things that I bought that I love, part 3

So, I’ve had this fascination with Pantone ever since I saw my first swatch book.

I was completely blown away by this very concise set of colors that could universally be identically reproduced by any printer, anywhere in the world, and how infinite the selection felt. This was during my first job out of college, and oh! I wanted to take the samples with me when I left! Then I found out that Pantone commissions or licenses companies to make messenger bags, mugs, and notebooks branded with specific color codes, and I kind of wanted those too.

This is preface to the fact that I needed a USB thumbdrive/memory stick. My class last semester required a massive-gig firewire drive, and I did at one point have this very ugly dun-colored thumbdrive, but it’s definitely vanished. probably in large part because it was this purely utilitarian thing that I never really loved. Anyway, I need a new one for my class this semester, and I wanted to play by the rules I set for myself as part of my new year’s resolution: to not own anything that I do not know is beautiful.

My first stop was the british girl gadget guide, shinyshiny.tv, and I dug through their posts tagged thumbdrive. The first to pique my interest was called “four eyes“; awkwardly sized, but totally geektastic, and likely hard to lose.

Adorable, right? But unfortunately, not available for purchase. And I looked around.

Then, I learned from shinyshiny that Pantone makes branded thumbdrives. Research told me the price was good (I grabbed the 4G). AND—here’s the kicker—they’ll engrave it with two lines for free! I like that upping of the odds that if it were misplaced, it would have a good chance of returning to me. I had my name and website inscribed on it; I’m not hard to get in touch with via this site. It just arrived today. Wanna see?

Look! It comes in an adorable silver case!!

And hello Helvetica!!

Of course I got it in 716C—one of my signature colors. I’m a super-happy girl tonight.