Papergang Monthly Stationery Box
I have been trying to find a good stationery box subscription for a while. The perusal of available candidates online easily identifies most as overpriced or of minimal utility, and unfortunately the Papergang offering from Ohh Deer was no different. Alas, my filter let this one through and I lost a couple months’ subscription fees before I found this out.
The box’s most expensive component appears to be its mailing carton, which is also the centrepiece of its design. Past boxes appeared to have some interesting designs - I especially appreciated the November design - and most also appeared to have useful contents such as greetings cards, notepads, brand-name pencils and miscellaneous office supplies.
My inaugural box, unfortunately, was a dud. The majority of the contents were advertisements for other Ohh Deer products or of limited utility. The notepad was cheaply made and most of the sheet space taken up by printed graphics directing one’s use of the pad. This is a similar complaint I have of a lot of premium stationery: it is premium in cost because so much design work is done to direct user behaviour, when that cost and design expertise would be better invested in the quality and durability of the thing.
The calendar is the main recipient of the design efforts in this issue, though I would rather have seen that graphic art invested in some cards or letter paper, or a good blank notebook cover. Most stationery nerds are quite specific about their calendars and to-do journals, so I’m surprised they put such an effort into these items. The small 8-page pamphlet describing the issue indicates that the group’s in-house designer was responsible for this box, telling me that Ohh Deer is likely trying to economize by avoiding any known names who might siphon away some of their revenues.
The saddest part is that this economizing is accompanied by poor quality materials as well. The package is drop-shipped from Spain, where I assume their printing is done, and I know Spain has some good stationery producers, but this is obviously not from one of them. The included unnamed HB pencil is rather run-of-the-mill, the “washi tape” [sic] is not actual washi tape but rather tiny stickers that are maddening to remove and place and difficult to comprehend a logical use.
Finally, the box took 45 days to arrive. I understand that holiday closures and COVID were in the middle of that period, but it also meant that I was charged for a second month before receiving my first box. Overall a disappointment of high cost, low quality, and mediocre design.
