S T Y L E D E C O R U M: Death By Chocolate

Thursday, 1 November 2012

Death By Chocolate

For the past couple of weeks, I have been super busy with assignments and would it not have been for this awesome Calendar book courtesy of Death By Chocolate, I would be a disorganised mess especially with all the changes on deadlines and last minute meetings. Before this, I found diaries a bit of a hassle has they have too many pages or they're too small, but as these calendar diaries come in A4 size and each month comes on a double page spread with a good few pages at the back for notes so there is no need to "micro pen" in your errands/events. What's more is if you carry a ring binder daily, then you could easily hole punch the calendar book and slot it into your ring binder, that way you won't have another reason to be late!

Intrigued by the deisgn and concept, I asked Loannie Dao, one of the creators of Death By Chocolate, the to find out more!

What sparked the idea for you to create Death By Chocolate and the signature calendar books?

I am an architecture graduate from California and my sister and I have always loved stationary (journals, diaries, planners, post-its—you get the idea). Unfortunately, I am never able to find one that matches my style so I opted out for my own design.

Usually diaries are made of a shade of white paper, why have you also chosen a brown rustic shade as an option?

In addition to being biodegradable and environmentally friendly, I love the feel and look of unbleached kraft paper; especially when paired with the classic black. My original design was the kraft paper planner but I also wanted to give people options as to what they liked to write on. For this reason, I decided to go with two types of paper.

What made you decide to go with the calendar books as your debut product? What exciting new things can we expect in the future from Death By Chocolate?

I have started with a calendar book but am in the process of designing a full-on lifestyle line. I love to travel and feel it is important to record your life experiences; doing it stylishly is just an added benefit. The new line will include items which cater to the heart of a traveler and this has become the main focus of death by chocolate. This brings me to the name – “Death by Chocolate” sums up the hope I have in reminding girls to indulge in life. .