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 our seventeeth post, we had a stationery visit with a special guest, Stephen Kenny of the Printer's Devil. Stephen runs a letterpress studio based in Hackney, London. He just had a pop-up exhibition at Hightide DTLA in November so we got to chat with him about his favorite stationery items. A few photos here are from his exhibition.
Q1. What do you do with the Kaweco fountain pen and penco Soft PP notebook?
I use the Kaweco fountain pen and soft pp notebook to write down and organize my thoughts while I travel.
Q2. In our technology driven world, what does it mean to do things by hand to you?
Hand writing is personal. Everyone has unique style. The right pen or pencil in your hand can make all the difference and this pen is the perfect weight for me. Fountain pen is reusable, too. Once the ink is gone, you can replace with new ink and use the same pan for many years.
Q3. Pencils or Mechanical Pencils?
Pencils. I enjoy the thickness and feel of pencils & you can sharpen with a blade or a pencil sharpener to get different results.
Stephen's business cards with a yokai, Tsuchigumo, which he made a poster out of as well.
Q4. What’s in your pen case, if you don’t use a pen case, how do you organize and store your stationeries?
My pencil case is quite minimal. I have a sharpie for writing addresses on postal tubes to send print orders, a 2B pencil for signing prints & the fountain pen to keep notes and write letters to my daughter while I travel.
What's in Stephen's pen case? The Micky mouse is gifted by Yuichi, Stephen's friend & the Hightide USA owner.
Q5. What is your most favorite stationery?
It’s the fountain pen. The nib and ink can both be replaced so it’s eco friendly. Plus it will age like a good pair of jeans over time and look and feel better with age.
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Stephen Kenny runs The Printer’s Devil, a wood-block printing and letterpress studio based in London. Artist Q&A with Stephen on our JOURNAL page.
The posters from the latest exhibit at the Hightide DTLA location are also available here.
