer. But it turned out to be a really fun project and I got to know all these people and like the kinds of writing they do, who their audiences are. So that was really fun, and was very sort of open ended in some ways as well, which gave me a lot of freedom to work,

Sarah Schwartz: 19:15

that's really fun. And I find like working with clients or consulting or, you know, working with anything other than a like publication, you know, it's there's no set rules for how you know, everything is generated and dying. And you really, sometimes you get a really interesting taste of an organization and can really play off it and become part of that that little community and you end up sort of flexing muscles you didn't know you had

Unknown: 19:47

right so I like them as the flipside where it's like you get the project. Like I mentioned the Fordham University one they it was still open ended, but they were very set parameters. And within that I could work which was like an Another sort of interesting challenge, right? All right, a lot of freedom. Yeah, yeah,

Sarah Schwartz: 20:07

I mean, commercial work. I mean, it can go in any. I mean, it can go in any direction, it can be any organization, it could, that the need for their art could be for anything. And so it just, you know, you never know, like, where it's going to take you. And you know, what, what it is you're going to generate? And so that kind of leads me to my second part of my question, I'm curious how these experiences, licensing your work, sort of inform or inspire your own range and your own creations, you know, when you're not working with clients, and all those parameters?

Unknown: 20:43

Um, well actually start. So I got my MFA in illustration. And at the time, I didn't really know that one could do art. I mean, I don't think it really registered that one can do art for stationery. And I went in thinking, Okay, I'm going to be an editorial illustrator, and I'm going to be have this fabulous freelance career, it's so did not work out that way. But along the lines, like along the way, I sort of figured out, you know, what works for me. And the client work just really helped me get more of like, a business mindset and understand what people want. And them. And I guess that's sort of translates into the greeting card world where it's like, okay, well, what kind of cards would people want? And, you know, what kinds of greetings do they want? Who would they be sending these things do? And, yeah, now

Sarah Schwartz: 21:38

make sense to me?

Amy Loewenberg: 21:39

Well, it sounds it sounds really didn't mean to jump in there. I'm sorry. No, no, no, no sounds, it sounds very harmonious way to start a business because you are learning about the business side while you are creating where generally it's not always that way. So you get to, you know, grow a business on both sides. I think

Unknown: 22:00

the business growing is very new muscle that I'm flexing it's it's fun and challenging. Sure.

Amy Loewenberg: 22:09

Can I ask what what you're finding is most challenging right now?

Unknown: 22:13

Well, I also have a day job. So the challenge, trying to have balance between all of these things, and you know, what I want to do in the business and not overfill my plate, which happened last year? Sure. But I mean, maybe one day, I'm hoping that one day I'll be able to quit the day job and do my own thing. That's the goal. How long have you been doing this? illustration in general, about 10 years and stationery, when I started just doing like small markets and selling word of mouth, not wholesale. I think it started in like 2013 or 14, one or the other? No. 14. And then I started hold started thinking about wholesaling in 2017 walks stationary show, and then decided to dive in in 2018.

Sarah Schwartz: 23:13

Wow, I mean, considering everything that's happened since 2018. I mean, I think you're doing pretty well. All things considered. I mean, I know, I know, it can't be any fun to run a brand and juggle with a day job. I mean, that's, that's a lot of pressure. But I, I mean, from my perspective, at least you're doing you're doing pretty well.

Unknown: 23:34

Thank you. The pandemic actually, like major silver lining for me was that it gave me a lot of time to work from home, on my own stuff, because now I'm not commuting into Manhattan, you know, in and out twice a day. So it freed up like two hours of time, and I joined Titi hunts proof to product labs program, which really helped and then I did her paper camp last year around this time, and that really gave me some structure and like, filled in some gaps that I needed to have filled in terms of knowledge. Katie is wonderful. She really is. And there's such a lovely community that she's built.

Amy Loewenberg: 24:16

Yes. Started right out of the stationery show. Yeah.

Unknown: 24:21

And a lot of them we like the people that I've met and I've gotten close to we have like a whatsapp Chat, where it's a group, a group of six of us and we'll be like, hey, I need help with X, Y and Z. Can you can you give me some feedback? Or what do you think of this idea guys? This sucks. You know?

Amy Loewenberg: 24:40

Well, I see your you are on the exhibitor lineup for New York now coming up. Yes. I am very excited to have you and see you. They're

Unknown: 24:49

super excited. It's coming up super fast, is going up super fast.

Amy Loewenberg: 24:53

That's what that phone call was. It's called in things and it's it's pretty hectic right now but an exciting time. You know, getting back to like your vision? How have the events of the past few years or so changed the way you see stationery, you know, how do you think the category is gonna continue to kind of shift and change and evolve in the consumer perception?

