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 name Chetak is the old spelling for print in Malay.
The term chetak was chosen over cetak to make it more obvious phonetically to non-Malays.
As we design print-products, we thought the online shop is appropriate to be called Kedai Chetak (kedai is shop in Malay).
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.
While we had the Ramadhan Calendar in 2013, our Ramadhan Kit 4 Kids was our featured product since 2015.
Although Chetak began in 2013, there had been one product which sat in the back of their minds since 2007. The idea for a daily Hijri calendar first blossomed as a result of a product Zee’s mom bought to give to her close relatives.
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.
