Chetak was started in 2013 by husband & wife duo, Wan & Zee. We were running our brand design agency, PlayPause from 2009. Chetak began as a result of us taking time off from designing for clients, and started to design for ourselves.
It was an outlet where we could practise our passion as we were getting jaded from designing for clients.
We started off with designs for posters and totebags. But it was also the start of designing Islamic-inspired products we wanted for ourselves.
Our clients were friends and families back then.
The Ramadhan Calendar was the first Islamic product by Chetak. It was followed by Ramadhan Kit 4 Kids.
The brand is Chetak (chey-tuck); an old Malay spelling for “print“, while Kedai (cuh-dye) is “shop” in Malay.
This online shop is aptly named Kedai Chetak.
What began as an offshoot from our design studio, PlayPause, it slowly became a space where we create the Islamic products we wished we had ourselves.
Serve the Global Urban Muslims who are Educated and English Speaking (GUMEES) who do not understand Arabic.
Seeking to attain love for the faith and religion for the sake of Allah.
By Designing simplified basic Islamic guides in printed-forms.
To Transform how they perceive “Islam = Arabic = Hard” into Islam is Easy for everyone.
Guided By The Heart of Design book & lessons.
Unlike traditional comprehensive guides/prints that overwhelm those who are taking their first steps in learning more about Islam.
Because these are guides we wish we had when we were younger or when we started our hijrah/journey.
We started with posters and totebags without any clear intention. We just wanted to have design freedom in our products.
It was when we started getting acquainted with the works of the notable Rumi, we took 10 quotes for a set of notebooks.
The Qur’an will always be special, thus we had some verses designed for a monthly-quoted calendar.
The Ramadhan Kit 4 Kids has been our anchor product since 2014.
After the Covid pandemic in 2020, Wan & Zee decided to conclude PlayPause. It was only in Spring of 2024, the daily Hijri calendar started to take its shape. Verses from the Qur’an English translation were taken from an Oxford University Press book.
The Qur’an: A New Translation by Professor M. A. S. Abdel Haleem.
In the next 5 years after the pandemic, Wan & Zee took up learning The Heart of Design by Peter Gould. They sat through 3 different cohorts.
It was only in October 2025, while focusing on producing the daily Hijri calendar, Zee was inspired to revive Chetak altogether.
So here we are now.
