SUBANG JAYA, Oct 30 — You may mistake Black Milk Project as a dairy company from its name but in actual fact, it makes and sells very cute stuff.
Expect to find baby rompers, T-shirts, plush pillows and artworks emblazoned with whimsical illustrations like dinosaurs, flowers, food items and dreamy night skies. There is even an imaginary catnicorn: a feline with a rainbow unicorn head and a tail depicting a galaxy of stars.
The company that loves everything whimsical and quirky is the brainwave of Limkokwing University of Creative Technology-trained graphic designer, Wei Tieng, 33.
About seven years ago while she was still in the advertising line, she thought up the name. That unusual name and their tagline that says, “we sell clothes, not cow”, always gets people asking more about its origins. She had coined the name as she wanted something catchy. One part came from a love for using the versatile milk bottle in her designs. Throw in her favourite black colour and Black Milk Project was born.
Even though she thought up the name for her company, the inspiration for her first product i.e. the baby romper only happened three years ago. Her maternal instinct had kicked in with her newborn son, Cruz and her first creation for him was a hand painted baby romper — one of its kind with her distinct black and white illustrations.
“I just wanted my son to wear my drawings.” Once she started, she got addicted to creating more baby rompers with illustrations. Till today, Cruz still inspires her as she often adds adorable cartoon characters into his pictures to give them her own personal touch.
Her creative imagination also stretched to the company’s products. “Black Milk Project is more like a creative playground to have fun,” she said. For the first year of business, she juggled it with her freelance work.
Like all entrepreneurs, she first started selling the rompers to friends and family. In the early days, she would frequent the bazaars with a catalogue of her illustrations for people to choose. Once they selected their design, it would be printed on the rompers for them with their names; a form of bespoke personalisation not found anywhere else.
As word got out, her business took off. Soon she extended it to children’s T-shirts, pillows, keychains, tote bags and prints. It was only when more orders came in and the business was stable that she went into this on a full-time basis. You will be surprised but the pillows were a great challenge for Wei Tieng as she didn’t know how to sew! Undeterred, the determined woman bought a mini sewing machine for just RM200 and slowly taught herself to sew the pillows.
Previously in an advertising agency for four years, that experience has been invaluable to her as it taught her the basics of business such as branding and looking out for trends. Later she took up freelance projects that included commercial shoots for FMCG companies.
Her business sensibility sees her pushing herself to look for more opportunities hence the recent introduction of workshops for Black Milk Project. “I want to improve. You need to innovate and stay on top of the game.”
With two employees, she has also realised that it’s not just a hobby but very much a business that other people are also dependent on for their future. “Drawing is fun but running a business is a different story and it is a steep learning curve.”
Whenever people tell her it’s like a dream come true to just be doing what you like, she is also realistic about her role. “A dream is eating cheesecake and not getting fat. A job, you still have to work.”
Her drawings are playful creations of what she sees every day. “You have to find inspiration in normal everyday things because I don’t go to special places to get inspired... everything can inspire you,” she said.
In a way, these are the items that people can best relate to. One of her first forays into drawing food was her breakfast set — toast, eggs, pancakes and bacon. She was surprised at how well people responded to that so she decided to add more food — curry puffs, nasi lemak and even durian — all available on her Food Truck series.
What she also noticed is anything that is “Made in Malaysia” is trendy since it’s something people can identify with. Her latest designs include dinosaurs, adorable green ones that you want to hug or buy for your children or maybe yourself.
Even though most of their products have a whimsical colourful theme, Wei Tieng’s personal style veers more towards Tim Burton’s goth-like drawings that feature black and white long lines. The closest to her personal style is her Weird Friends collection where you have quirky characters like Adric, a boy with a cactus sprouting from his head or even Luvi, an animal lover who carries a fish and has a cat on top of her head.
The customers for Black Milk Project are a varied bunch. Usually the baby rompers are snapped up by mothers or bought as gifts. For the pillows, it’s a mix of customers, as some will buy them for themselves or as gifts. They even had one person order a special love-shaped design pillow to propose marriage!
Another popular choice includes putting a child’s birth details on the pillow to commemorate that special moment. Black Milk Project also offers a family set for T-shirts — two pieces for mother and father and a mix of either a children’s T-shirt or romper for the younger ones.
This year, Wei Tieng decided to start offering workshops on how to paint watercolour floral hoops and floral lettering. There is also water brush modern calligraphy. For personal reasons, she enjoys attending workshops and learning new things so these workshops are good for her to connect with like-minded individuals.
What’s unique about her classes is once they have finished, the student’s masterpiece personalised with his/her name gets to be printed on a pillow or even framed up as a happy remembrance of that day. As she says, “When they are happy, it makes us happy too.” From next January onwards, they will be expanding their reach to Penang for the workshops.
To keep ahead of the competition, she will be introducing pyrography art or wood burning classes on November 20, the first of its kind in Malaysia. This technique is not new overseas but so far, no one has started it here yet. Specially for the classes, she’s imported in the tools that will burn and mark the designs.
In December, the company embarks on a new journey as they will be relocating to bigger standalone premises in the Subang SS14 area. The space, Wei Tieng tells us is much needed for her to launch their own art and event space.
Moreover, they have outgrown their current studio space. With their own event space, she hopes to reach out to other art teachers. Previously when she invited watercolour teacher Anni Tai to teach in a workshop, she realised it was nice to make friends in the industry as they are just as passionate about art like her.
“It is nice to have support and I want to provide a springboard for the younger generation,” she said. The larger area will also facilitate their expansion into other workshops that may include furniture making to pull in the masculine crowd.
Next for Black Milk Project, it’s that magical time of the year with the release of their Christmas collection. This year, there will be the whimsical nutcracker soldier. Even our King of Fruits, the durian is not forgotten as it gets an adorable Christmas makeover. It’s definitely going to be a Merry Cute Christmas this year that is 10 per cent milk and 90 per cent fun!
You can shop for Black Milk Project’s items on their website http://www.blackmilkproject.com or follow them on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/blackmilkproject/
