Archive for Interesting
Origin of the Webbie
Earlier this year we were approached by TED to donate Rhodia notebooks for their famous gift bag. At our request, Clairefontaine Rhodia, our parent company in France, arranged for 800 Webbies to be shipped to TEDGlobal 2010 at Oxford University. Since then, we’ve heard from a number of participants on how much they enjoy using their Webbie. 
TED began in 1984 as a gathering place for innovators and leaders in the fields of Technology, Entertainment and Design. TED encompasses a global community of individuals who believe in the “power of Ideas Worth Spreading.” Webnotebooks are certainly a good repository for bright ideas from creative minds.
With each Webbie was a note from Mr. Guillaume Nusse, president of Clairefontaine Rhodia. It read: “I hope you will enjoy using your Rhodia Webbie (Webnotebook). You might wonder where we came up with the Webnotebook name? My son was bugging me for a computer ‘notebook’ and so I told him: You want a notebook! I’ll give you a webnotebook! I put our best Clairefontaine paper, a 90g smooth ivory, inside the famous Rhodia covers. And the rest is history.”
Add to that the two other snippets behind the name we’re aware of: the “Web” in “Webnotebook” means the interconnectedness of ideas that can be found from surfing the Web, as well as infinity of those connections.
The name “Webbie” originated from Stephanie, who manages Rhodia Drive and its Facebook page. We were pleased to see France is now following her example and calling them, “Webbies,” too.
Thanks to ConferenceBasics.com for the photo.
Rhodia & Cheese
Since I love cheese, this delightful email caught my eye…..
“There once was a family obsessed with cheese, when offered fromage they always said please! Their quest for cheese took them quite far, discovering how passionate they truly are! So they plotted and planned to bring it all home, NO longer for cheese will you have to roam! We have cases to fill and floors to mop…bringing the village a little cheese shop!” 
“My sister and I are opening a cheese shop in our home town! Alongside cheese, we want to showcase all of the products we’ve grown to love/need!”
“I love my Rhodia notebooks. From symposium notes + travel journals (aka universal pictionary) to new purveyors + tasting details for our shop, I can’t imagine jotting them in anything but my trusty orange Rhodia!”
Thank you, Lydia! Rhodia + cheese fans, Claremont, California has a place just for you! Please visit Claremont Cheese when their site is launched – claremontcheese.com – and in the meantime follow them on twitter – http://twitter.com/cheesecave.
No. 6 Machine
Here’s some Rhodia trivia: Rhodia paper is printed on only one machine – the No. 6 in the Etival-Clairefontaine mill. This mill is located in the Vosges region in France.
We didn’t know that until one day when we started to get a few emails from Rhodia users saying the paper was different. That prompted some calls to France to find out what was going on. We got a few more emails saying the grid lines seemed different and the paper felt different. Since we take pride in the uniform quality of the paper, we really got alarmed. At that point the CEO of Clairefontaine stepped in and investigated. Since he is an engineer, he’s very familiar with all the machines, printing and paper-making equipment and so was able to give us an answer very quickly. 
Here’s what happened: for a few weeks, Rhodia paper had been printed on the No. 5 machine while the No. 6 was being cleaned and serviced.
To a non-engineer like myself, it didn’t make any sense–how could paper feel different from one machine to another? It was explained to me that machines, like people, have their own personalities and quirks. So does the No. 6. After years of service, tinkering, and individual adjustments, each machine “meets” or “kisses” the paper differently. So what people felt was the imprint of the No. 5 machine instead of the No. 6. The paper itself was exactly the same, but the printing and production transformed it (my words) differently.
At the end it was decided that Rhodia paper would only be printed on the No. 6.
Rhodia et Toi
Thanks to The Berit Group, Rhodia made it to Fashion Week in New York! 
Rhodia pads were among the gift items at Zang Toi’s show. Editors and designers always need to write quickly, and need a notepad that fits in any pocket. We thought the No. 12 would be a perfect size.
Zang Toi is a Malaysian-born, New York based fashion designer. He is a favorite of style arbiters including Sharon Stone, Ivana Trump, Eva Longoria , and Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas.
His spring 2010 collection was loosely designed with Prince’s “Purple Rain” in mind with deep hues of purple and black. Sleek, classic and minimalist, the small black Rhodia pads complimented the show’s theme colors.
Our best wishes to Mr. Zang Toi for a successful show and season. It was really a thrill and an honor to be part of an event of such elegance and glamor.
And thanks to our friends at The Berit Group, especially Kristin Sundberg, for thinking of us and these photos. 
Portlandy
I enjoy reading comics and graphic novels, and also collect comic art by Marie Severin. Severin is best known as a “Silver Age” comic artist who inked and penciled hundreds of comics for EC and Marvel. One of her pages from Sub-Mariner #22 with Namor, Dr. Strange, and the “Idol of the Nameless One” hangs in front of my desk.
“Rhodia and comic art” on Google didn’t bring up any comic artists who use Rhodia, but I did find a store called “Nationale” recommended by Craig Thompson, whose work you can see here.
The Nationale was mentioned in a lacunae, a blog by Portland-based writer and critic Douglas Wolk in his post two endorsements: “…something that is just so…Portlandy…I feel obligated to point it out: Nationale, at 2730 E. Burnside, a tiny little store that sells Stuff the Proprietor Likes, mostly of the design-intensive variety. Art, textiles, French candy, a handful of beat-up old LPs, tiny Rhodia notebooks, fancy dishes, the Marriage Records catalogue, etc.”
I did some checking, and Rhodia, ya, ya appears in Nationale’s blog. Great pictures–almost like a story! May, the owner of Nationale, also has another blog, A La Claire Fontaine.
I have to guess she found Rhodia on some past trip to France.
Antique Inkwell
One of my favorite stops at pen shows are the tables with antique inkwells and ink bottles. Pendemonium is always a good source of pen and ink memorabilia. (Thanks, Sam!) I love antiques, glass and pens, so vintage inkwells put all my loves together. A row of glass inkwells lines the top of my writing desk. They catch the sun, and give me something to hold and examine when my writing hits a lull or if I get distracted.
The latest addition to the group was picked up over the weekend at Beall and Bell in Greenport, NY. I asked the owner what was the “story” behind the inkwell. He said it had survived the Dresden bombing in WWII and so had the stopper “head.” That was all he knew. I took the inkwell out for a closer look, and besides loving the color of the glass, noticed it had a very similar pen rest to the Herbin bottle. I was charmed–the little china head gave the bottle such personality.
There was a second inkwell with a china “pug” head, but I ended up taking “Gunther” home. However…chances are I’ll go back for the pug bottle this weekend.
So many antique inkwells come without tops. I thought someone’s idea of a tiny china head stopper was a great idea.
DIY Mini Portfolio
In a random search on Google, I found a giantMONSTERblog post about creating a mini portfolio from a Rhodia notebook. The blog is by Justin Chin, a game designer, artist and writer.
“I’m always trying out new ways to show potential clients my work,” he said. “It all sounds pretentious and ego driven but how else are you going to show anyone the things you do? Honestly, in my world visuals are a must.”
“Instead of doing the traditional portfolio I decided to make a ‘low rez’ booklet. The intent was not to do anything high falutin’ or serious but just be scrappy and raw. It’s made from a torn apart and rebuilt Rhodia notepad.”
See all the photos of this project here.
Visit Justin’s other site – infinite machine – here.
