A set of great handy stationery designs are extremely critical for any product designer! These are the tools that help and support you through your creative process. They can either make or break your entire design process, so it’s imperative to have a collection that really lets you work easily, efficiently, and effectively. Yanko Design recommends these innovative and nifty stationery designs that every product designer must own! From a gadget that ensures you draw straight lines to a design that doubles up as a compass and a protractor, these products are sure to meet the unique needs and requirements of your creative process. You can thank us later! Enjoy.
Inspired by the democratization of space travel and how one private company, founded by Elon Musk is leading the charge to make space-travel accessible to all, the Nominal Pen is literally designed to look like a rocket… making it perhaps the most literal take on the ‘space pen’. The pen’s name comes from the term ‘nominal’, often used for when everything’s going smoothly and according to plan. Designed as a celebration of SpaceX’s recent achievements of being the only private company to send humans to the ISS and bring them back (while even retrieving parts of the spaceship to be reused at a later date – something nobody’s ever done), the Nominal Pen models itself on the Falcon series of rockets (the Falcon 9 Block 5 in particular). The pen comes in a similar light+dark metal finish, featuring four retractable legs that open out, allowing it to stand vertically on its own… after all, it would be quite shameful to have to put a rocket-shaped pen in your pen-stand, right? The Nominal Pen’s retractable legs are operated by a twist-to-open mechanism machined right into the pen’s metal body… while the opposite end of the pen features a magnetic crew-capsule that detaches from the rocket-body!
Designed by Kim Sung Min, ‘It’s Time to Read Me’, is an electric pin-up board, which lights up to remind you to reach the message attached to it, and follow through on it! You basically attach the little pins to your memos, set up the reminder time, and the pin will light up at the set time, reminding you to finish off your task! How cool is that?
JaiYi identified that the existing clip while doing wonders to hold the paper in place also faces some ergonomic troubles – firstly, the pin’s handles tend to slip when we apply force to it. Secondly, the pressure points in the design are the creases in the pin which take the entire load, causing them to crack. On identifying these concerns JiaYi applied her design skills to transform the classic, and take it to the next generation along with us with the four-side long tail clip! The four-side long tail clip makes two simple yet radical changes – it elongates the handle of the pin, allowing us to apply the same amount of pressure while exerting lesser force and it adds a new pressure line, halfway through the design, helping relieve the pressure on traditional three creasings.
All designers can relate to the frustration of not being able to find that specific nib for their own. And maybe it’s Murphy’s Law but the case of the missing nib always happens when you are ready to start sketching. Keeping this in mind, Kim Minsu created ‘Organize’ – a pen and stand set that (yes, you guessed it) organizes your stationery. Just like a self-rigging toy, when left on the flat base it will return to the upright position thanks to the rounded and weighted bottom. The minimal form has been inspired by bamboos, specifically those little ones we keep in our homes for good luck. So when not in use Organize looks like an aesthetic piece in your interior setup.
The Titanium INJECTOR Pen sports an incredibly minimal design with simple cylindrical construction, punctuated by the bolt-action mechanism which also prevents the cylindrical pen from rolling around. The innovative ‘Rapid-Bolt’ mechanism is an improvement on the status quo, with a much smoother deployment action that has an addictive fidget-like quality to it. The pen supports all Parker-style ink refills and comes entirely precision-machined from solid titanium, from the barrel to the inner components (with the exception of the spring), with no glue or plastic parts used in its assembly. This gives the Titanium INJECTOR Pen its unmatched durability and allows you to use the pen for decades at an end.
Meet the Co-Box, an electric pencil sharpener, minimal and geometric by design that is a worthy addition to every design nerd’s desk. The design is a white square shape, accentuated by an orange circle, reminiscent of the button we would see on our Braun machines. The circle also acts as an entry point for your pencil. The shavings get collected in a transparent box, to be disposed of at your convenience. The design history of our 20th century is filled with iconic design moments, each one a point in time when the object became a part of our everyday life, almost seamlessly – all because of the nature of their design. This sharpener encapsulates the same timeless spirit and just like you hang your favorite posters on your wall, every designer holds an object by their iconic design mentors on their desk.
The stationery created by 22Studio is no less than art, these are made to last lifelong and passed down as family collectibles through generations. Concrete is used to make this pen because it adds a rich look without making it shiny or fancy – it is simple but makes a bold statement. The solid pen starts as a liquid mixture of different elements and then it is allowed to set like stone. The concrete pen is carefully designed and crafted by hand in the studio which gives it its unique personality. Books are considered as best friends, but this concrete stationery is a rock (literally!) we can lean on.
The chameleon’s camouflaging capability is in focus here too, as this EDC hides the measuring tape in plain sight. Look at those details! The huge, bulby eyes, detailed scale texture, the ridges in the back, and the proportion of the overall design makes this a perfect fit for stationery enthusiasts the world over. Adding to the quirkiness of the design, the tongue of the chameleon is a measuring tape that extends up to 2 meters in length. The body of the chameleon measures a tiny 1.9 inches, making it perfect to hang onto your keychain for daily use. The body is made from brass and manganese steel, giving it a nice weight and a solid overall feel to the design.
Designed in pure metallic matte black, with a form language of just geometric shapes like straight lines and circles (rather apt for geometric tools, I’d say), the XYZ set comprises a vernier caliper, measuring tape, compass, and laser dimensioner. They all look beautiful together as a family, and even separately. Minimal styling and a great UX unite them all. Each of them comes with a dotted matrix that behaves like a screen as individual LEDs behind the dots light up to beautifully and minimally give your measurements digital values. The numeric values even sync with your phone, so that you can digitally store all your entries for cross-referencing later.
We love stationery design and especially cute ones inspired by animals! 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. The tentacles of the pushpin also serve as a way to keep your fingers safe from stray pointy pins. If this pinfalls and rolls under a table, your stray fingers will encounter the squishy silicone tentacles only.
The Orbitkey Nest reinterprets the stationery box by acting as a storage container for not pencils and erasers, but for your EDC. Designed to complement your tech-filled life, the Nest is perfect for storing your chargers, cables, AirPods, hard disks, SD cards, pen drives, etc. It helps keep your workplace organized not just by containing your tech accessories, but also by allowing you to dock/rest your belongings on it. The Nest’s upper surface comes with a slight indentation, perfect for resting your wallet, keys, or watch, while a dedicated zone even acts as a wireless charger for your phone.