About Us

Founded by Smriti Barla, Smriti Designs was born from a deep passion for meaningful gifting, cultural representation, and creative expression. What started as a small personal project quickly evolved into a thriving brand built on love, intention, and the desire to create gifts that truly resonate. Whether it’s a candle that smells like home, a custom mug that brings laughter, or a greeting card in your mother tongue, every piece in our shop carries a sense of belonging and joy.

Our Story

For years, Smriti poured her creative energy into designing and curating gifts for friends, family, and colleagues. Over time, she realized there was something missing in the gifting space - especially for those of us who straddle multiple cultures or live far from our roots. Mainstream gift shops rarely reflect the vibrant traditions, humor, and nuances of the South Asian experience, and personalization often meant settling for generic designs.

That realization led to the launch of Smriti Designs in 2020. It began with a handful of handmade products - customized candles, mugs, and greeting cards rooted in South Asian culture - and quickly gained a loyal following. What set Smriti Designs apart was its authenticity: every item was created with the lived experience of diaspora in mind, blending tradition with a fresh, modern aesthetic.

Today, Smriti Designs is not just a gift shop - it’s a celebration of identity, culture, and meaningful moments.

Our Mission

At Smriti Designs, our mission is simple: to help people feel seen, celebrated, and connected through thoughtful gifting.

Whether you're celebrating Diwali, Eid, Christmas, a birthday, or just surviving a tough week, we’ve got gifts that speak your language - literally and figuratively.

What We Offer

Our shop features a curated mix of:

• Custom Drinkware: Personalized mugs, tumblers, and bottles with cheeky quotes, names, and South Asian flair.

• Soy Wax Candles: Hand-poured candles in unique scents, designed to evoke memory and mood—perfect for self-care or gifting.

• Leather Goods: Elegant, customizable keychains, wallets, and accessories for the perfect blend of style and function.

• Greeting Cards: From sweet to sassy, our cards feature Hindi, Tamil, Punjabi, Telugu, Urdu, and more—with translations and humor that hit home.

• Gift Bundles: Thoughtfully assembled care packages, holiday kits, and occasion-themed boxes for easy, elevated gifting.

• Pop-Up Exclusives: Limited-edition items and seasonal products available only at our in-person events and markets.

We also offer bulk corporate gifting, perfect for employee appreciation, weddings, client thank-yous, or branded giveaways that leave a lasting impression.

Our Style

We’re rooted in South Asian identity—but not stuck in the past. Our aesthetic blends cultural references with a playful, contemporary vibe. You’ll find modern fonts next to Sanskrit shlokas, pastel packaging with bold desi phrases, and sleek leather goods engraved with inside jokes only your cousins would get.

Our products are crafted to feel personal and premium. Whether it’s the subtle luxury of a leather keychain or the cozy feel of a soy candle in a custom jar, we pay attention to the small details—because we know those are the ones that matter.

The Smriti Designs Experience

We’re proud to be part of the vibrant small business and South Asian creator community in Seattle and beyond. You can find us at local pop-up events, South Asian bazaars, culture nights, and women-led marketplaces throughout the year. These events allow us to connect directly with customers, hear your stories, and bring the warmth of our brand to life.

Online, we’ve made customization easy and fun. Whether you're ordering a single item or creating a large corporate batch, we work closely with you to make sure your gift feels exactly right.

We also love partnering with other creators, organizations, and events that align with our values—empowerment, inclusivity, creativity, and cultural pride.

Why Choose Us?

There are lots of gift shops out there—but here’s what makes Smriti Designs different:

• Cultural Authenticity: Our products are made by someone who gets it—for people who live between cultures and love every bit of it.

• Personalization at Its Core: Most of our items can be customized, because we believe gifts should feel as unique as the person receiving them.

• Quality Over Quantity: We focus on small-batch, high-quality products with intention behind every design.

• Heart-Led Business: Smriti Designs is women-owned, proudly South Asian-owned, and built from a place of purpose, not just profit.

• Real Connection: We genuinely care about our customers and love building community through our work. You're not just buying a product—you’re joining a story.

Meet the Founder

Smriti Barla is a storyteller, designer, and entrepreneur with a background in business information systems, a love for aesthetics, and an eye for all things heartfelt. After years in the corporate world, she took a leap of faith to follow her creative calling full-time—and hasn’t looked back since.

Through Smriti Designs, she’s found a way to merge her passion for people, culture, and creativity. When she’s not designing or packing orders, you’ll find her hosting pop-up events, connecting with other creatives, or dancing her heart out (seriously—she’s part of Seattle’s dance scene too!).

Let’s Celebrate, Together

Whether you're shopping for a friend, curating your wedding welcome gifts, or just looking to treat yourself to something beautiful, Smriti Designs is here to help you celebrate the moment—and the meaning behind it.

Thank you for being part of our journey. We're so grateful to share these stories, gifts, and memories with you.