Dezeen Magazine

Merge by Yen-Wen Tseng is a sculptural concrete stationery set

Taiwanese designer Yen-Wen Tseng has used simple geometric shapes to create stationery that looks like a set of miniature concrete sculptures.

Merge stationery by Yen-wen Tseng

The Merge set includes a pen pot, a notecard holder and a tape dispenser, all made from a high-density concrete formula that is resistant to chipping or cracking.

Each piece comes in either grey or bright blue – a colouring created by mixing pigment into the concrete.

Merge stationery by Yen-wen Tseng

The cylindrical pen pot rests on a base that features a similarly tube-shaped dip, including space for holding writing implements as well as storing smaller items.

Its form is echoed in the shape of the notecard holder, which resembles a cylinder cut lengthways in half.

The tape dispenser is made from three conjoined shapes – a weighted rectangular base that holds a slender prism with the blade, and a cylinder-shaped holding section for the roll of tape.

Merge stationery by Yen-wen Tseng

"Beyond their necessary utility, each piece is designed with an attention to detail and a design philosophy that also gives them a distinctive sculptural quality," said Tseng, who graduated from the Konstfack University of Arts, Craft and Design in Stockholm and set up his own studio in 2011.

Merge stationery by Yen-wen Tseng

"The designs' graceful explorations of shape along with their use of the colour cyan of the CMYK colour model create products that are as much a piece of art as they are stationery," he added.

Merge stationery by Yen-wen Tseng

The pieces were created for Taipei-based 22 Design Studio, an office set up in 2005 to release stationery and other homeware products, often developed using concrete.

Merge stationery by Yen-wen Tseng

Tseng has previously designed a set of rubber candlesticks meant to feel like bicycle handlebars, and a clock that featured two pivoting arms as hands.