We recently connected with Priyanka Batra and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Priyanka thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

The earliest memory I have of creating art was when I started a little magazine called “Cool Fashion” when I was 8 or 9 with two friends. I was the “editor.” We were supposed to take turns being editor but I think I hogged the position. The “magazine” was a single sheet of paper quartered with little slits to make the pages. I drew all the drawings in it and the “cool fashion” that the models were wearing. One of the models looked just like Delta Burke from Designing Women and I remember feeling very impressed with myself. This is when I was in the UK and as I’m recalling this now I’m really surprised that I was watching Designing Women…

I think I must have always known but I didn’t really feel like I had permission until others would notice my artistic inclinations. Like a good friend in college who insisted I should study art when I kept declaring “practical” majors while dabbling in art classes on the side and in my art journals. I ended up with an art minor, a photography minor, and journalism degree but headed into a design program right after graduating.

Priyanka, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am the designer and owner of a Brooklyn-based paper goods studio called My Darlin’. I design greeting cards, art prints, and gift wrap that romanticize the everyday moments through a contemporary but playful design aesthetic that simultaneously evokes a sense of nostalgia. A love for bold colors, playful typography, vintage novelty prints, abstract pattern play, and a susceptibility to love-at-first-sight are at the heart of the brand. I could spend hours in a vintage shop studying the prints on the textiles, the typography of the clothing labels, the old paper ephemera, and all the eclectic objects.

All my products are made in the USA locally about 2 miles from my studio, but the art prints we actually print and trim in-house. I have one assistant who helps me out with fulfillment but otherwise it’s just me wearing all the hats.

I primarily sell my work wholesale to gift shops and boutiques and because my work is so pattern-driven, I’m also starting to license my artwork and collaborate with brands on other sorts of products. One of the collaborations I’m most proud of is with the clothing brand NOOWORKS who took two of my patterns and printed them on textiles and made tons and tons of different types of clothes with them that even some celebs have been spotted in… I’m trying to develop a licensing portfolio so I can find more brands to collaborate with this in this way. I literally have hundreds of patterns that are hiding away in files and pattern making might be my happiest place. I would love to see my work on fabric, wallpaper, home goods, etc. Many brands go down the route of manufacturing their own products, and while I’m doing that, I don’t think as a single person I can manufacture all the products that I’d like to see my work on, nor do I have the marketing reach to sell it, and I love the possibilty of the exciting things that can come about when you find people to collaborate with.

I studied journalism at the University of Iowa in college but by the time I was finishing that degree I had found my way into the world of graphic design through a few design courses in the Journalism department — publication design and a typography class. My professor, Kay Amert, was smart and passionate and I was instantly obsessed. I started a student publication with my best friend there called Content Magazine. I was responsible for the photography, layout, and much of the content. We had it offset printed and raised money for the printing by going door-to-door to local businesses who we sold ad space to and I would design their ads. I remember each time we put out a magazine it cost about $300 and it felt like a lot to raise. I can’t remember how many we printed each time. But it was kinda lux for the amateurness of it. In fact the zine crowd snubbed us once for being too polished. Anyways, I believe the organization lives on at UofI but last I checked in on it, they’ve erased any mention of me and my friend and it has a really different vibe.

As it was my senior year when I discovered graphic design, I graduated with that Journalism degree, but right away applied to design programs and was even considering photography programs. I got accepted to a graphic design program at Parsons that started in Paris for a year and finished in New York. It seemed like a great way to continue avoiding the real world, hone my design skills, and practice my French. Plus New York was also a place I romanticized and often imagined myself ending up.

When I graduated, from that design program I was all set to be an interaction designer. Which I did for a while. Then when I got married and designed my own invites and got a taste of working on a project that I had total control of…that led to starting a wedding invitation company that morphed into what My Darlin’ is today.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Flexibility and control! To some degree….

I am lucky enough to work a schedule that works for me and my family. This enables me to spend so much more time with my daughter during these early years than if I was working an office job and have outside childcare. Every other day I’m with my daughter all day, and the days in between I am at my studio while my husband takes care of her on his days off. Yes, it means I don’t work full time on my business, but it gives me the best of both worlds. Plus sometimes she comes to work with me or pops in to surprise me on dad days which is a welcome distraction and kind of feels like what life should be about :)

Getting to create work that allows me follow my creative instincts without anyone to answer to is also quite rewarding. Plus the possibility to see my work on other types of products than I produce through collaborations is really exciting and something I’m trying to do more of. Seeing your work in the wild is a pretty incredible feeling that to me does not get old. Like someone wearing something from my textile collaboration, or when a friend sends photos of my work in a shop or museum they stumbled into on vacation, seeing how customers use my art prints to decorate their homes, or how one of my cards helped commemorate a special moment. Developing connections with the shop owners who buy from me is also a lovely thing where you’re kind of supporting each other in doing something we all love. And to bring it back to my 3-year old — love it when she recognizes my work in the wild and says, “Hey mama made that!” I guess it comes down to creating connections to strangers with my art, and how that somehow allows me to be a part of so many people’s lives. It’s kind of crazy to think about it that way.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

The first tradeshow I did was in 2016. I jumped in before I was ready (which is sometimes a great idea…) and kind of decided to do it at the last minute. As a result and spent an exorbitant amount of money – around $18k all in with (rush) fees, booth fees, booth building fees, catalogs, and all the expenses and Javits Center surprise charges totaled up. I didn’t even travel for it so the only travel fees were probably a U-Haul and taxi fees. I got zero orders and was completely and utterly devastated after 4 grueling tradeshow days, 3 set up days, and a break down day, not to mention all the prep in the weeks leading up to it. The day after it was over, I went to a fancy boutique in my neighborhood and bought a pair of luxury $20 socks and $95 denim shirt to wallow because what’s another $115 when you’ve already blown through $18k?

After the initial trauma wore off, I got back to work. I kept freelancing on the side, evolving my line and my visual style, researching and pitching to shops I loved. Super slow and steady, I started to get a handful of stockists and some positive feedback. In 2019, even though I still had some 2016 tradeshow PTSD, I was ready to try again. It was my *second* first tradeshow as I like to call it. At my relaunch, I got really great feedback – plus I got 9 orders! And with great shops that were on my retailer wishlist. That gave me the confidence I needed and I’ve been steadily growing ever since. I think I have around 300 stockists now as well as a few collaborations under my belt.

Contact Info:

• Website: mydarl.in
• Instagram: @mydarlin_bk