As a stationery brand, we are always curious how and what people use our stationery goods for. With this blog series, focusing on the hands at "work" and beyond, we ask five questions about the usage and meaning of the stationery tools to our friends in Los Angeles.
For the twenty sixth post of WORKING HANDS, we had a pleasure visiting Diego Rivera at Mister Green in Silverlake where he works as an operations manager. In a parallel manner, he organizes Ultrasoft, a Manila based ambient music event.
Q1. How do you use your penco Double Door Purse, Storage Container set & Mitsubishi pencils?
In my double door purse, I always like to carry around earphones, mints and lip balm, cleaning cloth for my eyeglasses, and my flash drives. It’s quite an assortment of things, so it makes it a lot easier that I’m able to keep them separated, while still tight and compact.
I use this set of penco storage containers to store a lot of our little tools and stationery needs. Box cutters, staplers, pens, and the like. The biggest one in the set also perfectly fits some of the few things we need to listen to/play music. Headphones, a small record brush, and a couple adapters and cables.
The Mitsubishi pencils, I do just like the look of the pencil itself, and the packaging is cute too. I use it to write and sketch out random ideas and notes I may have.
Also we see you are the hobonichi techo user! How did you find out about the hobonichi techo first? What do you write on it?
I got introduced to them through a good friend from Manila, who I noticed used it a bunch. I got her a few accessories as a gift when I last visited home, and ended up getting a planner for myself. Admittedly, I struggled to keep at it, but have started to get the hang of it more recently. I’ve found it more enjoyable to take note of dates and ideas. Especially working for a small business, prioritizing tasks can sometimes get a bit overwhelming for us. And for this Ultrasoft thing, I run it with one of my best friends from Manila, and organizing our ideas can be tricky being this far apart from each other, so having a planner definitely helps. But even the most mundane of things are also kind of fun to write about, so whether the page for a certain day is blank, filled up nicely, or a complete mess, I think this planner is a bit of an expression of how my mind and mood was that day.
Q2. In our online / tech driven world, what does it mean to do things by hand to you?
Writing by hand feels like it’s more of an honest and effective way to think about things. It feels like I’m speaking to myself, and actually listening and taking in what I write more? There’s probably just way too much clutter, and too much other things to think about when I’m on a phone or computer. I think writing stimulates my mind more, and it feels a bit more meditative in some ways. It’s often that my favorite parts of my days are when I get to think and write during my commutes to and from home.
Q3. Pen or pencil?
Hmm it’s tough because I use both, but I definitely use pens more regularly.
Q4. What’s in your pen case, if you don’t use a pen case, how do you organize and store your pens and stationeries?
Honestly don’t have a nice way to organize my pens, I usually just use the one that is on my planner’s pen holder. But when I’m home or at work, most of the stationery tools I need are in a storage caddy.
Q5. What is your most favorite stationery?
The tiny storage caddies from penco. The small size makes it so that it only carries what I really really need, and also makes it easier to bring it around the office, shop, or at home.
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Diego Rivera runs Ultrasoft, a Manila-based monthly event focused on intimately sharing non-club music, left field electronics, and an exploration of pitched down tempos. He also manages the operations of LA-based progressive clothing and home goods company, Mister Green.
You can find what Diego is up to here.
Updates and next Ultrasoft event are found here.
