About Us

How Fabrik-Designs was created!

Hello! We, Mitali and Benni, are the founders of Fabrik-Designs. The picture below, yeah, that is us:

The founders, Mitali and Benni, in a picture on the top of a mountain presenting themselves to the community

You might wonder: They are not wearing a Fabrik-Designs t-shirt! We came up with the idea after, obviously. By the way, this is us traveling in Georgia. So? Now tell us, how did you come up with this idea!

At Christmas 2019 we got a calendar with German sayings translated into English. Benni's mother in that regard basically laid the foundation for the Fabrik-Designs store. As we are a German speaking German and an English speaking Indian, we spent hours discussing those sayings and using sayings in every situation to confuse each other but learn about the culture at the same time. Until that one day when we strongly agreed, that the wisdom of sayings should be printed on t-shirts. So we started with German sayings in English and eventually from there the journey went off together with you...

Why your favourite sayings should be put on your t-shirt! Or: In the search of a definition.

Maybe one can give simply the answer, because "sayings are the wisdom of the streets and cannot be contradicted". Or because those Fabrik-Designs t-shirt just look dope.

However, for everyone who is not satisfied with the previous short answer, we go deeper into the science of proverbs (wording change!).

Wolfgang Mieder (1985) analyzed the definition of a proverb by undertaking a relatively small study of 55 definitions which he collected from students, friend and acquaintances. His aim was go give a definition as the folk sees it and not the scholar. Among many definitions one of his students said "A proverb is a linguistic attempt to express a general truth or wisdom in a few words." By analysing the words used he concludes that a proverb is simply “a phrase, saying, sentence, statement or expression of the folk which contains above all wisdom, truth, morals, experience, lessons and advice concerning life and which has been handed down from generation to generation.” Or while simplifying: “A proverb is wisdom expressed in a sentence.”

In addition, Reynolds (1959) stresses out the importance of proverbs in his book "A Proverb in the Hand - is often Worth a Thousand Words". The book titles stands for the intellectual power proverbs have when used in the correct format. Politics like Lenin, Churchill or Roosevelt were masters of using these verbal weapons to strengthen their arguments with general accepted wisdom (of the street).

  • Wolfgang Mieder, "Popular Views of the Proverb", Proverbium 2 (1985), pp. 109-143
  • Horace Reynolds, “A Proverb in the Hand – is often Worth a Thousand Words”, The New York Times Magazine (September 13, 1959), p. 74.