Archive for Interesting
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.
