Sky Goodies: Misha and Amit Gudibanda On The Joy Of ‘Making’ And Creating Value Through Their Work
Misha and Amit Gudibanda, Co-Founders, Sky Goodies (ALL CREDITS: SKY GOODIES)
BY MONIKA SAMTANI, CO-FOUNDER, AND EMILY MONTAGUE, SENIOR EDITOR, THE FEM WORD
In 2013, Misha and Amit Gudibanda left their successful corporate jobs as designers to create the company of their dreams together. Their mission - to help people of all ages and cultures discover the joy of ‘Making’.
Sky Goodies is a brand of elevated paper crafts that create a fulfilling experience for everyone. Based in Mumbai, India, all of their designs are original creations - and they are beautiful! For the last decade, Misha and Amit have been featured across the world in top design and art blogs, and premier magazines like Vogue, Brand Magazine (Shanghai), Lonely Planet Magazine, and Elle Decor.
The Fem Word founder, Monika Samtani, had the privilege to highlight their work in 2018 for Etsy (see video below), and we are so excited to speak to this fabulous couple again on their 10th anniversary!
Q: Sky Goodies was founded in 2013, but the philosophy behind it must have started far earlier than that. What experiences – shared or individual – led the two of you to take your passion and turn it into a profitable business?
Misha: For me, craft was one of the best parts of childhood! It was something I did for fun, for school and I literally day-dreamed about things I would make, and about writing a book on craft. Making things has always been such a fulfilling experience. And together, Amit and I would make things with our daughter, Ashi…and we would make fancy dresses for her and it was a lot of fun. So, when we were running our design firm, Sky Design, and it had been on for 7 years, and we were making good money…I went back to paper craft as a hobby + business idea. And I started thinking of all the things I wanted to buy and make with my kid, but they weren’t available in the market. So I made some paper craft kits with India as the subject, and listed them as printable templates on Etsy. The fact that they sold a lot within the first few months and the fact that the business was crazily scalable, led us to actually closing the earlier business and focusing full-time on Sky Goodies.
Amit: For me, too, childhood had a lot of experiences of making things out of waste, and having a lot of fun in the process. In design school, I enjoyed the time spent in workshops, working with my hands, with tools, and creating things from scratch. When the Sky Goodies Etsy products started getting featured and selling on their own, I saw a great business opportunity there.
Q: You’ve talked about the benefits of crafts before, and those benefits aren’t just material. On the Sky Goodies website, you describe how at-home paper crafts impact people’s mental health and well-being, among other things.
What takes “the art of making” to that higher, more profound level, and how did you discover that potential in your own lives?
Sky Goodies latest DIY Paper Ganesha
Misha: Making something is a kind of meditation…it stops the noise of thoughts in your head. Isn’t that what meditation does, too? If you are truly immersed in the process of making, time is of no consequence…the process is intuitive and relaxing. If you are making something without any final target in sight, but rather, because you simply enjoy the process, that is, for me, a way of detaching from attachment, from worry and really enjoy being alive. You could call it a mindfulness practice.
Lots of times when I am designing a product for our business, I just want to make it to the best of my ability, without worrying about how it will work in the market. I feel this brings out the best possible product, because the love shows in the work. And people connect with the energy in the work. They get happy…because I was happy while designing the kit, they get happy while using it. It’s how food tastes better when it is made with love. From a customer’s perspective, they are putting a bit of their time, effort, love into assembling the kit. They are bringing it to life…so it becomes a source of joy during the process of making, and also afterwards, when one looks at something they made with fondness. If the customer is making the product as a handmade gift for someone, that’s even better! They are literally packaging their love in the gift and giving their positive energy to the recipient of the gift.
Amit: At the time we started making these paper craft kits, we were looking for a way to create value through our work…we felt that our work in advertising and marketing for big brands and corporates was not really creating value or spreading joy. We were also going through some trouble on the personal front, and craft made us happier people, and there was also a lot of potential in the business…so we decided to pursue this business full time, and slowly phase out our design services business.
Q: What makes ‘Making’ accessible? How do you define a philosophy that’s so simple yet so profound?
Misha: Making is such a basic thing…it is something we all do on a daily basis without realizing it. You could make a cake, or some plans, or make music, or make a joke…these are all creative processes. With Sky Goodies Paper Crafts, we try to make craft accessible, because many people think they are not good with their hands, or that they ‘cannot’ do craft. These are mindsets that are restrictive and planted in our minds by others during childhood. With our easy DIY kits, the end product in most cases turns out perfect, and is also usable in daily life. Hence it changes this limiting mindset. The customer feels happy and may try their hand at making other things, too. And for the customers who are seasoned crafters, our kits are little packets of joy!
Q: The idea of crafts and the “DIY” arts has long been tied to gender norms. Many people still think of crafting as more of a “women’s” or “feminine” pastime. Feminists would ask how something like paper crafts or knitting are any different than, say, landscape painting as far as artistic value goes.