Unknown: 25:18

I feel like people are still going to want bespoke type illustrations and the kinds that all of us small makers make. And I'm really hoping that in light of the shortages that we've been having with the supply chains, and especially with the sello, bags, sleeves, for cards, like, I'm, I'm really hoping that it changes something on the retail side of stuff where buyers are more willing to be open to alternative packaging that doesn't get fellow bags, because I've just been hearing day after day people be like, I can't find bags, I need to, you know, fill this order. And I feel like alternatives would be a great, like, great to be able to, you know, card class for belly bands and make them more popular.

Amy Loewenberg: 26:08

Well, I like how you have that offer for your customer, your personal customer, as well as the orders that you're filling, you give them an option if they want the plastic or not, which is, which is a great, sustainable, eco friendly option to give a growing awareness in purchasing.

Unknown: 26:30

And I'm hoping that it'll just I mean, so far, nobody's taking me up on the no sleeves yet, really. But hopefully, there'll be traction on that at some point soon on the read, like on my retail side from direct to consumer. I just never send anything and sell bags. It's wrapped in tissue, and people are fine with it.

Sarah Schwartz: 26:50

Right? I mean, I think a retailer can handle it, like a consumer just buying it like mate, they might feel like oh, it might get a little, you know, bent up or you know, it just there's, there's something about a sleeve that feels very pristine. It's nice that retailers are starting maybe to stop doing it because it will eventually I think translate to their customers. And maybe they will see that they don't need them. But you know, it's got to start somewhere.

Amy Loewenberg: 27:18

Yeah, yeah, it's definitely happening. I mean, I'm I'm seeing naked cards, and in my travels of stores, you know, yeah,

Unknown: 27:25

I'm starting to see it more often, too, but still not that often and not as often as we need. Exactly. But maybe there's a silver lining around all of the supply chain shortages.

Amy Loewenberg: 27:37

You know, that's a really beautiful way to think about it very frustrating. And intensive situation, you know, we've gone through, we're still going through a pandemic, and there have been a lot of silver linings, you know, the supply chain issues have really been traumatic. And it would be really lovely to find silver linings in that. So you need to work on that for us. Okay. I'll do my best. Well, this has been really interesting. I have loved hearing about you and learning a little bit more about your business, is there anything that you would like to add or share of how people can reach you and how we can find you?

Unknown: 28:20

Well, I'm on Instagram, and the handle is at nano studio co CEO, the end. And it's the same for my email Nano studio.co. Wonderful, it's super fun to be here.

Sarah Schwartz: 28:35

It's been a pleasure to get to know you,

Amy Loewenberg: 28:37

I can't wait to see you in a couple of weeks and see your large artwork prints in the back of your of your space and and you're doing a

Unknown: 28:45

panel this time, so I'm not gonna have a huge booth. So change from what I've normally been doing.

Amy Loewenberg: 28:51

It will be interesting to hear how you feel and what is working well. We're always looking for great feedback. And I will make sure to walk all the buyers by your family. Well, listen, thank you so much for joining us today and we will talk with you again soon.

Krishna Chavda: 29:11

I hope so. Thanks for having me. You're welcome.

Sarah Schwartz: 29:14

Thank you. Well, Krishna is definitely as much fun as her designs and as a fellow little sister. I just love her vibe. It's gonna be really interesting to see her range develop. Thank you all so much for listening. Don't forget to post Instagram pics of your paper plane or just your snail mail using the hashtags the paper plane podcast and paper plane cocktail hour. Don't miss out. And Amy, where can our listeners find you in the meantime?

Amy Loewenberg: 29:45

Well, you all can connect with me on Instagram LinkedIn or just email me at work. I always want to highlight our amazing community on my New York nail spotlight podcasts and find new and fun features for my Instagram store tours. I'm available To help connect you to new and needed resources for any of your new york now and now SF now market or digital market questions. And so how can we connect with you?

Sarah Schwartz: 30:12

Probably the best place to connect with me is that the paper nerd comm you can see more fabulous stationery coverage, check out my podcast, the paper folds and to access stationary trends, the industry's award winning design driven trade quarterly as well. It's always a pleasure to learn more about makers and spotlight their work, whether it is in publication blog, or podcast form. If you want to connect, I'd love to hear from you.

Amy Loewenberg: 30:36

And please don't hesitate to reach out to either of us with comments, questions, feedback, suggestions for guests or just to say hi and introduce yourself. And don't forget New York now is an online 365 sourcing and connection platform. Make sure to sign up and sign in and definitely connect with Sarah and I win you do. Thank you so much. And we'll talk with you again soon.

Sarah Schwartz: 30:58

Cheers.

Amy Loewenberg: 30:59

Cheers.