Other assorted goodies...

I discovered soon that the doodles I was making were a very versatile graphic. Not only did they bring vivacity to otherwise dull items they let your imagination carry you to new ideas too! Like these cushion/pillows. I originally designed them to decorate my studio! I just love these cute little things peeping at me from all corners. But then as I toyed with the idea of making them into commercial products I was stuck with their obvious frivolity. What do you need cushions for. They are not big enough to use as pillows, too graphic to use as throw pillows in formal living areas... too many issues. So they were relegated to the 'vanity projects' section - the section where I keep all ideas who's only purpose is to serve my vanity ;p.



That's where they lay for a good 3 months until on a wise friend's suggestion, they have found a noble cause for themselves, and serve as vanity and health aids! :) We have stuffed these cushions with organic mustard seeds and rice grains! They are now hot/cold medicinal packs.

All you do is pop the snug@doodle (that's what we are calling it right now) into the microwave for 30 seconds or in the freezer for about 15 minutes & you have a wonderful health aid!!!

The fact that it is organic inside out (save for the printing) it can be used for tiny babies too to decongest their chests during the wet season! And the weight of some of the smaller cushions serves as a soothing aid to keep on the chest of sleeping infants, like a parent's hand, to keep them from startling themselves when they sleep.




Along with the snug@doodles, the graphics look fab on a range of bags. These are also Organic & Fair trade cotton bags onto which the graphic has been digitally printed.

Following are some images of similar bags with screen printed designs.
As of now I am using conventional colours, but I have already found a more eco-friendly option and hopefully by the end of the year I will find a source too so that my entire product becomes truly organic!









Another item that always frustrated me was aprons! I have never got an apron that I liked. The colours, prints, graphics, material, structure was all so mismatched. So i decided to make my own! And here is what we have to start with. In the coming months we will be adding more colours and graphics to this range.

The hunt for these resources is very thrilling! And I am so happy to find that in most cases, all I have had to do is ask! It is all around us but not in one place...


Hopefully the Doodle Factory can be that place! :D

The Heritage Series from The Doodle Factory

As I began to doodle more seriously, I hit upon the idea to doodle about subjects that have been close to my heart but have found little representation in merchandise. One such topic was Marathi Nursery Rhymes. We have all grown up listening to these and they have a special meaning for all of us - the memories of the time, the people who taught us and the carefree spirit of that age.



I also wanted to create something meaningful for my children. They are growing up in an environment of confusing influences. They choose to associate themselves more with Disney than with Shivaji and I feel hurt that they feel little sense of pride in our tradition, culture and history.


As far as my observation has been, they are more drawn to the imagery than the idea. Mickey and Donald, Lizzie McGuire, Hannah Montana, Dora the Explorer, Charlie and Lola are all their heroes because of what they do and how they do it. A Chota Bhim doesn't look as impressive physically and some of the stories are downright objectionable. Children DO NOT like it when they get mixed messages from the media and are quick to shun that which doesn't appeal to them.

For me the challenge was to make my daughters feel proud of who they are and where they come from, over and above feeling proud of what they have or can buy. If they liked these graphics my work was done. :) Children can be your toughest critics. But it pays to take them seriously.

The following few images are a series of illustrations I made under the Heritage series featuring 6 famous Marathi poems.




I have them printed on Organic Cotton Bags, Magnetic Bookmarks made from recycled paper and Mugs.

Naachre Moraa

Saang saang bholaanaath

Zhuk zhuk zhuk zhuk ageenagaadi

Chocolatechaa bunglaa

Chandobaa chandobaa

Yere yere pausaa

This is the whole range of products for 'Chandobaa chandobaa'.

All these product are available at the Warsaa stores at Ishanya Mall & Shaniwarwada, Pune,
Either Or, Pune and soon will be available at Loose Ends, Mumbai.

New T-shirts to be launched this weekend!!!

This weekend I am sending out these t-shirts to
Either Or, Pune and to Loose Ends in Mumbai.
Here are pictures of the Kids t-shirts in sizes 18, 20 and 32.
The same designs and colours are available in
Ladies sizes - XS, S, M
and Mens - M, L and XL
I will also be posting images of the remaining products.

Lazy Cats

Flies in congregation

Fleur de Lis

Cat

Insect Pyramid

Beetle

Back

Cat

Flies in congregation

Insect Pyramid

Beetle

Lazy Cats

Back

Lazy Cats

Flies in congregation

Fleur de Lis



Cat


Insect Pyramid


Beetle

Back

Welcome to The Doodle Factory...

I am happy to announce the informal launch of the Doodle Factory, (my long overdue craft project)! I know the name is a little corny but what can I say.... I'm a compulsive doodler and the sooner I accept it the better it is for me!

i.doodle :) i.doodle.anywhere.anytime.allthetime!!! :D

This doodle above was made on hairband packaging card!!! No throw-aways are safe from me!
& I love it. I doodle on anything and everything and I know my doodles are good! So I started with doodling over drawings made by my kids and their friends and....



This fish was painted by Arya at age 3.

... lo and behold 2 years later they feature in an alphabet book published by none other than Scholastic, earlier in 2009! Now, that only encouraged me to doodle more. And for me doodling is liberation. After the book I decided to expand the doodle world. I made mugs first with the same doodles as the alphabet book & put them in retail stores in Pune. And the response was amazing!

The original doodles made on child art found their way on these delightful mugs!

But they were not really very affordable for all and I didn't like that.
So I decided to expand into lower priced products and started to explore cloth and paper.


When selecting my next product though I was more inclined to choose something that was more environment conscious. So I chose to make only objects of utility and that too with reusable, recyclable, eco-conscious materials that caused minimum damage to the environment. It was a tough choice and even tougher to find the right resources. But it just takes a certain amount of tenacity and a lot of stubbornness to not settle for anything else or less... because I found it! Organic fair-trade cotton and recycled, untreated, unbleached papers!!! This opened up amazing possibilities for me and I am forging ahead with my line of doodle factory products.


Here are a few you can enjoy.

Here is the heritage series of doodles featuring popular Marathi nursery rhymes
This one is "Chandobaa chandobaa bhaaglaas ka?" on Bags, Bookmarks & Mugs.
The bags are 100% organic fair-trade cotton,
and the bookmarks are made from 100% recycled paper. :)
Also if you look closely, the bookmarks are magnetic.
This way they snap onto the page and don't slip out easily!

My first organic cotton t-shirts modeled by Suhas and Arya!

The Doodle Factory Products are available at
Warsaa stores at Ishanya Mall and Shaniwar wada, Pune;
Either Or, Sohrab Hall, Pune & Loose Ends, Linking Road, Bandra, Mumbai.

I will be posting more images of my products in the next few days.
Please keep checking in. Still more to come are medicinal pillows, aprons
& a look at the new graphics!

For any queries or suggestions or to place orders write to
thedoodlefactorypune@gmail.com