Melinda Noufal prides herself in offering a variety of versatile prints that can be placed in any interiors or social space.
The artist, who owns Meli’s Art Corner, produces the modern art prints in Aberdeen. And despite currently being a student, doing a post-graduate diploma in teaching, she dedicates a great deal of time to her business.
Melinda said: “Each piece is drawn by me and reflects minimalistic, modern and clean colours, and fine lines.
“At the moment, it’s the digital files of my prints that customers purchase and download. They can then print them in the sizes they want.
“I drew every piece in an A1 size, which gives my customers freedom of choice when it comes to printing size, to complement their space.
“My prints are very versatile and can be placed anywhere depending on the person’s personal style.
“Customers can also play around with different colour and style frames for the prints to match their space. Personally, I have prints in the living room, bedroom, hallway and bathroom.”
Melinda launched the business’ Etsy shop less than one month ago, but she has also established other brands in the past.
“I have a background in science and have worked in healthcare for a number of years before going for a career change in teaching,” she said.
“I’ve always had a passion for art, which made it a tough decision choosing which degree path to take. Many people say I’m quite creative for a scientist, but I think good science needs some level of creativity too.
“I launched the Meli’s Art Corner Etsy shop on March 22, but it all started with the brand called Zoic (meaning ‘relating to animal’) which mainly focused on hand painting people’s inner animals on T-shirts, later growing to include canvas bags on a commission basis.
“Hand painting individual products was very time consuming and I couldn’t fulfill all the orders, so I needed to digitalise my art instead.
“My interest evolved from animals and I felt I outgrew the Zoic brand name, so I re-branded to something more organic; Melinda. This is what the logo reads. I still take commission work through direct contacts on Instagram.
“For my prints, the design process takes a while to come together in my head.
“I first create a colour palette I am going to work with. Then I come up with the story based on life events, seasons, people I meet or see and the environment around me.
“The drawing process can take a few hours to a few days. And I post the designs on Instagram and the Etsy shop.”
Because Melinda operates as a one-person team, she is responsible for everything from social media presence, content creation, marketing and branding to drawing, customer service, market research and driving sales.
Speaking on her inspiration, the artist says she has different mood boards for the various themes and stories she comes up with.
Melinda added: “I take inspiration from my environment and my spirituality.
“I am a very spiritual person and want each piece to bring positive and soothing energy to my customers and spaces they are displayed in.
“Currently, I am fascinated with the beauty of the female physique and the difference in the bone structure of different ethnicities – that’s the physiologist side of me coming out.
“My most popular prints to date are the botanical print, Afro woman line art print and the abstract sets.
“They are instantly downloadable digital files, which is also good because it reduces our carbon footprint and makes them more sustainable.
“At the moment, most of my customers are based in the UK, but because it’s online, I’ve had purchases worldwide.”
While the launch period is challenging for every business, the entrepreneur is thankful for the “enormous” encouragement and support she has had from friends and family.
“I will be eternally grateful for that,” Melinda added. “The constant positive feedback I get from customers also helps a lot.
“The challenges also arise with me being a one-person team. I am spinning a lot of plates at once. I have to be very organised to run the business and also work towards gaining my degree in teaching.
“The business is currently in the growing stage. Growth as in building the Melinda brand and services the brand will provide. I want to improve the customer experience and customer journey to streamline the printing process.
“In the next year, the Melinda brand will have a wider reach and impact on a wider audience.”
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