In March of 2014 we discovered Barcelona-based stationery and miscellanea company Octaevo, which at that point had just launced. Founded by Zurich-born creative Marcel Baer, who has a history in art direction and graphic design, the brand roots directly from the passions of its founder such as the sea, history, traveling and the Mediterranean, which were all translated into the elegant and colorful products of Octaevo. Soon after the launch the first collection was praised unanimously and found its way to stores all over the world. This month, Octaevo presents its collection for 2016 and it is again of our highest liking. The designs 'signed by the Mediterranean' show the familiar sunny color palette and next to for instance their wonderful philosophy and marble notes notebooks, which became instant classics, one finds some totally new creations by the hand of Baer and his team. [ Continue reading ]
Last year we discovered the beautiful work of Esme Winter, who works under her namesake label together with husband Richard Sanderson since 2008. The British designers/pattern makers create some of the most elegant decorative paper - for instance their 'Paper Collection' - being produced in this part of the world. The latest Esme Winter collection is a collaboration with Jemma Lewis, a marbled paper artist, who creates through traditional techniques, with everything she produces made in her garden shed in rural Wiltshire. Using the same techniques as the earlier Esme Winter hand-drawn geometric designs, the trio created a series of bold printed marbled papers which combine the extraordinary Esme Winter color palette and technique with Lewis' beautiful free hand marbling, forming a tremendous hybrid of their individual strengths into the great 'Marbled Paper' collection. [ Continue reading ]
We have been fans of the American-Japanese brand Postalco for many years now, also including some of their incredible products in our selection for Our Current Obsessions Nº 1 – NOIR. Last month the inspirational people of Postalco presented an extraordinary new collection of stationery and leather items inspired by the work of the artist Alexander Calder and developed in close collaboration with the Calder Foundation. Postalco was founded in Brooklyn in 2000, but soon moved to Tokyo, where they produce all their products from traditional Japanese craftsmanship, with every colorway of this particular collection carefully selected from those found in the artist’s work. After a visit to the Calder Foundation archives in New York, which contains more than 26.000 historic photographs, dozens of films, and over 130.000 documents covering all aspects of the artist’s life, Postalco discovered the artist’s lesser-known works, including jewelry, textiles, and domestic objects. Inspired by the way Calder erased boundaries between established genres, the resulting collection offers a unique glimpse into the prolific life of one of the most important artists of the twentieth century in an utmost elegant manner. [ Continue reading ]
We like everything the lovely Portuguese company Serrote produces, from their special notebooks to the crate with a selection of blue and white products they released last year, and with their latest addition to their catalogue they have created yet again another elegant and beautiful product which we love. Last month Nuno Neves and Susana Viela of Serrote presented the truly beautiful Sky Chart. It is an interpretive map of the night sky, where you can find the constellations and major stars visible from the Northern Hemisphere, throughout the year. The star Polaris, in the constellation Ursa Minor, is in the center of the chart. As this star is aligned with the axis of rotation of the earth passing through the poles, it remains motionless in the sky during the night, while the other stars appear to rotate around it. [ Continue reading ]
Esme Winter’s work can be typified by her extraordinary talent of creating beautifully patterned products in a fantastic scala of colors. Based in London since 2008, Winter works from her studio with partner Richard Sanderson. Both designer have heritage in high esteem, which resulted in a modern British company rooted in quality production and design. Each beautifully detailed accessory is a product of careful thought and inherited taste in antiquarian books and mid-century modernism. Working with the best makers and materials from the UK, they craft items that reflect the innate value of hand-binding, weaving, and finishing. Last year they unveiled their 2013 'Paper Collection' consisting of notebooks and patterned paper. The collection is a beautiful one, simple yet refined, with most likely some of the more beautiful original patterns you'll find today. Some have called it a mixture between Japanese papers and Bauhaus textile prints; the Paper Collection offers the perfect color saturated solution for your gifts and goods. [ Continue reading ]
