We Love Stationery!
I love stationery.
I love it because it makes me feel organised.
I love it because it’s somewhere for new ideas.
I love choosing the right pen or paper for the job.
I love that, for me, stationery and creating art go hand in hand
The joy of stationery began for me at school. I remember day one of reception class, when our names were written neatly in Berol fine tip on our work trays and coat pegs. Each one was decorated with a simple colourful die-cut animal sticker.
I loved when we used felt tips and when we got the paint palettes out. Most of all, I loved getting a new exercise book and writing my name, form class and subject on the front.
The first page was always painstakingly neat. After page one it usually went a little downhill but I took great pride in my books and stationery at school.
I loved the annual trip to Fenwick’s stationery department to get a new pencil case before term started. I recall being extremely excited on a family holiday to France, when I discovered the brand Naff-Naff in a supermarket. I bought myself a navy blue, gingham folder for school with my holiday money.
The opening of the first Paperchase in the House of Fraser in Gateshead coincided with me starting art college. I had previously fallen in love with the shop on a trip to London. The rows of neatly stacked paper, pots of pens and triangular rubbers. For me, it felt like being in a sweet shop.
When I got the opportunity to work there it felt like a dream come true. I got a part-time job and I LOVED it. I took myself on a day trip to the Manchester flagship store with my staff discount card and spent a good few hours just looking at paper and deciding which sketchbooks to buy for the start of college.
With the significant increase in digital platforms to organise and diarise, stationery feels more appealing than ever.
I have never felt inclined to store all my thoughts and ideas on my phone. While it is undoubtedly convenient, I have always felt a slight disconnect when using a phone in the creation, exploration or organisational processes. They are great for many things but I’d always rather use pen and paper for the creative process. I find it easier to bring an idea to life when I see it written by hand.
In 2012, journalist Lucy Mangan wrote an article called “Why I love Stationery”
“The right pen and the right paper brought into conjunction, runs the unspoken thought, cannot help but result in a sudden influx of bold, brilliant and original ideas, the germ of a bestselling novel that will in its turn be inscribed in another, perhaps larger notebook more worthy of the task, in sentences as creamy and beautiful as the pages on which they are written.”
So stationery gives us a sense of nostalgia, it can inspire and it can give us a feeling of new beginnings and potential but it also lights a fire in me from a design perspective. Anyone who follows any independent stationery brand online or loves just the feeling of walking into a stationery shop will relate. The smell of the paper, the weight of it, the colours, the traditional processes involved in making something both practical and so utterly satisfying to look at and hold.
With all of this in mind and an insatiable desire for design and stationery, I decided to interview people who sell stationery, are fans of it and people who make it; to see what it sparks for them and if it was something they have always been passionate about.
Kirsty Thomas
Designer and founder of studio Tom Pigeon
Would you describe yourself as an organised person?
I would describe myself as organised and disorganised in equal measure (if thats possible!). I am a list-writer and I have notebooks full of to-do lists which often get lost or ignored. I like the use of analogue materials for note-taking although I realise digital would probably be more effective. My working week is generally pretty organised although being self employed means that you have to be prepared to jump to new tasks without much warning and juggle a lot of different roles. I love this!
Do you have any early memories of stationery from school?
Yes! I loved the first day of term when you were given new textbooks and jotters and told to go home and cover them in wallpaper or wrapping paper (to protect the covers). I loved the whole process of “wrapping” a book but also adding stickers, drawings and my name is fancy writing.
Favourite item of stationery?
I have a huge number of black Muji fine liners. They have to be 0.5mm and I use them for signing prints, designing new work and keeping notes. I buy a new pack every time I’m in London - just in case!
INSTAGRAM: @tom_pigeon
TWITTER: @tompigeon
FACEBOOK: @tompigeonstudio
WEBSITE: www.tompigeon.com
Athena Cauley-Yu
Founder of Meticulous Ink, hoarder of paper
Is there a specific process you enjoy when it comes to creating your products?
I love the whole process of thinking of a thing, designing it, then actually printing and making it into real life. We do letterpress printing bespoke work for other people, but designing for myself and for the shop is my favourite thing to do. I like the contrast of designing something delicate and then getting hands on and operating a one tonne printing press to create the thing. It really is the best. I love my shop so very much, it's a proper nest for my creativity.
Do you have any early memories of stationery from school?
I remember in secondary school I had been given a rather posh and unusual Parker pen set by my father. The pens were dark steel coloured, heavy and really shiny, and they twisted to open. They went missing. The next day another girl in my maths class had the pen and insisted it was hers. I knew it wasn't and she knew it wasn't, but being young and feeling powerless I did nothing about it. Weirdly I think about that a lot and what I would have done differently. If I ever see her again I'll ban her from my shop, the blooming pen thief! Maybe that's what makes me keep all the pens and paper now.
Do you have an analogue diary?
