The Art of the Note: A Collaboration

Two days ago, while making stationery for clients, I found myself oohing and aahing with every envelope and every card, falling in love with each one. As I was finishing the cards, I began to think about the art of stationery and the art of how beautiful paper becomes Write Robinson Couture. Last month, I wrote a guest post for my good friend over at D.Coop detailing my process for making stationery. I’d like to continue that conversation here.

I use marbled paper in the majority of my work. I love how beautiful and versatile it is. I especially love that every card and every envelope becomes its own one-of-kind work of art. I use handmarbled papers, not printed.  This distinction is important because if the papers were printed, then would be possible to recreate the same envelope liners and the same card liners ad infinitum. But when each sheet is handmarbled and then hand cut, reproduction is impossible.

Hand marbled bamboo paper

When making envelope liners, I never try to manipulate the paper. I let it be. To me, that’s  a major part of the art. Start with a beautiful sheet of paper, reverse it, then see what happens once the envelopes and card liners are cut.

Marbled Paper lined Envelopes

The collaboration part comes into play when the stationery reaches my clients’ hands. The client can mix and match to coordinate the card with the liner of their choice. Sometimes, I receive thank you notes from clients on my own stationery and I’m always excited to see how they put each set together.

Feel free to mix and match cards and envelopes.

As I mentioned earlier, the papers are handmarbled which also means a great diversity of color. I love that in the same batch of papers you can get some that appear deep and saturated with color, some with just a hint, and some that look like the most beautiful watercolor paintings.

Deeply saturated color and whisper light color from the same dye lot.

I also really love when papers have metallic inclusions. Usually the color disperses, but sometimes you get a portion of paper with a heavy swatch of metallic paint. Seriously, how gorgeous is this swath of gold?

The art of the note is also evident in the texture, of which I have always been an advocate. I believe that stationery is a sensual experience. It has to delight the eye and the hands. Just as I use marbled paper to delight the eye, I love using cotton paper to feel good in the hand.

Thick and soft paper feels so good in the hand

Ultimately my stationery design philosophy is to use the best materials I can, recreate them in the best way I can and then let the note-writer put their own stamp on it (pardon the pun) by mixing and matching notes and envelopes according to what pleases their own eye. That my friends is the continuum of the collaboration of stationery couture which flows from the marble artist, through me, to the note writer which creates an heirloom adorned with the most precious accessory, the handwriting and sentiments of the writer.