Why are some types of craft/art considered “real art” while others are thought of as “crafts” or “hobbies?” Questions like these have brought a number of sexist norms and value judgments to light, and they really encourage us to think about who gets to define the terms we use to describe our creative endeavors.
In your opinion, are activities like paper crafts being given more importance and respect nowadays?
Misha: You are right, some men do shy away from our DIY kits because they think it is meant for their kids or wives or girlfriends, and not for them. It’s their choice, of course, but yes I would agree that it is an effect of the kind of conditioning we have all been subject to and the reality of the world most people have grown up in. I was lucky to grow up in a household where my father was very creative and artistic, and so was my mom, and even my grandparents…they would make a lot of flower arrangements, clothes, creative cakes, etc. So I can see that craft is not an activity which is gender specific at all… anyone can enjoy craft; it is truly democratic and doesn’t even have any language barriers. However, while our primary audience is women, simply because they are more open to try craft…there are also a large number of men who buy our products and enjoy them. Post Covid, more people value activities to de-stress, more people understand the benefits of a DIY activity. Because during lockdown, many tried their hand at creative activities just to keep their mind calm.
Amit: In earlier times, yes, it’s true that craft was considered women’s hobbies, especially textiles. But it is changing now.
Q: Let’s go back to the more personal side of your work, Amit and Misha. What role did crafting and Making play in your own childhoods?
Misha: I grew up in a small town. We didn’t have access to too many craft materials and even craft books were rare to come by. So we made a lot of things using whatever we had. On festivals like Dussehra, we made Ravana effigies with fireworks inside and had our own private show of setting the effigy alight and enjoying the fireworks. It was an activity my father, siblings and cousins all got together to do, and was super fun! My parents were avid gardeners, and we used to participate in a lot of flower shows and make arrangements with flowers with lots of handmade accessories. And win prizes for them, too! We made our own potato chips and cakes and gulab jamuns (Indian sweets)… and stitched simple things at home. It was exciting and fun! Finding a way of making a living out of craft, is a dream come true for me. When I graduated from NID, my design school in Ahmedabad, it seemed the only popular option was a job, or setting up a service-led business. We did that for 7 years, but I find creating products so much more exciting! I don’t think I will ever get tired of the creative part of this business. The administrative parts are sometimes tiring, but the creative part is just an extension of childhood and so much fun!
Amit: I have always loved making things since I was a kid. I didn’t have any interest in academics. Making things came naturally to me and was a comfort zone and a space to have fun! I think I am still doing that with Sky Goodies. And my education in Product Design and Industrial Design helps in making the templates structurally sound. Research for us is buying toys and craft kits! What fun! :D
Q: Many skills can be taught by things like paper craft. You mention this fact on your website, and you’ve talked about it at length on YouTube and in blog posts.
In the past, crafting wasn’t just a pastime – it was a way to create the things you needed on a day-to-day basis, and it was also a way to teach and hone important skills for both children and adults.
What life lessons can crafting teach us? How can we use those lessons in our day to day lives?
Misha: I think the most important thing one gets out of craft is a sense of confidence and accomplishment… which then helps to try one’s hand at anything creative. The sense that “I can make this…it is possible and it is fun!” - that’s the greatest lesson. The ability to deal with failure and start again…a part of any craft endeavour also contributes to long-term long-lasting happiness. The ability to improvise, to find solutions to problems…in a small way our craft kits give doses of all of these. The fact that our kits are made of paper helps in this… if you are not careful and sensitive with the material while making, you can destroy the kit. There is no ‘restart' button here. Failure is so important for growth… it teaches us to be careful the next time around, and to not give up. These are important life lessons, especially for kids.
Amit: At a physical level, our kits help with fine motor skills and problem-solving abilities. They have been used for differently abled kids and for terminally ill patients. One more thing that paper craft in particular has to give, is that things don’t last for ever, and they shouldn’t. What I mean is, that what you build out of paper will disintegrate in a few years if used a lot… and the idea is to not get attached too much or to pollute the world with things that don’t disintegrate. Rather, it is nice to focus on the moments spent making the thing; that’s what is the most valuable part of craft - the experience.
Q: We always finish our interviews by asking the same question. When in your lives have you felt truly powerful?
Misha: It is not at any one point in time. When my mind is free of fear and is completely at peace, that’s when I feel utterly powerful…like I can command the forces of the whole Universe, but I just don’t even need to. Usually this feeling comes in moments of solitude, mostly when in nature.
Amit: It’s been at multiple times…every time we take a step forward in life, I feel powerful.
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The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the interviewee, and do not necessarily reflect the position of The Fem Word organization. Any content provided by our interviewees are based on their opinions and are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual or anyone or anything.