The ‘personal’ Trend

“When I’m working,I hand out business cards to other professionals. That’s my unique identity. So why can’t I extend the same to my personal life?” asks interior designer Nalini Chabbria. Chabbria was browsing the net for inspirational ideas when she came across a fully personalised party theme. “There,I saw paper plates and paper napkins with the name of the child whose birthday it was. I loved the idea,and decided to do it for myself,” she chirps. That was a year ago. Today,Chabbria is known among her friend circle for her gold-black gift tags that have ‘Best Compliments from Nalini Chabbria’ printed on them. “A couple of my friends too copied the idea. All you have to do is either buy envelopes,and then go to a printer and tell him what you want. You can choose your own colours and font of writing.”

While she hasn’t gone to the extent of doing the same for paper napkins,Ritu Malhotra,owner,Rianah,says there are many who have ordered these personalised accessories from her store. “From paper plates to napkins to even return gifts,everything is being personalised,” she says. She shows us a range of gift tags that can even double up as invitation cards. “People choose the designs – if it’s a child then the graphic is of cars or cartoon characters with their names inside or on top. For elders,the envelopes and tags have more of floral designs or abstract shapes. Sagan envelopes are more traditional. All of these have names imprinted on them in funky shapes and classy fonts,as per individual preferences,” she says.

This world of personalisation has said goodbye to the days of handwritten tags and envelopes. This trend found its roots in the themed cards for Diwali,Christmas and New Year greetings. Aloka Salvi,an IT professional,quips,“Once,while sending out Christmas cards,I decided to get our names printed even on the envelope. Later,I chose to do the same for all envelopes and gift tags. So many people have complimented me on the idea.” While she found a printer in the by-lanes of the city area to emboss gold print on her maroon envelopes,she says,“Nowadays,stores have realised the need to cater to each one’s tastes,and I’m sure card and stationery shops would willingly customise the purchases.”

Malhotra is one of them who does,and she adds,“Even NRIs come here and choose lotus-design stationery which they embellish with their own names. People are increasingly doing this for kids,so that if they go for a birthday party,they can simply stick the tag on and not waste time writing down ‘happy birthday’ and so on. I’ve done so for my daughter too!”