I don’t know if I’m the only one, and I surely hope I’m not, but good stationery really gives me a rush. I have this impulse to buy fancy mechanical pencils, or inks, or coloring sets just because they look remarkable and I wear them as badges of being a good designer with good tools of trade. I’m not the only one, right?
So you’ll understand how my heart palpitates at the sight of the XYZ series of measuring tools. They exude a class not often seen in stationery and boy, they look more like pieces of art than technical instruments. 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 come with a dotted matrix that behaves as 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.
Along with the products, the branding and packaging embody an abstract, minimal, and dark/brooding attitude that gives the stationery the sort of seductive appeal you’d see in consumer electronics… Oh be still, my beating heart!
Designers: Pascal Ruelle, Nico Gibson & Ishmael Adams.
