A NEST notebook. Telegraph picture

Guwahati, March 24: After carving out a name with NEST, his brand of notebooks and lifestyle products inspired by the Northeast, Guwahati-based designer Arpit Agarwal, an alumnus of National Institute of Design (NID), will be launching his online shopping portal for better marketing.

NEST is a brand of notebooks/journals, lifestyle products inspired by the popular symbols, culture and crafts of the picturesque and unexplored paradise of the Northeast, which was launched by Arpit Agarwal in 2012.

The brand’s effort is to capture and explore the immense rich heritage of the Northeast, its diverse wildlife, flora, fauna and its colourful people. The logo of NEST, which has eight colours, signifies coming together of eight states of the Northeast.

“In the past few years, a lot of interest has been shown in the Northeast and its products have found a lot of admirers in the country and abroad. All these products are exclusive in their own way. The unique idea behind NEST is to capture and explore the boundless rich heritage of the Northeast, its diverse wildlife, flora, fauna and its colourful people by creating a visual imagery, which has a lasting impression on people. Each product being a visual delight also educates the user (each product comes with a detailed description about the inspiration on it) about the little known culture and symbols of the Northeast region, thus generating further interest and curiosity. Today NEST products are selling through 10-15 stores in the country and two stores abroad,” Arpit told The Telegraph.

Arpit, who has a post graduation diploma in Lifestyle Accessory Design from NID, said he been promoting his products through social media (Facebook, Pinterest) which is one of the strongest tools today and the response has been quite encouraging. “Word of mouth has also helped us reach a wide audience. We will be soon launching our own online shopping portal and actively participate in exhibitions and have pop-up shops during festive seasons for better marketing,” he said.

He said many customers have written to him asking, “I so want to visit the Northeast, what is the right time to come. Such responses assure that our objective of promoting the Northeast has been successful.”

He said NEST started with notebooks/ journals as they form an excellent gift/ souvenir. Tourists visiting the Northeast can carry them as a souvenir/gifts for their loved ones.

“We have diversified into products such as coffee mugs, key chains, coasters, bookmarks, fridge magnets as these small products are easy to carry and do not take up much space in your suitcase. The current products are inspired by symbols of Assam, Nagaland and Manipur and soon it is going to be Arunachal Pradesh and eventually all the eight states. We would gradually be diversifying into products such as textiles, Assamese jewellery and bamboo with similar visual identity as the present product range,” he added. He said the little known and unexplored crafts and textiles of Northeast has been one of the most important reasons for its popularity.

“The handmade products of Northeast products makes them more likable as more and more people are looking for them. NEST’s effort has been to popularise the products of the region through its handcrafted products,” he added.