YES and I could not live without it, particularly for work. I use our own Meticulous Ink week to view, date free diary. The left hand page is the week, with the right hand a dot page for note taking. I write really small in it to fit as much as possible in. I like being able to spill my brain out onto a page and seeing it in the real world. Being able to tick off a completed task gives me those good feelings of progress. Definitely helps me organise my life.
Instagram:meticulousink
Bespoke wedding stationery by Meticulous Ink
Amy Cooper-Wright
Founder of Mark+Fold the modern stationer
Would you describe yourself as an organised person?
I think that would be an understatement! I have always enjoyed the process of making order out of chaos, it calms me and makes me feel like I’m on top of things. Much to the annoyance of anyone who has ever lived with me! Mark+Fold has been an excuse to indulge in my love of organising and channel it into creating useful things.
What is it about stationery that appeals to you and have you always loved it?
I have always loved stationery and had very strong emotions about it. For a long time I thought this just made me a bit of a nerd, but when I was studying for my MA in Graphic Design I discovered the Japanese designer Kenya Hara. He talks about creating ‘empty vessels’ or blank canvases, and inviting people to put their hopes and dreams inside; like handing someone an empty box and saying ‘what would you like to put in it?’ This is more powerful than giving them nothing at all, it is a container for their ideas, full of potential and opportunity. This notion is arguably why IKEA sells so many plastic storage boxes! You imagine the things you’ll put in them, even if you’re not quite sure what it will be yet. For me, when you buy a notebook, it’s the same thing — a new notebook at the start of a project, or adventure, is going to be filled with the great things that you have not yet discovered. This is why I feel a notebook should be a beautiful thing. It should feel very good in your hands, and inspire that feeling of optimism and inspiration about what lies ahead.
Favourite item of stationery?
Would have to be my Mark+Fold notebook. Having collected notebooks for thirty years, and used a wide variety of them, I eventually decided to make my own and had the joy of choosing the paper, the binding method and all the details that I felt made it just right for me. It has been a joy to learn that a few other people like it too!
How do you approach sustainability as a business?
This is absolutely central to what we do. One of my motivations for starting the company was a frustration with poor quality stationery, and a lack of information about where and how it was being made. It felt like it was just a race to the bottom in terms of price. So we try to do things differently at Mark+Fold, and visit our paper mills and binderies in person and work very closely with them. This is as much about a delight in seeing our work being made, as it is to be reassured that the right processes are being employed. For example, our paper mill in Cumbria works closely with the Environment Agency, and the water they use in paper production is returned to the river as clean or cleaner than when it left. The water is in fact so clean that it has fresh water crayfish living in it! It’s a very beautiful place, and this connection with nature and respect for the environment makes the material very special. It can be hard to get people to stop and think about provenance, and the massive difference between this mill and how some paper is produced elsewhere in the world, but not everyone spends as much time thinking about paper as I do!
INSTAGRAM: @markandfold
Neal Whittington
Founder and owner of Present and Correct
Would you describe yourself as an organised person?
I’m organised in my own way! That’s diplomatic isn’t it. I think there are aspects of my work/life that I am organised with, I guess i prioritise things.
What is it about stationery that appeals to you and have you always loved it?
I have always loved it, since I can remember. Art supplies & stationery were my toys! I obsess over stationery not just as functional things but also as aesthetic objects. I don’t mind if something is never used. I love the promise of new stationery, of feeling efficient & the potential that it brings.
Is there a specific process you enjoy when it comes to creating your products?
It’s always really exciting getting a product back, taking photos and being able to talk about it. I am very indecisive so can find the development of something can be a little drawn out! I wish I could be firmer with my choices.
As a stockist, what appeals to you aesthetically about stationery?
I like strong type, clean graphics, interesting colours, nothing too overtly trend driven. A nod to modernism & utilitarian qualities through the materials used. Things which reference something else, but nothing too novel (there are exceptions, hello Crayola calculators!).
Do you have any early memories of stationery from school?
Some of my earliest memories are centred around crayons and paint. I also have big memories of covering school notebooks in patterned paper, also when I was maybe 7 or 8 I got a new The Snowman stationery set which I adored and could never use. I would just arrange it on my 80s pine effect desk (£25 from MFI) with red plastic handles.
What attracted you to this industry?
My business plan was so vague but basically I wanted to create a place where I could sell all of the things I choose, love & make. I’m a graphic designer originally and stationery/printed matter always felt like part and parcel of that industry.
Favourite item of stationery?
Agh, it changes weekly but i am a long term fan of erasers & paperclips. Im fascinated by small, every day objects which come in an array of shapes. colours etc. And I especially like collections of such things.
Do you have an analogue diary?
Yes! Always, the time between Christmas and new year is the best diary planning time. I love it
How do you approach sustainability as a business?
I actually think that all small businesses are inherently more sustainable and ecologically driven than any bigger business. The footprint is smaller automatically. Having said that we do make sure of certain things. Our shop/office is powered by eco electricity. All of our packaging supplies are compostable. Also, we sell vintage items! So that’s sort of like recycling :-)
SHOP OUR STATIONERY
TAKE NOTE
A5 recycled paper notebook