Veh In
Mumbai’s ad agencies must be running empty, for every week bpb stumbles upon a new advertising professional, one who’s traded in a 9-t0-9 agency job for a more “chilled out and challenging” career in product designing. This week’s M-ad man: Shubhangi Samant.

Educated at the Raheja School of Art, Samant worked as a graphic designer for over 10 years, after which she quit to start an art and home decor studio called Veh Art and Craft. Here, she crafts papier mache bowls with regal maharanis, flattens beer bottles to serve as appetiser platters, makes kitschy magazine racks and hand paints sholkas on wooden stools and table mats. Interestingly, you can also commission paintings on recycled paper.

While most of her products have an Indian twist – check out her live portfolio at the studio, an old almari painted with everything from a pretty dress to Sanskrit verses – she can also cater to those suffering from a pop art hang over. In fact, as her cozy Dadar studio transitions into a store, her desi maal undergoes a change too, with ethnic making way for Elvis on a new batch of CD holders. Long live the King!

Getting there: Veh Art and Craft, B1, Swapna Bhumi, S.K Bole road, near Portuguese Church, Dadar (West), call Shubhangi on 9821216576, papier mache bowls start at Rs 1,200, table mats and coasters start at Rs 1,500 for a set of six, painted cupboards start at Rs 1,000 per square feet.