Papergang Unboxing | December & January

Today I have two Papergang boxes to share. I’m getting a little behind when with my Papergang posts so I thought I would merge two boxes together. This was the December 2018 and January 2019 boxes. If you’ve never heard of Papergang before this is a stationery subscription service run by Ohh Deer. The Papergang boxes cost £10 with £2 postage to the UK, international shipping costs more.

PAPERGANG DECEMBER & JANUARY UNBOXING

DECEMBER

The illustrations for the December Papergang box were created by Keiko Broadeur. Keiko is a US-based illustrator who began making illustrated paper goods in 2009 after graduating with a graphic design degree. She also runs the Instagram account @smalladventure where she shares her work.

I really loved the illustrations in the December box. It managed to give a wintery feel without being too Christmassy. I had actually skipped the November box because I didn’t want Christmas stationery.

IN THE BOX

The December box seemed to have some sort of wilderness theme to it. This isn’t something I would really associate with Winter (can you tell I live in Scotland) but it was still a really nice box. The first item was an iron-on patch, this reminded me a little of Firewatch. I really love this patch, I think I’m going to have problems finding something to put it on but I will definitely find something.

The next item in the box was a set of three sheets of stickers. This had the same outdoor theme. I particularly enjoyed the racoon stickers in this pack. It doesn’t fit with the theme but they went straight in my bullet journal. The risograph print continued the camping theme. I think Papergang have slightly changed their risograph prints.

In the past you would get a calendar with each box, they have changed the calendar to an art print. I think I much prefer this new style. While the calendars were handy to have, and I included a number in my planner. The calendars were (usually) dated for two months after the box. This meant I would lose the calendar before being able to include it in a bullet journal.

The last item in the December box was a fabric bound undated A5 planner. I really love this planner, it’s a nice size and the sheets have a very light print on them. Each page has space for you to add the date and write any tasks needing to be done on that particular day. I much prefer undated planners because you can go back to them whenever you need to. They don’t go out of date like a traditional planner.

JANUARY

The theme for the January box was all about the environment and caring for the planet. I do find this slightly funny because sending out boxes of stationery each month, something which is definitely a luxury, can’t be the best for the planet. In all fairness to Papergang though, they do use very little plastic in the packaging, and most of what you do get can be recycled.

I couldn’t find a specific artist who did the illustrations for January. But most of the artwork highlights animals who have been affected by climate change. I really liked these illustrations, they work very well with the risograph printing method which was used on some of the items.

IN THE BOX

Speaking of risograph, the first item in this box was a risograph printed postcard. This highlights little things we could do as consumers to help the environment. The next items in the box was a set to sticky notes and an A4 notebook. Papergang has finally included a notebook I can actually use because it has lines on both sides of the page.

Then there was a series of risograph prints. Like I said earlier, this art style was just made for risograph. These prints are a really nice quality and feature some animal and plant illustrations.

The final item in the box was a pair of scissors. I know some people might argue that scissors aren’t really a stationery item. But this was genuinely my favourite thing in the box. I was needing to buy a new pair of scissors so these arrived at just the right time. But they also turned out to be really nice to use.

That may sound silly but I’m a graphic design student so I use scissors a lot. The bulk of these scissors is made out of one piece of metal, with some plastic on the grip. The best thing about them is they are so satisfying to use, there is something about the way they cut and even the noise they make. Just believe me when I say it’s a really nice pair of scissors.

FINALLY

And that was my unboxing of the December and January Papergang boxes. I think both of these boxes had some really nice items in them. I think Papergang have really improved with the quality of the items they include in their stationery boxes. There is an added bonus that if you see something in a past box you like, Ohh Deer will probably have it for sale in their store. This is really handy if you like one specific item and don’t want to buy the full box.