office supplies

Poppin sample unboxing

/ Andy Welfle / 2 Comments

I love unboxing videos. Usually the best ones are of Apple products or RC helicopters or something, but one that you don’t see often is of office supplies. That’s because the packaging is usually uninteresting.

Until Poppin.

Here’s the video. I’m sorry it’s seven minutes long. You don’t have to watch it all if you don’t want to.

While I don’t think Poppin will necessarily be the next Pentel or anything, I think they will be extremely popular among creative agencies, arts nonprofits, and anywhere that is willing to pay a bit more for some color and fun.

Of course, I have no idea if they will actually cost more than regular office supplies. If not; great!

I’ll be posting a full review of the wooden pencils soon, but in the meantime, here are some thoughts about the pens and mechanical pencils:

  • The capped ballpoint pens are very pretty, they write average, but the cap fits loosely on the barrel, making it rattle and feel kind of cheap.
  • The premium mechanical pencils are really nice. I like that they use a 0.7 millimeter lead instead of a 0.5 — it doesn’t feel like it’s going to break as easily as, say, a Bic mechanical pencil.
  • It looks like they have a great selection of colors. I wish they came in packs of assorted colors, rather than each color in one.
  • I wish the pack included some Poppin-brand paper, so I could see how the pencils and pens looked against them.
  • I loved the personal, colored note from Meredith included in the box. As a office supply marketing professional, I think it was really classy of her.
All-in-all, I think this is going to be fun. If ever I get to be in charge of buying office supplies for my place of business, we’re definitely going to have some Poppin stuff around. I don’t know the scope of the business yet (maybe I should have a phone conversation with Meredith from Poppin some time), but it looks like they are going big, considering the budget that went into the beautiful packaging and marketing collateral alone.

Poppin: rediscover the joy of office supplies

/ Andy Welfle / 4 Comments

I’ve come across Poppin a few times recently, but it didn’t really stick in my consciousness until Notebook Loves Pen did a post about it recently:

Poppin wants to change the way we think about office products. They want us to Work Happy. And all I’ve got to say is, finally! I’ve been waiting for something like this for what seems like a really long time.
[Link]

A welcome kit from Poppin. Image reposted from Notebook Loves Pen.

Yes! This is all part of the social movement I think is happening. I wrote about it in my review of Rad and Hungry, and Poppin seems to embrace it, too. Pens, pencils and paper (and other lesser office supplies) should be an aesthetic  experience. We shouldn’t have to tolerate cheap-o Office Depot generic pencils anymore. Sure, they’re dirt cheap, but we get what we pay for, and there are an increasing number of us who are willing to pay a bit more for a much better experience.

As they say on their “About” page:

For too long, these supplies have been a dull, common and boring part of our day. We haven’t ever given much thought to the tape dispensers, pads, clips and rulers that we use. So long as our staplers are full of staples and our copy machines are full of paper, we simply don’t think about them. Even when we run out, we think about supplies only long enough to place another order.
….
We are starting a movement to make work a more inspired and happier place. Please join us in waging a war on drab, gray, dull and boring. If you want to let us know that we aren’t in this alone, just place an order at Poppin. Forgive us for that indiscretion, but while we had your attention, we couldn’t resist a little sales pitch, here.

I couldn’t agree more. Sometimes the simple act of using a really nice pencil when taking notes at a particularly dull meeting makes it a bit more tolerable. Sometimes when you’re collating papers, you want to staple them with a Red Swingline (á la Office Space)  to make you smile and think of Milton.

Poppin is still in the planning stages, and they’re accepting requests for invitations. Surf on over, fill out a request, and tell them Woodclinched sent ya, as well as “what makes you happy at work,” as they ask on their application.

And for gosh sakes, stop using those generic yellow pencils and Bic stick pens. Bring a fountain pen to work. Buy any of the great pencils I’ve posted on this blog. And check out some of the blogs on the right to see what they think. Because they understand what it is to experience the joy of scribomechanica.