Stationery is defined as the products made of paper to be used
for personal and office supplies. Stationery is usually decorated
and/or personalized to enhance its look. It has been commonly
confused with another term ‘stationary’, which actually means
'standing at a place'.
Be it New Year, school time, Christmas vacation or business
trip, Stationery is the core of all these activities. It is used in
arts and crafts, calendars and diaries, letters and envelopes,
office supplies, and promotional products etc. For holidays,
special Stationery material like cards, envelopes and notepads are
commonly seen. Even non-paper products like pens, pencils, staples
and staplers, crayons, markers, adhesives, tapes, file holders,
math sets, craft and office scissors, chalks, bookmarks, stamps and
stamp pads, glue sticks, memos and paper clips, stencil sets and
calculators all fall under the umbrella of Stationery.
By and large, the main ingredient in Stationery is the paper. To
some extent, use of computers has reduced the consumption of paper
and Stationery. For making Stationery, a number of paper types are
available, like Bond, Text, Uncoated Book, Coated Book and Cover.
These distinctions are based on a grading system and weight of the
paper being utilized. Stationery made from recycled paper is also
in vogue and serves a valuable cause of protecting our environment
from depletion. Even handmade papers are used by some.
After selecting the paper, it is a good idea to decorate and
design the Stationery to increase its appeal and aesthetics. A
theme or a textured paper can be selected for the base paper, which
can later be decorated with borders or illustrations. Using your
photo or logo can give it a fancy look. Whatever the design you
finalize, it can be either hand painted for very small numbers or
it can be printed from the Stationery suppliers. The full color
printing is generally done using four ink colors, cyan, magenta,
yellow and black, with the help of litho printing techniques.
Stationery shops are very often located in the neighborhood and
one can find almost all types of Stationery there. But if you are
looking for customization or need something specific, you might
have to search on the Internet. The main points to be emphasized
while buying Stationery are the quality of paper, printing and
cost. If you are going for a bulk order, it is advisable to check
out references before placing your request.