Denmark be king when it comes to design. I’m a total fan of all things Danish Modern and you damn right that when we landed in Copenhagen, I gave a big fist-pound to legends like Arne Jacobson (Egg, Swan, Ant and 7 chairs), Poul Henningsen (PH5 Lamp) and Verner Panton (Panton Chair).
The first person I spot entering the arrival area is a 2 yr-old with a style game that makes me jealous. C’mon… really? A 2 yr-old? In-sane. I didn’t know what kind of goods we’d score but looking around spotting all the stylie people, I knew the goods would be dope-as-hell.
Second day in and I’m on the hunt. Spotted a design shop sittin’ pretty across the street from a super cute cafe. At first I thought it was mostly design books and art supplies. Headed deeper into the shop and I spot a display case featuring Viking notebooks that made me stop. Holy f’in what the what?! Paper goods so hot that it made me melt on the spot. I’m talkin’ heart racing, face flushed, hold-me-back ‘cause I’m about to buy every single last item in this shop.
I’m peeling through all the different types of notebooks as fast as I can. Not sure why but I’m sweating ‘em. I’m afraid the notebooks are gonna vanish or somebody is gonna walk in and buy the entire inventory before I can. And that would seriously bum me out. Hefty black covers with beautiful Nordic-inspired artwork printed in silver ink protecting the silky smooth sheets in blank, ruled or grid-dot. The notebooks sport a thick-ass cardboard backing (remember the USA Kit’s notepad?!) making these notebooks solid. Solid design. Solid build. Totally in love. Fingers crossed and my heart set on the grid-dot sheet notepad, I flip one over and discover that they’re made in Denmark. BOOM!
Headed even deeper into the shop and discovered an entire area with paper goods from the same company. Sketchbooks, notepads, loose sheets… A6, A5, A4… so much more for me to freak out over. But it was an easy choice for me to select a blank sketchbook for the Mystery Item. I knew I couldn’t pass up these paper goods. The thickass, bright white cover. Matching bright white sheets in the perfect thickness for drawing or writing. Gettin’ lost in the moment and a quick second later, I resist the urge to pull out a sharpie and scrawl my tag in one of the sketchbooks.
I moved on searching for an equally amazing Writing Instrument, weaving through the aisles, going in circles, absorbing the shop’s inventory. Spot all the usual suspects and then I found them – Viking pencils! Purchased a gang of goldenrod pencils for our collection and to swap with Pencil Pals. And decided to go with the maroon version for the Denmark Kit. The pencil’s black bottom and silver foil stamp job perfectly match the notebooks!
Danish people eat, breathe and live design. I love how they take design seriously without being serious. They have an appreciation of daily diet goods and create lo-fi design that is simple but at the same time complex. We’ve never purchased an entire kit’s collection of goods from one company. But couldn’t resist the super solid goods from Viking that perfectly reflect Danish design – everything be hot so cool, so cool so hot.
oxxo, Hen
