Feature on Creative : Indieberries

Che Dyer is the fabulously funny creative lady behind our latest range of range of quirky cards, love vouchers and doodle books. Her products are an extension of her hilarious blog in which she creates the most amazing cartoon about life happenings.

1// How did your business begin? When / where / how did it all start?
I started blogging in 2010 when I was in South Korea teaching English. I've always loved doodling cartoons and keeping journals, so it seemed like the logical next step to start a creative blog! After I won the South African blog awards in 2010 - my blog traffic increased rapidly and I began to receive lots of requests for personal cartoons, logo designs and funny graphics. I soon realised that people wanted to have a piece of indieBerries for themselves - so I decided to create a range of stationery that would enable them to do just that!

2// Why do you do what you do?
I love being creative - It completely drives me. So creating stationery and witty cartoons allows me to explore that creativity. There have often been times when I have thought about giving up and going back to teaching or corporate design work, but my husband (ever-supportive) has always said, "I won't let you give up on the thing you were born to do". So I guess... I do what I do, because I was born to do it.

3// When you were younger what did you want to be when you grew up?!
Weirdly, when I was about 7 or 8, I used to carry around a tiny little yellow notebook with me where ever I went, and any time we passed the card section of a shop, I would go and sit and write down all the little jokes that I could read in the cards and try to recreate the cards when I got home! Maybe my stationery-creation gene started as young as that! I actually went to university to study theatre - (and psychology to potentially become a drama psychotherapist). Luckily I came to my senses and realised I wasn't going to be the next Charlize Theron so I picked up Journalism and Media Studies at the last minute.

4// What inspires you when designing new products?
Every day life! There is so much amazing humour/ inspiration/ ideas that we can get just by being open to and taking in things that go on around us! Even though I do most of my work on the computer - I am usually way more creative when I am away from the computer!

5// What are your hopes and dreams for your products?
I would like to have a wider distribution of my products, both wholesale and online and potentially create a "persona range" - with one or two characters in different funny situations. I have so many awesome book ideas - but they all take time to create! My ultimate dream would be to have a little brick and mortor shop somewhere selling my own products and doing creative workshops in a gorgeous art space! *sigh*

6// About you? What's your - Top Song? Top Food? Top beverage? Top Place? Top movie?
OOOhhhh top song. That is SO tough. I'm a music magpie - so it's hard to single out one! If I had to pick, I'd say Mumford and Sons - I will wait, because I think it's the song that most epitomises my relationship with Warren.
Top Food - I'm going to go with sushi... or Indian Curries with naan bread with a big glass of red wine.
Top place... also a toughie! I LOVE South Korea for the quirky stationery and the fashion, I love Angkor Watt for the calm serenity, I love Thailand for the crazy bustling and I love our couch... because Sundays with Warren.
I have the worst memory when it comes to movies - in fact, I could watch an entire movie and then only 2 minutes before the end realise that I have actually seen it before.

7// Imagine you are heading out for dinner with a bunch of creative geniuses - who would be sitting around the table with you?
A table of creative geniuses... I'd have to pick Edward Monkton, Keri Smith, Oliver Jeffers and Nick Bantock - because I have a LOT of questions to ask him about Griffin and Sabine.