Maison&Objet 2015: London studio Poetic Lab has created a collection of desktop accessories with simple shapes and metallic finishes for design brand Beyond Object.
Poetic Lab's stationery collection comprises a tape dispenser, letter opener, pencil sharpener and pen pot, all in luxury materials such as gold, copper and silver.
"We try to reduce each object to its bare minimal and see what's left, and from there we start to add some emotional touches," said a statement from the studio.
A cylindrical pencil sharpener named Funno is heavy enough to double as a paperweight. It is machined from a solid block of steel and hand polished to a mirror finish in gold, copper or silver.
"The concept of Funno is all about rhythm and movement," said the studio. "The fluid mirror surface is almost tempting you to place a pencil inside and twist it."
Lino is a functional letter opener, handmade from stainless steel to look like a geometric silhouette of a sharp knife blade.
"We drew a simple outline of a knife, reducing the decorative parts and brought that shape into three-dimensional space – that was the starting point of Lino," said Beyond Object. The opener comes with a Teflon coating in matte-black finish.
The Cantili tape dispenser comprises a pair of concave circles that sandwich the tape roll.
An angled stand protrudes from between the circles to provide the cutting edge for the tape. Also finished in gold, copper or silver, the dispenser is designed to be stable enough to be used with a single hand.
"It's hard to find a minimal and elegant tape dispenser with a proper weight," said the studio. "The cantilever structure and mirror polished disks give the tape dispenser a visual lightness, yet the real weight maintains the stability a proper tape dispenser requires."
Penpo is a pen pot comprising two differently sized metal tubes that sit within a third glass cylinder. The three can be fixed together with magnetic joints.
"We are trying to define spaces within a space with tubes," said the designers. "It is a bit like playing with building blocks, you have the joy of constructing your own small houses on your desktop."
Beyond Object presented the stationery collection at the Maison&Objet trade fair in Paris last month, where Tom Dixon also presented a range of metal home and office accessories.