BOOKBINDERS DESIGN
by Fernanda I. Silva @soyferitzel
Looking for high quality, notebooks, pens, diaries and albums to help capture those unforgettable moments? Bookbinders Design at the entrance of Geneva’s Old Town at rue de la Fontaine 15, is a wonderful source of high quality and design stationery – making us pine for the forgotten art of handwritten, personal communication before the days of Facebook and Instagram.
The store sells items with a timeless design – such as notebooks, albums, diaries, gift cards, pens and colouring pencils. Although it offers a wide range of brands, the in-house branded products stand out as they are made using an environmentally friendly process and are available in several different materials, finishes, shapes and colours.
The European-made designs are produced in small units and are all finished by hand. Also, thanks to engraving machines in all Bookbinders Design stores, the products can be personalised on site. By adding a tag line or logo, each product becomes unique and very personal – ideal for an original gift or a business item.
EVERY JOURNEY BEGINS WITH A FIRST STEP
Isabelle de Saint Rémy is the Store Manager and is a hard-working, creative French woman who has always held fond memories of this city, as she had lived here previously. She decided to move back to Geneva 5 years ago. Saint Rémy began her new journey in Geneva following her marriage to someone who also loved Geneva, along with an entrepreneurial call from Bookbinders Design.
Isabelle spends half of her time at work practising her English, she says, seeing as they have a lot of English-speaking customers. During the holidays their clientele is mostly tourists from all over the world. She describes their regular customers as “People who enjoy aesthetic products, peculiar things and artisanal made items.” Their range of products is perfect for those who appreciate uniqueness and don’t want to gift something mainstream.
Their most popular product is a colouring pencil 
set that is adaptable for 2 to 80 year old-artists: Simply dip the tip of your pencil in water and use them to colour directly onto your skin or on paper to shape the colours into a watercolour effect.
Their second bestseller is an album that can be used for photos, recipes, drawings, as a guest book for weddings or whatever your creative soul dictates. It comes in different sizes and colours, but as a price guide, the medium size album is 44 CHF. Each album has 40 paper sheets, but more can be added if needed.
“Keeping track of what happens in your daily life might seem old fashioned but is definitely something that you will appreciate 10 years from now.”
SWEDISH DESIGN
Bookbinders Design is a Swedish company that was introduced to the Swiss market almost 20 years ago. Nowadays it’s present in all the main cities of Switzerland such as Berne, Basel, Zurich, Lucerne as well as Geneva. The one in Geneva is the only store in the French speaking part of the country. Altogether, its Swiss boutiques make up the most important market of the company and they are looking to grow their franchise further in Switzerland by expanding the business into department stores.
Their range of products are changed twice yearly, in January and July. Subscribe to their newsletter to be informed of new arrivals or discounts on offer
Click here for their website. Click here for their Facebook page.
The shop opens from 10am-7pm Monday-Friday and from 10am-6pm on Saturdays.
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