I was lucky enough to be invited to the UK launch of Typo yesterday. For those of you who don't know what Typo is (I don't blame you, I didn't either), it's a stationery, homewares and gift brand that's pretty big in Australia, and now it's coming to our shores. I made my way to a lovely little outlet in London, where there were a whole bunch of interesting items laid out for my eyeballs to feast upon.
This was one of the first sights I encountered as I walked around, a nicely laid out living room set, with some great printed graphics on the wall, and a fancy array of cushions. I'm often inexplicably averse to words and slogans on my furnishings, but looking around at the stuff on offer here, and having a quick look around the Typo website, there were a few that piqued my interest, especially this mug:
Bonus light box at the back there too, light boxes are cool, I'm going to buy one soon. Aside from that, there's that pretty neat lamp in the back, and blending in with the foreground there's a funky patterned external battery pack for your portable devices. That's right, Typo don't just do stuff for your home, there are travel goods too:
Pillows, headphones, travel pouches, they've got a whole load of stuff, too much to really delve into here, but they all seem to come in a wide array of patterns and slogans, and I wouldn't mind owning some of this for myself. The meat of the Typo brand, however, appears to be their stationery, and there was a wide range of stationery laid out, such as these notebooks with fantastic covers:
Yes, those are watermelon and Eiffel Tower pens, and indeed that is a cheeseburger pencil case. The variety of products seems pretty staggering, from the serious, to the pretty, to the downright silly. I was a little concerned about how much this stuff would cost, I've been to places like Paperchase only to turn around and walk back out again when I realised they wanted my life savings in exchange for a pad of paper. Fortunately, some of these products had some price labels on the back, and I was pleasantly surprised with how cheap it all was. Granted, those prices may not be finalised, so don't quote me on these, but those A4 notebooks were priced at £3.50, and given the funky designs I'd expect a heftier sum. The pens were about the same, but I don't think I'd mind paying that much for some of them, especially these hot dog looking ones:
Aside from the awesome stationery, there was a selection of cool products focused on your own creativity. Now, I don't count myself as a particularly creative person, but I know some people who would love this stuff. One thing that caught my eye was this DIY photo album:
A scrap booker's dream, I'm sure. There are all sorts of things to cram in besides your photos, and the whole bundle was priced at a mere £15, a perfect amount for gifting to a friend.
Mannequins, stamps, a create-your-own pouch, there's a lot of stuff for the arty, and even the not so arty (you've gotta start somewhere). While you won't catch me meticulously arranging a photo album, one thing I might partake in is writing a witty slogan on my own travel mug:
Really, there was just too much cool stuff on show to cover in any sort of depth, but I hope my little highlights give you a hint of the bigger picture. There was also a great selection of gift cards and wrap, fridge magnets and colouring books on display, as well as several other trinkets, but taking a picture of every little thing would have probably made this my longest ever review. For a look at some more products, check out the Australian site. Typo will be opening up the UK site in early April, and I'll be sure to pop back with the link when it's up. There are also plans for a store in London, so watch this space and I'll let you know where that's at when it happens.
Typo looks to be a great brand that encompasses a lot of different facets of life, from home to travel. I'm quite discerning in my choice of printed covers and slogans, and there were several things on display that I wanted to snatch up. I'll definitely be stopping by the shop when it opens up, and an online order is most likely in the pipeline. I would normally say with a store like this that there may not be something for everyone, but the range of stuff I saw yesterday was pretty impressive. From the creative, to the stylish, to the naughty, you'll probably be able to find something you like if you look hard enough. I'm looking forward to seeing what Typo brings to the UK.
My rating: 5/5
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