Unwrapping fresh ideas

The act of gifting is easy but it’s the thought behind the gesture that really counts. This is why many are opting for personalised gifts — they speak a thousand and one words. While the idea of customisation isn’t new, personalising gifting options is becoming a trend in the city.

Though the 2 words have some similarities, there is a fine line between the ideas. While all personalisation is customisation, the latter isn’t always synonymous with the former. Shwetha Narayanan and Savita Iyer, founders of ‘Urbankala’, say that they prefer making personalised gifts as that’s a good way to connect to the customer. “Personalisation of gifts involves getting to know a person and their relationship with the receiver, which is what we love. We customise gifts as well but that’s not as much fun,” says Shwetha.

While Savita works on paintings, Shwetha does wire art and together, they make works that hold the essence of a person or a relationship. Explaining what personalisation means in terms of gifting options, she adds, “Once 5 friends asked us to make a personalised kettle for a sixth friend. It had pictures of all the friends painted on it, quotes and wacky moments they’ve had together.”

Customisation, on the other hand, is less specific in terms of content but plays on particular themes, colours or textures. It has less to do with the nuances of a relationship and more to do with one’s tastes. “For us, customisation mostly comes in the form of jewellery. Personalisation represents special moments in a person’s life and we love being a part of it,” says Shwetha.

Shubhra Jain, another crafter, says that personalising gifts is a very intimate act as you get a peek into someone else’s life. “It could include pictures, though I prefer working without them. Scribbles, quotes and momentos add to the effect.”

But not everyone favours this. As an artist, Swathi Swamy, founder of ‘Sankrithi’, says that customisation gives her more flexibility. “I don’t have much to do when it comes to personalisation. With customisation, I can use my creativity to implement the brief in any way.” But she agrees that there is more ‘personality’ in the former as it’s an act of putting one’s thoughts on a product. “I once designed a jewellery box for a newly wed. It was gifted to her by her mother-in-law. The lid had a copy of the wedding invitation as a reminder of the memorable day,” she says.

The line between the 2 blurs at many points, where intimate thoughts include the outside world. Prashanti Mahankali explains this through one of her works. “One girl really loves Taylor Swift so she asked me to make a T-shirt for her with the singer’s face handpainted on it. And since the girl and her friends love music, she asked me to make something for all of them. This is why I made a terracotta pendant with decoupage work on it to represent their friendship,” she says.