We love this extraordinary collaboration between two of our favorite Japanse companies Midori and Takeo Paper, in which they experiment with the product of paper in a beautifully manner, both print-wise and in the use of unique sorts of paper. Under the name 'Card Labo' the two Japanese companies have pledged to work together and create beautiful new products combining their individual specialties. The first set of products is a wonderful start. Designed in an 'Encyclopedia' format in which various printing processes were put to use, four series of four greeting cards with each a different theme were developed, truly engaging the senses. [ Continue reading ]
Octaevo is a new stationery and miscellanea company of our utmost liking, based in Mediterranean Barcelona. The brainchild of Zurich-born Marcel Baer happened by coincidence; "and it felt right, because it felt like home." As an independent Art Director and Graphic Designer Baer had always loved the romance stationery evokes through its permanent nature and historic appeal. With an inherited passion for the sea, history, traveling and the Mediterranean, possibly from his Spanish grandmother, Baer wanted to create a new kind of stationery that combined all the elements which inspired him. With his products Octaevo aims at explorers, collectors and dreamers as he is just that himself. All the pieces are made to be held close and built to last, produced exclusively with regional partners and support artisan workshops. Through these collaborations with inspiring creatives, Octaevo has the ambition to form a platform to showcase Mediterranean talent. [ Continue reading ]
We love the latest additions to the beautiful collection of Lisbon-based Serrote. Expanding their horizon beyond just notebooks, the company introduces Crate Serrote: a wooden crate filled with ten blue and white products by Portuguese manufactures, especially made for this box. Included in the box, but also available separately, Serrote also introduces a new notebook and a new notepad. The Starry Notebook is a notebook for those who like to watch the movement of the stars and draw lines in the sky. And the Celestial Notepad is a notepad with 144 pages of four different tones, interleaved with each other, which reproduces the colors of the sky. [ Continue reading ]
Lisbon-based couple Nuno Neves and Susana Viela of Serrote make limited-edition notebooks for connoisseurs and collectors of typographical gems. Printed on vintage Heidelberg presses, their graphic design is inspired by items from popular Portuguese culture such as tablecloths found at traditional luncheonettes and the shape of traditional biscuits. They also make special editions of notebooks experimenting with designs and materials, using their craft to the fullest. [ Continue reading ]
While running around with our Tenue de Nîmes crew I was invited by Takeo Paper, to visit their head office and showroom in Tokyo. Takeo, a paper trading company founded more than a century ago, in 1899, brings the tradition of Japanese paper (wash) to a next level. Entering the high-white showroom you could easily thinking you arrived in a laboratory. Small cabinets filled with a rainbow of paper. More than 9000 kinds of paper, in every colour of the rainbow, from super light weight to massive cardboard, this place is a walhalla for everyone who loves paper, textures, tactility and luxurious materials. [ Continue reading ]
For its 5th year anniversary of the passport size TRAVELER'S notebook, Midori teamed up with the Hong Kong-based ferry company, "STAR" ferry, Limited. Midori designed a whole stationery and accessory range to personalize your STAR EDITION notebook within the STAR ferry theme.
Available for limited time only, the STAR EDITION Passport size TRAVELER'S notebook is made of a beautiful camel colored leather and comes with a emerald elastic band, which makes a perfect combination. At the back the collaboration is embossed in the leather cover. It has the same features as the original Midori TRAVELER'S notebook passport size, and one can update its interior with either the 004 card/zipper file or the 010 kraft file. [ Continue reading ]
A few weeks back we were invited by Miscellaneous to visit Le Typographe. This lovely company with its tiny storefront and amazing workshop in the back, located at Rue Américaine 67 in Brussels, makes beautiful notebooks, envelopes and cards. Housed in the Elsene area of Brussels one finds their store and atelier connected by a little, lovely well-kept garden. Just as in the maintenance of their garden, in all of their products one can find excellent craft and the highest care for detail. [ Continue reading ]
GFSmith released a new website where they feature partnerships, collaborations and stories with likeminded companies in a lovely editorial way. For this movie they've partnered with the iconic British luggage company Globe-Trotter. The unique set of cases have been created by Globe-Trotter for the exclusive use of the GFSmith sales team (I instantly want to be part of that sales team) and are made of their iconic paper – fourteen bonded layers of vulcanised fibreboard — in the shades of the Colorplan: Factory Yellow and Real Grey. [ Continue reading ]