Week 16 - Episode 85 - Room for thoughts

I am a stationery junkie.

I love to unwrap a new notebook, to buy beautiful cards or letter writing sets.

The joy of putting pen to beautiful paper, the feel of it gliding over the smooth surface, and the expansive feeling I get from giving room to my thoughts and feelings make buying beautiful stationery a joy.

Frida Kahlo, Journal

But I equally like to dwell on the pages of artist’s notebooks and journals, for example the crazy explosions of emotion and colour by Frida Kahlo, and the scientific explorations of Leonardo da Vinci.

Leonardo da Vinci, Notebook

Today, share the stationery you love.

It can be blank, pristine, waiting patiently for your thoughts, or art, or both.

Or share those pages by artists and thinker you admire.

Use the hashtag #kramerseye on Twitter or Instagram.

Listen to today’s podcast

Week 16 - Episode 84 - Paper

Paper.

I love the smell of it. Whether it’s walking into an old library or opening a beautiful new book - the scent of paper, holding it, touching it, makes my heart sing.

It has been used for centuries to spread knowledge and news.

To write letters.

To keep track of inventories and money owed.

In Holbein’s splendid portrait of the Merchant Georg Giese pieces of paper are cleverly used to visualise his occupation - Giese is holding a letter and there are little notes strewn all over the painting.

Much has changed since then. A modern merchant would be holding a smartphone rather than a letter. But the backdrop might not be that dissimilar. Despite the most amazing software and devices many people still need paper to visualise. To keep track of ideas and tasks. Just replace those notes in the painting by Post-Its and voila, it’s all up to date.

Today, start observing how much paper you still have or handle in your life.

Wall paper.

Tissue paper.

Newspaper.

Capture it and share it on Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #kramerseye.

Listen to today’s podcast

Week 15 - Episode 83 - Ease meets Elegance

If looking at handles for a week has taught me one thing it’s how ingenious we are as humans.

Handles betray a deep desire to optimise, to make things more efficient, safer, easier.

But it’s also taught me another thing: as much as we love practicality, we also love beauty.

I have seen whimsical handles on canes, umbrellas, teapots, handbags, and many other things.

And I love how we can’t suppress the urge to beautify the daily.

Here are some suggestions to play with handles over the weekend.

Design the perfect door handle

Draw, paint, cut out or otherwise design a door handle you would love to have.

It can be curvaceous, stern, simple, elaborate - it’s all up to you.

Design the next packaging handle

Most packaging handles aren’t reusable. We’ve seen a whole revolution in bringing our own bags when we go shopping - why not bring our own handle too?

What kind of handle can you think of that would help you handle bulk and be reusable over and over again? If your idea is really good please don’t share it on social media but get it patented first!

Add handles to things which don’t yet have them

If you want to get really creative start thinking about which objects you would love to add handles to.

Elephants? Toddlers? Big bottles of champagne?

Cut out and collage, or use a photo app to add handles to anything you want to make easier to handle.

Look for historical handles

What did handles look like hundreds of years ago? Paintings, etches and drawing are a good place to start. Keep your eye out for handles in museums or online collections, and create a historical timeline of the handle.

Hunt for the most beautiful handle

If you enjoyed looking at crazily crafted handles over the past week as much as I did why not take a bit more time and hunt for handles in online art collections. Create your own top 3, and design a special award to hand out.

Have fun playing with handles this weekend and do share your creations using the hashtag #kramerseye on Twitter or Instagram.

Listen to today’s podcast

Week 15 - Episode 82 - Open...and close

As we’ve seen over the past week, Handles help us carry, avoid injury, add beauty to our lives. But they do even more.

They help us do something essential: open - and close. 

Doors, windows, drawers…without handles they’re hard to manipulate. Handles help us open and close doors and drawers without losing multiple nails. Or our temper.

Art Nouveau door handle, Berlin, Gutzkowstr. 7, Wikipedia

They take on many shapes and forms: rings, levers, ridges, knobs, T’s…but they all have the same function.  

Open. 

Close.

Today, try to notice how many handles you use to open and close. 

Capture them - and share them using the hashtag #kramerseye on Twitter or Instagram. 

Listen to today’s podcast