Kung Hei fat Choi! Happy Chinese New Year for Sunday. Year of the Rabbit T Shirts (or for that matter, merchandise celebrating all 12 years of the Chinese zodiac) HERE.
Welcome also to a next-generation chapter for our 35-year-old adventure that will position REMO as being as much about stories and ideas as it will be about designs, things and gifts. The world is an interesting place, and we hope to inspire you with a regular dose of that interestingness on Thursday mornings at 10:00am Sydney time via this newly designed and newsy newsletter.
The hope is that there will be between 1 and 3 new REMO stories to feature, along with some fresh designs to highlight each week. To that end, Melanie and I spent the Christmas / New Year period in and around The Netherlands, spending time with our daughter Lola, who lives and works there as an engineer and jeweller. So, you will detect some European influence this week.
One of our stories is about the traditional Dutch New Year's Dive and how it has more recently made its way to Bondi Beach; and the other stories this week look at the origin of QR Codes and the functional beauty of the official Swiss Railway Clock.
Three of our new designs for this week were inspired by the City of Amsterdam: vertical XXX (the symbol of that city), Bike Icon (more bikes than there are people over there) and Sunlight Zeep (just a beautiful box of soap). Anchor, my favourite new design, celebrates some tiled graffiti found on the streets of Marseille. It's pretty.
Also this week we'd like to introduce you to a new designer collection, this one from recent National Art School graduate Ella Burke. Melanie spotted Ella's work at the grad show last November, and we collaborated with her on an initial selection.
On the merch front we have decided to celebrate the start of the 2023 work year with a permanent 25% reduction on the price for our iconic A1 wallplanner HERE.
But by far the most important "thing" that we're working on is the first in our series of printed REMORANDOM books. You'll be hearing more about that soon!
Once again, happy new year and welcome back to work; or good luck to you if you are still enjoying your break. Leaving you today with a favourite motto (naturally also a thoughtfully merchandised REMO design): Do Good Work. Have Some Fun.
Cheers,
PS: Please post any comments HERE or send private notes via email HERE.
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NEW & FEATURED DESIGNS
Marseille Anchor
NEW |
XXX
NEW |
Bike Icon
NEW |
Sunlight Zeep
NEW |
Einstein's Theory of Relatives
2022 |
Dagen H
2022 |
Cranium Universe
2022 |
Amanita Muscarina
2022 |
Blue (Now with True)
NEW |
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INTRODUCING
Ella Burke at REMO
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Sydney based artist Ella Burke was born and raised in Forbes NSW. She moved to Sydney to study a Bachelor of Fine Arts at The National Art School and graduated in 2022. Ella's practice investigates misremembered details of childhood and how the past affects our present. She explores her personal experience as well as popular media made for children in the early 2000's including books, shows or iconic characters such as Miffy. She is inspired by everyday things like dogs on the street. She tells us that her purpose in life is to "have fun", and this comes through in her characters. We hope that you enjoy Ella's initial contributions to our design portfolio, each one guaranteed to deliver its own little dose of dopamine. Ella's website HERE.
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Ella Burke Designs
Pink Dog
NEW |
Yellow Bear
NEW |
White Dog
NEW |
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FEATURED THINGS
Classic Stripey Things
$120 |
Mosquito Coil Holder
$9 |
Canvas Sun Hat
$75 |
Australian Jesus Enamel Mug
$33 |
Kangaroo Too Swimming Cap
$22 |
Eternity T Shirt for Women
$40 |
Mosquito Coil T Shirt for Men
$40 |
Perkins Paste Sticky Note Pad
$5 |
REMO 2023 Wallplanner
$30 Reduced From $40 |
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FEATURED STORY
Nieuwjaarsduik
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New Year's Dive for Netherlanders
Nieuwjaarsduik (pronounced nyu-yars-dowk) literally translates to "New Year’s Dive". It is the annual Dutch tradition (since 1965) of running into the freezing winter waters of the North Sea to celebrate the beginning of a new year. In more recent years the Nieuwjaarsduik has done some travelling. The most famous dive outside of The Netherlands happens at Bondi Beach. But, what's with the orange beanies?
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What do they remind you of?
There’s a reason why QR codes might remind you of this Go board.
"I used to play Go [the Japanese game involving black and white stones played on a 19x19 grid] on my lunch break. One day, while arranging the black and white pieces on the grid, it hit me that it represented a straightforward way of conveying information. It was a eureka moment."
~ Masahiro Hara on Nippon.com, 10 February 2020
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FEATURED STORY
Swiss Railway Clock
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Design Classic with Unique Movement
The official Swiss railway clock, also known as the "SBB clock," is a clock design that was created for use in railway stations in Switzerland by the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) in 1944. The clock has become a cultural icon in Switzerland and is considered a global design classic. The unique movement of its hands is even more interesting.
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MORE REMO STORIES
The Adirondack Chair
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Mobius Strip
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The Meaning of XXX |
Good Morning Towels
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Cornicello
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Esperanto
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The Dutch are known to be direct. In this 2 minute video Utrecht-based Michiel explains to Remo why he enjoys receiving notifications about new REMO Stories; referring to them, somewhat simplistically (and much to Remo's initial horror), as "fun facts". Whatever it takes to deliver the message ... right? The Dagen H story that he refers to can be found in the Stories section of our website HERE, and the T Shirt that he received as his reward for contributing the idea is shown modelled at right.
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PRINTED STORY BOOKS COMING IN 2023
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Everything Interesting
Later this year we will be editing and publishing the first of what will be an ongoing series of books. REMORANDOM will be a printed curation of REMO Stories: Everything Interesting; a selection of snack-sized ideas, stories and observations designed to inform and entertain a global audience of curious readers. Collectible.
REMORANDOM subscribers will receive advance copies of the biannual publications, and will also enjoy other subscriber-only benefits including: a welcome gift pack and a 10% storewide REMO discount that starts from the time of subscription.
Founding subscribers will be listed in REMORANDOM #1. Forever commemorated!
REMORANDOM #1 will be mailed to subscribers during the second half of 2023.
In a few weeks we will be announcing more details about this new idea. Stay tuned!
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CustOMERs who share images that we use in our gallery enjoy 20% off their next order! Share and tag your images #remosince1988 and let us know via email HERE.
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Your Interesting Brand Story at REMO
REMORANDOM will be a unique and enduring celebration of interestingness, in pursuit of the REMO mission to entertain, inspire and connect a curious community.
We are keen to partner with organisations and brands with whom we feel an alignment of values, and whose brand stories we think are interesting. To that end, we have come up what we reckon is a very cool way to integrate a partner’s message across our channels. Interested in knowing more? Let us know HERE.
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Our Story
REMO is a curator of designs and stories with a rich history and reputation. Launched as a General Store in Sydney in 1988, REMO has long been a trusted source of unique ideas and thoughtful gifts. The REMO mission is to entertain, inspire and connect a global community of engaged CustOMERs. More of Our Story HERE.
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PS: Sometimes clarlty comes from outside. Nancy Friedman, a long time SF-based CustOMER, wrote about her long-running REMO experience in a blog post entitled: "How REMO Remade Itself ... Again". Read her delightful synopsis HERE.
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Did Someone Forward This Email to You?
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