“We’re here to reverse the trip” I NT ER V I EW | Olof Hansson, founder of Whitelines
THE CONCEPT IS SIMPLE
READING COMFORT AND READING SPEED IS HIGHER ON WHITELINES PAPER.
A study, performed by two optician students at University of Karolinska Institutet, confirmed what we had heard from people around us for years – dark lines distract. whitelines don’t®. A number of people read texts on paper with white lines and on paper with dark lines. They wore high-tech helmets that registered how the eyes moved, they were timed as they turned pages. Afterwords they were interviewed. It showed that Whitelines® gives a better reading experience. You can read the full story (scientific paper) on Whitelines.se
WORLD WIDE SPREAD
“Some people actually get upset by that fact� What is Whitelines? – Whitelines is a lot! A life investment, a set of values, a company and of course our products. What is your background? Are you an art director? Or industrial designer? – No, I used to work as a musician and had idea generation as a hobby. I have always been fascinated by ideas. One day I took the lifeturning decision to change that relation, and since that point, ideas have been my focus area. And what exactly was the origin of Whitelines paper? – I was doing sketches and made photocopies of Sinko*
when I got annoyed by the dark lines disturbing my sketch. I realised that this was a familiar but annoying insight. When we then started our product development work we also found that white lines on slightly coloured paper gave a really nice reading and writing experience. Both for the eye and the brain. I was struck by the mission to make white lines available to everyone in the world. And this idea didn’t occur somewhere else? – No, not to our knowledge. But, the idea is so simple? – Yes, some people actually get upset by that fact‌ A few years ago, everyone was talking about a paperless society, but as we all know it is not (yet) here. Why are people still using paper? – I think the main reason is that people like the tactile connection you have to the media. The fingers want to interact with the pen and the paper. The graphical elements and the fonts you have access to via the computer is not very nuanced. Your creativity is limited to the copy. If you use your own handwriting you have so many more options to express yourself. To believe that paper should go out of fashion is like believing that we all should go to
s? W W
virtual reality vacations in the future. – I believe we always will want to experience the scents, the tastes, the feeling of the pen towards the paper. You claim that Whitelines can support your creativity and yet it is just a paper? How? – The most creative idea generation processes are structured and rather templated. Structure gives your brain the right support for free thinking. In the same way we claim that Whitelines paper gives your brain and your ideas support without inhibiting your creativity. In your vision you say that you want everyone to free 1% more creativity in order to create a better world. What do you, yourself do, to live up to that? – There is one thing that I carry out and I think we all should do. That is, to be kind to each other. The biggest threats to creativity are fear and old habits. Those in combination lead to potentially wasted creativity. So I want everyone to be kind to each other, listen and not be too quick to draw conclusions in line with your previous experiences. They might be wrong you know...
Interview by Michaela Wickman
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WhitelinesÂŽ Black Ocean Isometric/Lined
* a drain plug in stainless steel that work for all kinds of sinks.
SUPPORTING YOUR IDEAS
all people have ideas but sometimes they don´t come across when we need them. Here is a basic process to create ideas on demand.
1 FIND THE REAL PROBLEM. IMPORTANT!
2 CREATE SOLUTIONS TOTALLY FOCUSED ON
DON´T CHEAT, WHERE IS THE TRUE PAIN?
THE PROBLEM. NO MATTER WHAT. DON´T WORRY ABOUT BEING REALISTIC. GO BANANAS!
3 GET BACK TO THE REAL WORLD. USE THE, SOMETIMES VERY STRANGE, IDEA OR THOUGHT AND TRY TO IMPLEMENT THEM OR THEIR BENEFITS TO THE REAL WORLD.
WITH WHITELINES AS AN EXAMPLE: 1
I want the supporting lines when I write or draw to make nice notes. But, they also distract me when I read and makes my notes look messy.
2
Separate them in perception! What if we could have the lines using a totally different graphic look than the pen marks so we don´t need to separate them in the head when we read? Let the lines and the pen marks be each other oppositions!
3
Fairly toned writing paper with white supporting lines that make the pen marks clearly visible for a reader, both for humans and machines.
DARK LINES DISTRACT...
WHITELINES MANIFESTO You entered this world as a creative genius. Curious. Playful. Somewhat obstinate. But over the years society shaped you into an obedient, well-mannered citizen. Your questions became nicer, the decisions safer and the answers more certain. We’re here to reverse the trip. We want to uncage your imagination. And dare we say, make every single person on this planet one percent more creative. Does this sound a bit naive? If not a little overambitious? We agree. Our vision is easy to criticise, ridicule and whisk off. But we feel it’s a small price to pay in order to encourage your independency and nurture your brainchildren. It’s not an easy task. It’s a never-ending battle. Because the world is full to the brim of faceless bureaucrats and greedy bullyboys, waiting to kill your ideas with just a flick of the wrist. So whatever you do, don’t just do it. Put your heart and soul into it. Love it. Hate it. Turn it up-side-down.Turn it inside-out. Bend it. Brake it.Shake it.Torture it. Blow it up. Whatever you do, don’t just do it. PUSH IT FORWARD.
Whitelines® Isometric graph paper
...WHITE LINES DON’T.
Illustration made by Anton Grandert
TEST AREA Try and feel the differece.
Conventional paper
Whitelines®
Whitelines, jus a really nice notepad for sketches! :-) Tweet by Jrulanddesign
Love, love love it! Facebook post by Karin V
I bought a Whitelines notebook, how could I not? Tweey by Del Boy
Paper that is beautiful to use. Tweet by Marc Pollington
20 x 20 pt
You will never go back. Ever.
So in love with @WhitelinesPaper notebooks. #stationary Need to move to Scandinavia for all this cool stuff!
Tweet by コレカモさん
Tweet by Benny Robinson
Just channeled Kubrick and ordered entirely too many Whitelines notebooks.
Whitelines® Tablet App grid paper
Tweet by Ken Banumann
Twitter twitter.com/WhitelinesPaper Facebook facebook.com/WhitelinesPaper Pinterest pinterest.com/whitelines
the word of whitelines® has spread all around the world. We have friends selling our products in almost every continent. If you want to know where to find us, send us a mail or visit whitelines.se
Johanna Ragnarz CEO
Robert Larsson Director of Sales
Lise-Lott Cassmer Controller
Olof Hansson Brand and Founder
Dave Lilja Account Manager
Some of our friends who decided to enhance their brand identity with Whitelines® are seb, whitney museum, yale university, stockholm university, sigtuna meetings, fast company among others.
Maria Fonsati Account Manager
Ulf Bjelke Logistics
Anna Scherp Art Director
Mail to name.surname@whitelines.se
Nybrogatan 39 114 39 Stockholm, Sweden Telephone: +46 8 612 53 00
The concept!
ART NO: D127 PRINTED IN SWEDEN
whitelines.se