Brandstories is a collection of interesting stories of brands and the passion of the people working behind them. Explore our handpicked stories in our March 2016 edition.

1. Edition02March2016
DINNER TABLE CONVERSATIONS CAN SOMETIMES LEAD TO AMAZING IDEAS.
FIND OUT HOW ONE SUCH TALK LED TO THE BIRTH OF THEIR BRAND.NEEHARA
Brandstories Magazine

2. table
ofcon-
tents
04 CasaJosephine& Pinklay
05 AffanaArif& Centro
ÓpticoPlaza
06 CardAffair& Older
GarciaWeddingStories
07 NativeScientist&
Neehara
08 MeatMe& Diseno
Studio

3. The keys to brand success are self-definition,
transparency, authenticity and accountability.
SIMONMAINWARING
english@brandstories.xyz
Submit your story and get featured in our next edition.
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4. "Colours pep me up; they make me incredibly
happy and optimistic. I simply wanted to share this
happiness. Add to it my desire to create and curate
pieces that have the power to enrich lives, spaces
and moments, from the wonderful customer to the
precious artisan. However, it was always a desire
that was brushed aside by some prior commitment
or the other. I was thoroughly enjoying my
corporate career and there was no time, until I
made time. And, when I did, Pinklay started to take
form, more beautiful and colorful with every
passing day. What you see today at Pinklay is the
work of hundreds of artisans working under fair
trade practices to create vibrant pieces that will
hopefully brighten up your homes."
Casa Josephine Pinklay
http://www.casajosephine.com http://www.pinklay.com
"The Casa Josephine project first started off as a
country house 9 years ago in Sozarno, a small
village in La Rioja’s valley. Almost the entire
renovation was done by us, followed by the Arts &
Crafts. From the beginning, our intention was to make
this project more than just a house. Our studio started
as a very natural process: some clients started asking
us for help to renovate their own houses or stores
since they liked our style. Slowly we started realising
that this was not going on in timely fashion and so, we
needed a professional team to cover our increasing
needs. So what started as just a bed & breakfast
business, is now also a decoration studio and offers
summer courses, an online shop and some new
projects that are just about to start, but every time we
launch a new project, we try not to change anything,
the soul still remains the same: You will still find us in
there."
4

5. "As a little girl I always saw myself becoming a
neurosurgeon or a scientist some day. After my torrid affair
and subsequent heartbreak with Science, I started flirting
with Law and eventually found the love of my life, Fashion!
Every garment is an extremely personal expression of my
being, my vision given life, and it is at times heart
wrenching to part with them. Roses have always been a
prevalent and recurrent theme in almost all my designs,
maybe because it was something Rumi said, "The rose
speaks of love silently, in a language known only to the
heart," and what good is anything if it does not come from
the heart."
https://www.instagram.com/affanaarif
Affana Arif
http://www.visionco.es/
Centro Óptico Plaza
"My name is Elisa. I am an optician and an optometrist. I
have worked as an optician on a permanent contract in a
renowned company for many years, but a trip to Rome
changed my life. I fell in love with a small optical store that
was close to our hotel. The store was run by a young
woman and I realised right there that I wanted to be like
her. My idea then took form. I decided to offer a modern
service, where I could choose my own brands and products
to people. I started taking steps towards that direction;
rented a store, got licenses and paperwork done and also
acquired the support of Vision&Co. My biggest daily task
was, of course to understand and solve my clients’
problems. A year after this trip, Madrid Centro Óptico Plaza
materialised. "
5

6. "So we have these ideas in mind. And we minded not being
able to work on them. One fine day we decided to hurl our
minds into this matter and ta­da! Card Affairs was established
on a very exciting note in 2014. The whole concept is based
on bringing back the era of handwritten Greeting Cards. We
are best friends (Saman and Sanchi) since college and after a
lot of debate over the right time, the right idea we let our
creative side explore a quirky way of bringing back that
personal connect between people in the funniest and cutest
way possible. So far we have managed to make a lot of people
laugh wholeheartedly. We make sure every story is told
beautifully, every memory is printed lovingly and every
impression is sought to last a lifetime."
Card Affair
http://www.cardaffairs.in
"We create wedding films. We are a couple who are passionate
about the world of cinema and photography. We started in our
native town Valladolid (Spain), but we moved to Madrid the
following year because of the big success of our brand. Just two
years after that, we are a global brand, working across cities
such as New York, Miami, Mexico city and many European
cities. The major connotations of couples, the way we
understand their story and how we tell it through a video makes
us really special and this is the Older Garcia Wedding Stories
potential. But what makes us bigger is our love, relationship and
the great connection between us, which helps us to have a
better understanding of our clients. We encourage you to see
our stories!"
http://www.oldergarcia.com
Older Garcia Wedding Stories
6

7. " I was a Portuguese expat living in London. One day, a
colleague of mine challenged me to organise a meeting for
Portuguese researchers in the UK. I accepted it and started to
learn more about the Portuguese community in London. I
found out that immigrant pupils in schools were struggling to
feel accepted. So, we visited an English school , where a
group of scientists interacted with immigrant pupils to speak
about science in Portuguese. This session was a success. We
then started applying for grants and entrepreneurial contests
and were successful almost every time. This was how Native
Scientist came to life. In only 2 years, we have expanded to
Spanish, French and German. This year, will be another
exciting one! We are very happy and proud!"
Native Scientist
http://www.nativescientist.com
“NEEHARA” which means “dew drops” represents
femininity. Our brainchild was born almost a year ago
when the two of us ­ Neha and me (Aakriti) ­ were sitting
along with our husbands (who are childhood friends) on
the dinner table and were discussing the possibility of
venturing into a fashion house. Even though I was from an
engineering background, my passion for designing clothes
drove my childhood dream into reality and Neha used her
inherent experience of a fashion merchandiser to make
this happen. After a lot of brainstorming, we finally
launched our own clothing brand “NEEHARA” in April
2015, and since then there has been no looking back."
http://www.neehara.in
Neehara
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8. "Meat Me is the story of two meat lovers who want to
help you discover new flavours from around the world.
The idea was born in South Africa when we
discovered biltong: dried and marinated beef that is
enjoyed as an appetizer. Rich in protein, low in fat and
so terribly good that we immediately wanted to share
this discovery. With an image that wasn't necessarily
sexy, we try to make the deli look young and cool by
providing creative packaging and colourful
communication that makes you smile."
Meat Me
www.meat-me.fr
"In 2010 I started Diseno Studio. Diseno is Spanish means
"Design". While I was in my second year of engineering I came
up with this idea of painting on canvas and art paper, during my
vacations . One day while cleaning my room, I found my school
PT shoes and since I was already besotted with canvas
painting, it struck me that PT shoes could be painted as well. I
decided to give it a try and the result was much better than what
I thought it would be! Since that day I have been painting not
only on shoes but also on t­shirts, headphones, bags, key­
chains etc. The journey of these six years have truly been
colourful. Diseno not only makes me happy but also gives me
satisfaction when my clients have these lovely expressions on
their faces during the delivery."
http://diseno-studio.com/
Diseno Studio
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9. Thank you!
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