When Cinderella received her invitation to the ball, had it been via email or text, she might not have been so concerned about going.
“When you receive a beautiful invitation, you think – this is so luxurious, so special, you feel important holding it. It makes a huge difference.” So says Michelle Lopez, 28, who along with Catherine Stam, 40, founded the luxury stationery company White Ink to fill a gap in the Abu Dhabi market for personalised stationery.
White Ink specialise in custom-made, personalised stationery, which sells for Dh1,500 for a set of 50 embossed letters and envelopes. Most recently, the pair designed 100 stunningly crafted keepsake boxes with moon-shaped pendants inside for Dh12,000, which were hand-delivered as invitations to a Sheikha’s daughter’s first birthday party.
Ms Stam explains: “We got an email from the Sheikha saying she was holding a nursery rhyme-themed first birthday party for her daughter. She wanted very creative invitations. So we came up with a keepsake box – you call pull out the insert and use it to put items in.”
Ms Lopez, who used to work as an architect designing flagship Apple stores, and Ms Stam, a former attorney, both lived in San Francisco before moving to Abu Dhabi. On relocating here, the pair struck up a bond reminiscing over their favourite San Francisco stationery store, Paper Source. Realising they had a shared passion for paper, in January 2012 they set up White Ink, which has been growing through word of mouth two-fold each year since.
“Usually a client has an idea what they want, and Catherine and I will brainstorm on the computer and send them some images,” says Ms Lopez. “They’ll say which ones they like – it’s an ongoing conversation. Our clients don’t usually have budget constraints, so we’re lucky in that sense. They’re used to having things that are perfect, and immediate. We have had emails at midnight that have to be answered straight away.”
The entrepreneurs are both mums with two young boys who try to work at night when their boys are in bed. They also design unique children’s party invitations that double up as gifts. Ms Stam’s own son’s seventh birthday party had a spy theme, so they designed invitations containing a cipher card to decode the password needed to get into the party.
q&a inspiration on a paper chase
Michelle Lopez and Catherine Stam reveal more about their luxury stationery brand White Ink.
How would you describe your design aesthetic?
Ms Stam: We definitely have a design aesthetic that is very true to northern California. We like clean lines – classic, with modern twists of colour. We're also now influenced by our surroundings here. Our first project included patterns inspired by those on mosques around the city.
Where do you turn for inspiration?
Ms Lopez: Sometimes it's the tiling on floors – I'll be walking and look down and think 'that's so beautiful', so I take a picture which is then used as inspiration for the background to a card. There are patterns everywhere in this city, it's amazing. Pinterest is also a good source. We bounce ideas off each other. And because we do a lot of custom work, we get ideas from our clients. One client wanted stationery for her mother, who loved Palestinian patterns, so we designed stationery using those.
What’s next?
Ms Stam: We're now working on a knight-themed party – the invites are shields with scrolls attached.
Ms Lopez: We also have an idea we'd like to do for a kite party. You send each guest a box with a blank kite inside which the children decorate, then bring to the party to fly their kites together.
Do you sell through any stores?
We’ve been starting to stock our cards in some stores around town (Bits and Pieces on Muroor and Café Arabia), and we’d love to do wedding invitations. We’re hoping to expand to Dubai. We’d also love to design our own custom-made stationery.
business@thenational.ae
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The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
Rating: 3.5/5
Dr Afridi's warning signs of digital addiction
Spending an excessive amount of time on the phone.
Neglecting personal, social, or academic responsibilities.
Losing interest in other activities or hobbies that were once enjoyed.
Having withdrawal symptoms like feeling anxious, restless, or upset when the technology is not available.
Experiencing sleep disturbances or changes in sleep patterns.
What are the guidelines?
Under 18 months: Avoid screen time altogether, except for video chatting with family.
Aged 18-24 months: If screens are introduced, it should be high-quality content watched with a caregiver to help the child understand what they are seeing.
Aged 2-5 years: Limit to one-hour per day of high-quality programming, with co-viewing whenever possible.
Aged 6-12 years: Set consistent limits on screen time to ensure it does not interfere with sleep, physical activity, or social interactions.
Teenagers: Encourage a balanced approach – screens should not replace sleep, exercise, or face-to-face socialisation.
Source: American Paediatric Association
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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MATCH INFO
Barcelona 4 (Suarez 27', Vidal 32', Dembele 35', Messi 78')
Sevilla 0
Red cards: Ronald Araujo, Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona)
RESULTS
6.30pm: Maiden Dh 165,000 1,600m
Winner: Superior, Connor Beasley (jockey), Ahmad bin Harmash (trainer)
7.05pm: Handicap Dh 185,000 2,000m
Winner: Tried And True, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
7.40pm: Maiden Dh 165,000 1,600m
Winner: Roy Orbison, Fernando Jara, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
8.15pm
Handicap Dh 190,000 1,400m
Winner: Taamol, Dane O’Neill, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
8.50pm
Handicap Dh 175,000 1,600m
Winner: Welford, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
9.25pm: Handicap Dh 175,000 1,200m
Winner: Lavaspin, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
10pm: Handicap Dh 165,000 1,600m
Winner: Untold Secret, Xavier Ziani, Sandeep Jadhav
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
The specs
Engine: 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 380hp at 5,800rpm
Torque: 530Nm at 1,300-4,500rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Price: From Dh299,000 ($81,415)
On sale: Now
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
