Meet: The Nonsense Maker
The Nonsense Maker is a Melbourne-based illustration brand bringing whimsy and imagination into everyday life through beautifully hand-illustrated greeting cards, art prints, stationery, and homewares. Created by artist Emily May, the brand is inspired by her sketchbooks and adventurous alter ego, encouraging people to embrace creativity, curiosity, and joy in the everyday.
About the Business
Based in a cosy Brunswick studio, The Nonsense Maker is the creative home of artist Emily May, whose playful illustrations have found their way into homes across Australia and beyond. Every product begins as a hand-drawn illustration before being transformed into greeting cards, art prints, stationery, and thoughtfully designed homewares.
One of the things Emily loves most about running The Nonsense Maker is the freedom to shape each day differently. Whether she's designing new collections, packing customer orders while rewatching favourite TV shows, or setting up colourful market displays, no two days are ever the same. The business also regularly attends markets, creating opportunities to connect with customers in person and share its whimsical world with a growing community of art lovers.
Packaging Used
The Nonsense Maker uses PackQueen's range of sturdy shipping boxes in multiple sizes to safely package everything from individual greeting cards and prints to larger homewares and wholesale orders. Having access to a wide variety of box sizes allows every order to be securely packed while maintaining a professional presentation for customers
Why They Chose These Products
As a growing creative business with limited studio space, The Nonsense Maker needed packaging that was practical, reliable, and easy to replenish. PackQueen's extensive range of box sizes allows the team to package orders of all shapes and sizes without wasting materials or compromising product protection.
Being able to source packaging locally also means faster delivery times and less need to store large quantities of bulky boxes. This flexibility helps keep the Brunswick studio organised while ensuring every order arrives safely, whether it's travelling across Melbourne or internationally.
Q&A With The Nonsense Maker
What does your business sell?
The Nonsense Maker is a whimsical illustration brand, born out of artist Emily May's sketchbooks and adventuring alter ego. Based in our little Brunswick studio in Melbourne, we make quirky hand illustrated greeting cards, art prints, homewares, and stationery designed to bring a little more imagination and joy into everyday life.
What do you love most about your business?
We love that we get to share our whimsical world with such a wide range of people. We do markets most months, and also send our artworks to people all over Australia, and occasionally internationally too!
On top of that, the best thing about running a small illustration business like ours is the creative freedom. Every day looks genuinely different, whether we're designing new products, packing orders while rewatching our favourite TV shows, or finding ourselves outside building a market display in the afternoon sun. The variety never gets old.
What challenges has your business faced?
Keeping everything ethically made is our biggest ongoing challenge. We only work with suppliers who share our values, which means there are products we'd love to make but simply can't yet. It takes patience, and a lot of dead ends.
Over time we've come to see it less as a limitation, and more as what makes us special. Some of our favourite collaborations came directly from the long hunt for the right partner.
How has PackQueen helped your business?
Finding a local, Australian packaging supplier has been a real gift for our small business. PackQueen offer flexible and sturdy boxes in all sizes, meaning we can ship orders big and small without ever worrying about whether they'll arrive safely. They are quick and local, which is always handy because we know we don’t need to have heaps of bulky boxes on hand taking up space in our little studio.
What We Love About The Nonsense Maker
At PackQueen, we love The Nonsense Maker's commitment to bringing creativity, imagination, and joy into people's everyday lives. Emily has created a brand that feels genuinely unique, with every illustration carrying its own sense of personality and charm.
We also admire the business's dedication to ethical production. Choosing to work only with suppliers who share the same values takes patience and determination, but it's a commitment that shines through in the quality and integrity of the brand. Supporting businesses that put creativity, sustainability, and thoughtful craftsmanship first is something we're incredibly proud to be part of, and we're delighted to help The Nonsense Maker deliver a little whimsy to customers across Australia and beyond.
Get in touch with The Nonsense Maker below:
https://www.thenonsensemaker.com.au/
https://www.facebook.com/thenonsensemaker
https://www.instagram.com/thenonsensemaker
https://au.pinterest.com/thenonsensemaker/
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