You might have noticed a recent influx of cute new Korean stationery items at Nikki’s Supply Store, so I thought it was about time I shared a round of up of some of my favourites! While Japan is perhaps better known for stationery (I mean, hello, they invented washi tape), Korean stationery is definitely having a moment and we’re thrilled to stock so many gorgeous supplies in our UK stationery store!

If you’ve read my other blog posts, you’ll know I love a bit of trivia so of COURSE I had to kick things off with a Korean stationery fun fact: Did you know…in South Korea, writing a living person’s name in red ink is considered unlucky and implies that you wish them dead? Traditionally, names of the deceased were recorded in red in the family register or on funeral banners as it was believed to ward off evil spirits.

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Ok, grab a cup of nokcha or pu’er, and let’s dive into my favourite Korean stationery brands…

Paperian Stationery

Paperian was founded in 2007 in South Korea and designs minimal stationery with a retro aesthetic and muted colour palettes.

These adorable pastel Make-a-Memo Memopads from Paperian have been a big hit already this year! There’s six fun designs to choose from including Savings Plan, Drawing a Day, Review, Travel Note, Recipe and Gratitude. They’re a great way to dip your toe into adding mindful journaling into your planning practice without setting up spreads by hand.

I also love the idea of using the Review pad to add review bookmarks to books when you donate them or leave them as a Book Fairy gift! Or why not use the Travel Note Memopad to keep notes while you’re galivanting, ready to compile them into a more comprehensive travel journal on your return?

Paperian also make a range of colourful sticky notes in a selection of unusual shapes and colours. These Round Mini Sticky Notes come in a choice of coral, turquoise and lavender and are great for adding a pop of colour to your journal.

The Notelet Mini Sticky Notes by Paperian are available in salmon or cocoa grid and blush dot grid and are perfect for creating a more muted or cottagecore vibe in your planner.

Why not create a tessellating grid of reminders or affirmations above your desk with these Hexagon Mini Sticky Notes, which come in olive, violet and mint?

Finally, these fun Colour Palette Stickers feature individual letter and number stickers in green, pink, purple and yellow and are ideal for adding a splash of pastel to your bullet journal, phone case or greetings cards.

Iconic Stationery

Iconic is a South Korean brand and was founded in 2004 by three college friends. They’re known for mixing aesthetics with functionality to create beautiful everyday stationery.

Iconic are best known for their Undated Weekly Archive Planner. I just adore the retro vibes and muted cover shades, and used this as my primary planner for the second half of 2023. You can read a more thorough review of my experience with the Weekly Archive Planner in this blog post, which also details my favourite supplies to use alongside it, such as these Dated Planner Stickers.

Each pack contains three sheets of stickers including several versions of each month of the year, the days of the week, numbers for each day of the month and a selection of symbols.

Double-ended markers are one of my favourites for journaling on the go as you get twice as much bang for your buck! These Iconic Retro Dual-Tipped Markers feature a wide chisel-tip for highlighting and a fine liner tip for notetaking. Perfect for annotating and in a gorgeous vintage palette to boot.

New in for 2024 are these fun Pocket Notebooks available in a choice of plain, lined or gridded pages with four cute cover designs. These are great for doodling or note-taking on the go, as they can be easily slipped into a pocket or bag.

Paperways Stationery

Paperways is a South Korean brand, founded in 2008 that focuses on pattern and colour to make aesthetically appealing and practical stationery.

If pocket notebooks are your jam, you’ll also love these Korean Mini Notebooks from Paperways which are made with 25% post-consumer recycled paper. They feature a variety of unusal rulings (hihi honeycomb and the biggest choice of grids I’ve ever seen!) and a choice of pastel or muted covers. I use a Seagreen Grid Ruling for my trackers and freelance timesheets alongside my dated planner.

Livework Stationery

Livework was founded in South Korea in the spring of 2002. Their colourful stationery combines functionality with brilliant and timeless design.

The iconic Livework V2.0 Point Pen features a super fine 0.5mm nib, perfect for keeping your writing small enough for an Undated Weekly Archive Planner. It’s available in a range of bold barrel colours including turquoise blue, saffron pink and vermillion, all with a contrast clicky top.

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Our Kitty Cat Fine Tip Gel Pen is another one that’s great for using in your Undated Weekly Archive Planner as the line width is a teeny 0.38mm! Choose from a tuxedo, ginger tabby or Russian blue kitty design on the barrel and lid. Their little cheeky faces never fail to make me smile!

…and finally, sheets of deco stickers are huge in Korea and compact size is perfect for decorating your bullet journal weekly spreads. I love these Wonderful Weather Holographic Stickers which feature colourful moons, clouds, stars, raindrops and lighting bolts.

I’ll leave you with another fun fact: Did you know…South Korea’s writing system, Hangul, is based on the shape your lips make when pronouncing letters?

I hope you’ve enjoyed coming on this Korean stationery adventure with me! If you’ve been inspired to buy or use any of the supplies in this post, I’d love to see! You can tag @nikkissupplystore and #NikkisSupplyStore on Instagram, where you can find heaps more journaling and stationery inspiration. You can also follow me, @joy.margot for more craft content, monthly reading round-ups and photos of my cat, Juniper.