Annada Menon – a 27-year-old Pune based artist, has never wanted a desk job. Instead, she picked up a brush, set up an online store and personalized large orders with Instamojo for her customers.
We spotted Annada Menon’s online store whilst scouring for prospective mojoStores. What caught our eye was the symmetrical artworks and the vivid colours of her work.
So, naturally, we get in touch with the artist and uncover her story.
In a world run completely by digital demands, how does an artist thrive? In a country where engineers, doctors and MBAs still rule the corporate scene, how can a small business run by an illustrator do more than just sustain?
We did a little digging and a bit of questioning to get our answer.
What got Annada to pick up the brush?
Like most kids, Annada was offered many career choices – but she only saw them keeping her behind a desk. When she was 17 years old, Annada knew. She wanted to become an artist.
Although she was not aware of other artists out there, Annada filled her childhood with comics, storybooks with beautiful illustrations and storytelling. She did her homework too, by attending drawing classes.
The patience and technique my teacher had were very different compared to that of a school or art academy. She had her own method of getting my basics polished on art. Watching her made me want to be her, by thinking out of the box and how everyone should conceive art in their own way. My journey to becoming a traditional artist started from here – Annada
Post this, Annada went on to specialize in painting from the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath in Bangalore. However, her journey as a professional illustrator started in 2016.
The Inspiration behind the art:
Annada’s art is a manifestation of what’s simply in her mind. She draws from memory, and when it comes to her business orders, she simply takes samples of daily life to create art.
“Nature is a major element in my work, animals especially. My mediums include watercolours, acrylics, inks, markers and digital mediums. The style is just an amalgamation of memory, distortion, surrealism and executed with the joy to create. Also, my work will constantly evolve so I am hoping that there is never a fixed style. This helps me be versatile in picking projects as well” – Annada
Making Art Exclusive for a business:
Annada soon came to realise that customers who loved her work, wanted her art to feel more personalized to them. She put her fingers and brush together and soon began to design and draw art onto objects of utility – such as postcards, coasters and posters.
“ I didn’t set the store from the perspective of mass production of products. I want people to own my work but every person should have a different design in hand.” – Annada
Annada Menon sells her art under her own name, to make customers feel closer to her original works of art. Her personal work remains separate from what she sells to her customers.
Creating art for customers takes a lot of planning. Annada goes the extra mile to keep in touch with her customers and form a close bond with them. She looks forward to feedback and views on the potential products customers wish to see in the next phase of work.
Managing Large Orders with Instamojo:
So, with an increasing fan base and orders coming in at unexpected hours and days, how does an artist maintain her creative streak and run a business full time?
Here’s where we come in. Annada sells her artwork on the Instamojo online store. Like many artists, Annada wanted a simple, easy-to-use online platform to sell her work, interact with customers and manage orders of any size.
“ I came across instamojo from an artist who uses it as well. I was looking for a platform that gave me automatic invoicing options and a simple interface to upload my products with ease.” – Annada
Before discovering Instamojo, Annada took all her orders using Instagram and realized that simply providing a payment link to her customers was not enough. She had to have a reliable platform to take on multiple orders.
Annada began to use the bulk payment feature on Instamojo once she got large orders from customers,
This is how she does it:
- Customer places a large order for a range of designs.
- Annada uploads the order in their name and sends them the payment link
- The customer pays in bulk for the order. The large order is clubbed as one and saves time and effort for both parties.
Her 2020 Vision:
Although Annada has figured out how to keep customers happy, she has more ideas in store for 2020.
“Thanks to a platform like Instamojo, I can focus on developing new kinds of art and not worry about the complications of online payments, orders, shipping or invoice generation. It’s all there on the dashboard.” – Annada
In 2020, Annada plans on creating a whole new range of hand-painted MDF products. From table coasters, magnets, boxes etc. – add new versions to old favourites on her store for loyal and new customers. Annada also wants to print notebooks for customers and raise funds for more art collaborations and projects.
“I will be selling a set of originals and Instamojo would be the perfect platform to keep me organized.” – Annada
Looking to maintain your creative thinking process whilst also running a business? We can help! Sell your products on Instamojo’s online store, ship your products using Instamojo shipping mojoXpress and request bulk payments easily. This video will help you understand the feature better:
START YOUR BUSINESS ON INSTAMOJO
1 comment
nice information thank you very much