Today’s toddlers are one lucky lot. Those born in the 80s would definitely testify to the fact that the little ones now-a-days are spoilt for choice. The sheer selection of apparel, baby care products, accessories and entertainment options for infants to pre-teens; you name it, is enough to make kids giddy with excitement. Storybooks for children is yet another segment which has taken the market by storm with illustrators, designers and writers creating simple and fun stories for children. Pratiksha Agarwal is one such woman who creates customised storybooks for the little ones.
It all began three years ago when Pratiksha found out she was expecting. “I knew I wanted to stay home for a couple of years till my son grows up to go to school. But I wanted to do something for myself also. I began to spend a lot of time in learning new craft techniques. I took decoupage and mixed media classes to learn about different techniques,” she explains. A post-graduate of NID, she was familiar with patterns and colours and with software skills thrown in, Pretti Messi was born.
Based in Kolkata, most of the business happens online through her Facebook page – Pretti Messi. How did this name come about? “Pretti Messi is coined from my name: Pratiksha. A lot of my friends call me Prati as a nickname. So Pretti came from that and the type of work I do involves a lot of mess. Hands covered with paint, glue sticking everywhere, and lots of craft supplies taking up space on the table; so I try to create something pretty with all the mess,” she reveals.
Pratiksha started with a personalised storybook for the birthday of one of her friend’s son. One of Pratiksha’s storybooks reflects the journey of a child who meets different characters and how he/she helps them and they in turn help the child in finding his/her name. “It goes like this - Suppose the name is Shlok. He meets a squirrel, hippo, lion, owl, and a kangaroo. Then I try to make up a story. For example, the squirrel is not able to find his buried nuts. The kid helps the squirrel, and squirrel gifts him the letter S. The owl is not able to see in the dark, so the kid gives him glasses. Then the owl will give him the letter O. Each character will give him the first letter and voila! It will ultimately spell Shlok” she explains excitedly.
The process of creating a storybook begins when the clients give Pratiksha a picture of their kid. She incorporates the hairstyle, shape of the face, build and clothes the kid is wearing to sketch the kid in the story. This allows the child to relate to the kid character in the book. For the other characters, she tries her best not to make it sound similar in name. “Sometimes, there are two or three of the same letter in a child’s name. So I have come up with two to three characters for such letters so that the story would be interesting for the kid,” she adds.
Her strengths lie in mixed media art and absolutely loves creating products by mixing patterned paper, fabric, sequins, laces, colours, and textures. “For the storybooks, I use a design software after which they are printed and bound,” she elaborates.
Pratiksha also makes customised nameplates, with the photo of the family sketched on the nameplate. “I also make personalised trays, fridge magnets, boxes, and photo collage. The nameplates, trays and boxes are all hand-made. I source only the base from the market,” she sums up with a smile.
