According to a recent Deloitte study, our dependence on digital tools for accessing information, entertainment, and communication is causing something called digital fatigue. Many businesses have resorted to remote work, giving employees the ability to stay home but still forcing them to stay in front of a screen for hours at a time. One might argue that it was no different in office environments, but remember that gatherings, an important part of company culture, usually happened away from cubicles and electronic equipment.
One other aspect of our lives that got caught in the technology black hole was human contact. Most of us now rely on electronic channels to share ideas, events, and emotions with our loved ones. Christmas and Thanksgiving meetings through Zoom are now extremely common, and birthday messages are limited to long Facebook threads.
Unsurprisingly, a third of US consumers report they feel overwhelmed by the number of devices they need to manage every day to stay in touch with coworkers, family members, or the outside world in general. Additionally, there is generalized anxiety related to the fact that most of the things we receive or experience are not tangible. Our electronic communications, books, and recorded experiences all live now in the cloud. This magnifies a feeling of disconnection with the real world as we tend to value tangible things we can sense and access anytime we want.
This has led to an incredible increase in demand for stationery. The reason appears to be a renewed preference for tangible tools of communication that can leave lasting impressions that can be treasured outside the impersonal digital world.
As to the use people are giving to their stationery, be it regular greeting cards or delicately crafted museum stationery, it seems people are turning to more traditional channels to express personal feelings such as gratitude and appreciation. According to Google Trends, there has been a 180% increase in search terms related to “thinking of you cards” and “thank you” letters.
This means people again feel the need to sharpen their handwriting skills and establish more direct connections with their loved ones outside the meta-universe that’s being built around us.
Additionally, journaling has also become a major pastime over the last year, which means that notebooks and pens are now considered essential for many of us. This has boosted sales of general-use stationery to help keep things organized at home and the office, but also of beautifully designed and unique items such as paper calendars, bookmarkers, notepads, and much more.
Of course, quality and design matter a lot. People want to feel they are writing on quality paper and their ideas are being recorded in beautifully crafted repositories for their memories. And there is no better way to achieve this than to purchase museum stationery that makes your writing feel like part of our rich artistic heritage. Visit the Museum of Fine Arts Boston Shop, and browse through their incredible collection of museum stationery for all walks of life.
