Work from home is now the new norm! Although it can get boring at times. I mean your home is now your office, your office is now your home. You basically eat, sleep, work, and repeat the same old activities in the same old place. I’m always looking for little ways to brighten up my mundane workday! And I’ve come to find that a few innovative stationery designs can add that extra sparkle to your everyday work routine. I don’t know about you, but I always feel a rush of excitement before I use a new stationery product! Not only do these crafty designs excite you, but they can truly amp up your work from home productivity. Even the littlest of tasks are completed with more efficiency. So, we’ve curated some nifty stationery designs that we believe will truly be a valuable addition to your work from home desk. Be sure to invest in them!
CARBU is a compass and a protractor – so if you are a student or a designer, you know exactly how convenient it is to have tools that serve more than one purpose. The user can make multiple circles without measuring the distance of the opening of the legs with a ruler. The slim legs of the compass on the inside are clogged with discs that are integrated with low-power magnets for smooth movements. The compass has a 2 disc system for accuracy – the inner one disc shows the measurement in a 0.2cm interval and this is amplified with a second disc that magnifies it for ease of viewing. The inner transparent case has two options – you can measure with degrees (for angles and arcs) and also without degrees for simpler things. The second transparent case that has a magnifying glass shows the distance between the two legs of the compass precisely. The discs also tell you if you are in compass mode or protractor mode.
Designer Jeong Woo Kim created Ouverture – a conceptual keyboard accessory that is a number pad + a digital notepad when you flip the cover. It has a typing mode which is the number pad and a memo mode which is the writing pad. “The leather cover acts as a number pad on a conventional keyboard. Current from the fingertips passes through the special conductive fiber to the touchpad inside the leather cover,” explains Kim. A quick survey showed that 98% of people take notes when they are working on computers and 70% of them said it is uncomfortable and 34% complained that their desk tends to get messy or notes tend to get lost. With a device like Ouverture, your notes are saved as image files and your desk remains clutter-free.
This pen is quite literally timeless… in the sense that it will write forever, that too without a single drop of ink. The ForeverPen is a bit of a technological marvel that solves one of the most common problems in the world – needing to write but never find a pen around. Made from a unique silver composite, the ForeverPen writes without actually writing. Unlike a pen that leaves behind ink or a pencil that leaves behind graphite, the ForeverPen’s unique material can oxidize surfaces, leaving behind a mark without really wearing out or running out. In theory (and even practically), it lasts forever, letting you draw/write/doodle anytime or anywhere, infinitely.
The Constrained Ball by Gihawoo Design is one of those concepts I can easily see myself buying from a late-night infomercial. I’m not saying it’s bad but the novel approach to a simple kind of problem is endearing. Fitted with a gasket, the gadget helps you draw straight lines and indicates the length. OMG, is this the end of the ruler’s dominance?!? No, but I quite like this concept. I’m a stickler for drawing straight lines. It’s either gotta be straight and perfect or it’s a no-go for me.
This is a jellyfish that stings gently! We love stationery design and especially cute ones inspired by animals! Designed by Fabio Verdelli, Medusa is a jellyfish-shaped push pin that moves like the actual jellyfish when pushed into the board. this one is gentler. The designer has made this push pin soft and translucent just like the real ones in the ocean. It’s also slightly colored to give it a fluid visual effect. The CMF and the simple movement of the pin work together to make Medusa a functional yet realistic ode to the marine marvel. Who wouldn’t like to have a box of these!
Meet the Ferrule, probably the most significant improvement to wooden pencils since they started putting erasers on the opposite end. The Ferrule is a brass pencil enclosure and extender. It upgrades the feeling of using a tiny, frail wooden pencil by enclosing it in a hexagonal brass body that gives you confident strokes, thanks to its weight, and a much more premium writing and drawing experience. The Ferrule works with all standard pencils (7-8mm in width) up to 120mm in length. Designed to function as a high-end pencil sleeve, the Ferrule works with short pencil stubs too, giving you a consistent premium writing experience throughout. It opens and closes with simple twisting action, allowing you to lock or release the pencil within with a satisfying click.
Reusable like a whiteboard, portable and sticky like a Post-it, the Mover Erase brings one of the workplace’s most effective features to your WFH setup. You see, in our transition from the office to the home office, we missed out on quite a lot. Sure, there’s an obvious lack of workplace gossip and office chit-chat, but we’re also missing out on the kind of tools that make us more productive. The ability to stick notes around our work desk, to walk up to a whiteboard, and really brainstorm effectively. To streamline your process in a way that makes you more productive and organized. The Mover Erase turns the whiteboard into a portable setup that you can carry around with you because productivity shouldn’t be limited to a ‘place’.
Outside/Inside was created to question the traditional understanding of a “vessel” and reimagine it with materials like pine needles to not only add more function but also give it a refreshing form. “What do you understand as a ‘vessel’? What image comes to mind if I tell you to describe it? Now, how far can you stretch that image? How far is too far?” asked the duo as they worked on reinterpreting the meaning through their design. Just like wild grass, it looks like the ‘vessel’ is growing from the surface it is kept on. What I love is the usage of pine needles because it is an underrated and under-explored natural material. Pine needles also bring a touch of nature inside on your shelf or desk. It also adds a poetic theme to the design as its colors, smell, and texture change over time letting you experience the ‘seasons’ of Outside/Inside.
The Clip-Pen by Foxtail Gihawoo combines the traditional ballpoint pen with the even-more-traditional paper clip. The metal clip finds itself located on the pen-cap, where you’d normally see the cap’s pocket clip, creating a fusion that may seem weirdly clever at first, until weirdness wears right off and just feels like a good idea! The Clip-Pen retains its original functionality (of being able to be clipped to a pocket) but is capable of much more. You could use it to keep your pen and papers together, or just use the cap to hold your sheets while the ballpoint pen sits in your pen-stand.
Created by LHiDS Creative, the MagEasy Folio and MagEasy Board use a combination of powerful magnets to help keep you organized and productive. The magnetic system, embedded within a durable and waterproof board, allows you to neatly arrange your life, from your keys and phone to your stationery, notepad, wallet, or even passport. The board and folio provide a canvas for MagEasy’s series of magnetic accessories which are powerful enough to hold keys in place as well as securely store your smartphone or wallet. MagEasy’s novel approach to organizing allows you to store all your everyday essentials in one place, so you don’t have to dig in your pocket for your wallet or keys, or in your bag for your pen, or a thumb drive.