Its been a long, long time I wrote a post and if I had to pinpoint on the reasons why, it’d be partly because I’ve never considered myself good at penning things down and partly because I couldn’t think of things to write on. I’d also include a bit of laziness in there.

But due to a recent injury that left me with a fractured wrist on my right hand, I’ve had a lot time to rest (Read: laze around and binge watch TV shows) and generally think about things.

Since the last time I wrote, The Black Canvas has grown so much! We have a host of different products, a fully functioning website now with regular orders pouring in and an even more successful Etsy store. The Black Canvas has even gone offline with our products showcased at various flea market stalls and pop up stores. Over the past couple of months, I even took up some design projects and landed up designing a range of classy leather earphone cases for my friends at the Headphone Zone.

Venturing into designing for clients has made me take notice of how other design brands come up with their line of products. I’ve always felt that my design style bordered on the minimalistic design approach. So when the Muji opened their first store in Bombay a few days back, I was delighted! For those who don’t know, Muji is a Japanese lifestyle and stationery brand that believes in clean, simple and elegant design.

So I stopped by their store yesterday and bought a few things that left a small dent in my tiny pocket but made me supremely happy.

• A6 PP Pocket Ring Notebook

This spiral-bound pocket notebook consists of 90 pages of dot grid paper. It features an elastic band wrap around to hold the book closed and a transparent plastic pouch on the top to hold any important documents you may have. The spiral rings are big enough to allow you to store a pen in the spine, without it sticking up over the end of the book. Super handy!

Rs. 390

• Fibre Tape Measure – 1.5m

This is a super sleek, white measuring tape made of hard wearing ABS plastic and glass fibre. The measurements are in cms, printed on both sides of the tape and the plastic case features a stopper button too. While I love the tape, I do wish they they measurements in inches on one side.

Rs. 290

• Black Plastic Eraser

Simple, classic black eraser made of plastic. I bought the small sized one.

Rs. 90

* Prices are indicative of the Indian store rates.

I have yet to make use of the products I bought, but they have such a calming effect about them. Muji believes the products they make are like empty vessels. Their simplicity and emptiness enable them to embrace the feelings and thoughts of all people. They adhere to this philosophy so strongly that none of their products even have the Muji branding on them.

I believe their simplistic thinking is somewhat shared with how leather as a material works too. Leather, too, embraces and moulds itself to its user, taking in the person’s qualities and developing a characteristic of its own. No?

P.S. If there’s a store in your city, I do urge you to visit it and appreciate the wonder that is Muji.