Common Modern, the stationery of dreams

When Claire Evrard attended Maison&Objet Paris for the first time ever, it was accompanied by the Kleenex team. Design and marketing experts from the famous tissue brand, whose little boxes grace homes the world over, had made the trip from England especially to immerse themselves in the latest interior design trends. Claire Evrard is a graphic designer. Her mission back then? Design a tissue box that would be equally as alluring on a supermarket shelf as on any entrance hall table. After making that first trip, the young freelancer got into the habit of heading back to the Parisian trade fair each year to fuel her inspiration. And those trips gave rise to a dream: “one day, I’d be here exhibiting my very own brand...”.

Australian-born Evrard’s skills have taken her all around the world and seen her work on the identities of some of the best-known global brands, including Pepsi, Colgate, Nike and Mitsubishi. She’s lived in Singapore, New York and London. It was only when her family set up home in Switzerland, on the peaceful banks of Lake Geneva, that she decided to leave the charm of corporate branding behind after twenty years’ loyal service.  The time had come to chase her dream by launching her own stationery brand. Her artistic references were a melting pot of Matisse’s uneven-edged collages and the geometric shapes and contrasting hues of American mid-century graphic artists Saul Bass and Paul Rand. Not forgetting the motifs of Finnish brand Marimekko, which have integrated themselves so seamlessly into our day-to-day lives. To that rich cultural mix, she added her own unique take on the simple beauty of her surroundings, from the majestic Ginkgo leaves in her garden to the traditional architecture of the mountain chalets. That vibrant nature-imbued vibe found itself sprinkled across cards, notebooks, sketchbooks, planners and graceful folding fans, all locally manufactured and flaunting the Common Modern name.

“Even as a small brand exhibiting for the very first time, there are real opportunities to succeed at Maison&Objet Paris.”

Isn’t launching a stationery brand in the digital age a slightly odd path to take? Quite the contrary! “It’s a very exciting moment for this market,” Evrard enthuses. “Design stationery is experiencing renewed popularity with consumers. Today, taking the time to write and send a card by hand is a deliberate and thoughtful act of care and attention, a personal gift to be treasured in a way that an email cannot deliver. This aligns with the positive cultural trend we are seeing in so many other industries - the ’Slow Movement’ phenomenon. Combine that with the shift to home offices and the growing need to nest, and I don’t see the stationery market slowing down any time soon.”  Over the past few years, she has seen a whole host of new creative brands burst onto the scene, such as France’s Papier Tigre, Italy’s Write Sketch &, Denmark’s Notem Studio or Belgium’s Studio Flash. They have all made a name for themselves in their own unique way, be that for their humour, artwork or simplicity. Common Modern has garnered a reputation for creating colourful and contrasting designs, imbued with elegant femininity.

January 2020 saw the tables being turned as Evrard found herself on the other side of the stand - her first at Maison&Objet Paris. Her mind was buzzing with questions. “Would we be able to stand out among so many known brands? Was our stand in a good position? I wasn't sure what to expect”, explains the young entrepreneur.  Within an hour of the doors opening on day one, a major retailer for the American market had already shown an interest in her work. Buyers for some of her favourite stores and museums soon followed suit, and her stand was even singled out as one of the most attractive on the trade fair’s Instagram page. Evrard also struck up friendships with her peers and the brands around her. “I need not have worried. We found that even as a small brand exhibiting for the very first time, there are real opportunities to succeed at Maison&Objet Paris.”

The recent pandemic has given Evrard time to hone her social media marketing strategy, and Common Modern was one of the brands to feature at Maison&Objet’s Digital Fair in September. “Although I missed having the opportunity to talk to real people in real time, we forged good contacts via the MOM (Maison&Objet and More) platform that should stand us in good stead for the coming weeks and months. I truly believe that going forward there is a place for lead generation opportunities of this kind at times when we cannot get together in person. But nothing can replace the atmosphere we experienced at Maison&Objet Paris in January. The two should exist in tandem.”