The second courtyard is loud with saws whirring from the ground-floor workshop. Up the dusty stairs, a tiny sign hangs on the metal door. Wednesday Paper Works' studio is a light-filled Fabriketage with white brick walls, into which they moved earlier this year.

"I had been working as a graphic designer for many years; my sister was a master bookmaker," Chrish explains as we drink fennel tea at the long table. "One Wednesday, we decided it was time we worked together."

Their notebooks are named after writers. Their prints are named after constellations. Their style strikes me as serene and intelligent, as do the sisters themselves. I find their stationery began to fill a little void I hadn’t realized I contained.

Their curiosity darts in different directions. I told you the story about how they made their first set of prints. They also make notebooks for crafters and bakers, and cunning boxes for treasures. Just recently they began embossing paper in metallic shades of silver, blue, and orange. Thanks to an investor’s help, they could launch so many product lines at once; the energy of idea-making was their own.

As we walk through the studio, an assistant brushes insides of books with glue before smoothing rough paper into place. Chrish shows me the machine they use to trim paper. The quiet industry of the studio is compelling.

Scarcely a year old, they’re already discussing collaborations with Modulor and others. I find myself taken by the balance they’ve found: approachable but not homespun, professional yet without attitude.

I return to the table buoyed. I tell Chrish about Sgaminegg, and she  tells me about an architect who designs garden sheds. When she says they want to open a pop-up store soon I suggest she contact Eismanufaktur, the ice cream shop which posted that pop-up blanket shop in Kleine Hamburger Straße two winters ago. She goes to visit them that same day, and the Wednesday Paper Works pop-up shop in the Neukölln branch of Eismanufaktur debuted last weekend. It’s open until February.

Wednesday Paper Works Pop-Up Shop, Weserstr. 6, Berlin-Neukölln (map)
Open November 2012-February 2013, Mon-Sat noon-8pm

Comments

[David]

Love the photos! What is the product featuring the children and geese exactly?

[Charisma]

Great feature; I've been meaning to check out their pop-up shop.

[Sylee]

David, in fact, it's an old litograph stone.