a mouse and a red panda
ABOUT MAU MAU
just a girl that started collecting a lot of cute pokemon cards
july 2025
the idea
When I was looking for binders, one thing I kept thinking about was logos. Logos are meant to recognize a brand, but it feels like a marketing scheme.
Binders are supposed to hold your favorite cards, characters, memories, and collections. It was weird to make the binder all about my branding.
That’s how I started the binders as logo-less. Instead, they just have small little designs or artwork I made for them.
Recognize the (he)art - not the logo.
august 2025
the reality check
I wanted a pretty binder with white pages and no LOGOs. The manufacturer I was dead set on using - said 500 units and I'll make it.
They even sent samples to me with black pages because they were doubtful.
Something in me snapped. I was like, ok - fine I'LL DO IT. I'll try to find 500 buyers.
Honestly, the point was never “I want to sell binders.” I NEEDED THESE BINDERS. FOR MYSELF. And it turns out a lot of other people were looking for the same thing too. ♡
october 2025
oh my god we did it.
surreal. everything was so surreal.
I tried to crowfund this project and it was so successful. Looking back, there was so many firsts.
my first website
my first product
my first customer
With that, I placed my very first order for production. This was the start of the 4 pocket & 9 pocket standard binder (in Cotton Cloud & Strawberry Milk)
Maybe - this could be something more, and with this, I got my first warehouse >.<
december 2025
our second order
GIVE ME THE TOPLOADER BINDER!
I thought with the growing momentum, let's also try to take some pre-orders for the toploader binders. And here I made the decision to launch my simple designs, for those that may not want a character on their binder.
It took a bit before I was fully confident in placing the toploader order. But on Dec 2025, the production for our first order was completed. And we had also put down a deposit for our second order.
4 Pocket Toploader Binder (Cotton Cloud & Strawberry Milk)
in Original & Simple Design.
march 2026
anxiety is my fuel
after hitting delay after delays - I got to pack & ship out all of the first orders!!
There's nothing that seems to push me harder than anxiety. A girl had a plan, and no delay was going to stop her from what she set her mind to.
I wanted so badly to make custom colours, and it was so difficult to choose. Our order minimums were at a record high, but if I never try, I'll also never succeed.
This was probably the most emotional and stressed I had ever been. I was so afraid of failure. This was the first time I thought, what if I don't play it safe? What if this could be the moment I could do something I'm geniunely passionate about for forever?
By the end of April: I had launched 3 products. 2 of which were designed completely from scratch by myself.
1 Pocket Toploader
2 Pocket Toploader
12 Pocket Standard Binder
The colours: Ocean Bubbles, Clover Garden, and Peri-Twinkle.
in Original & Simple Design.
all i ever wanted was some pretty binders
meet the creator
Mau Mau Cards was founded by a girl who hyper fixates on collecting cute cards, with ADHD, thiinks she can do everything herself and still believes that this is her side passion project.
What began as a small idea turned into our first Kickstarter, where we worked together as a community to reach the initial 500-unit minimum needed to begin production. It honestly meant the world seeing so many collectors resonate with the same vision.
As the brand grows, every new color and design comes with bigger manufacturing minimums (custom colors require thousands of units to produce — scary, I know LOL), but every order helps bring more dreamy, collector-focused designs to life.
Thank you for supporting this cozy little project - I know I should probably quit my full-time job. ♡