I firmly believe in the power of one's "design environment"--not your desk, your life. The places you eat and shop, the clothes you wear, what's on your walls... and what's in your cupboards. I advocate great knives, fine stationary and rich handsoap for their effect on my work as much as my cooking or correspondance, and place the blame for my decidedly expensive taste squarely on my aesthetic training.
Hence, the purchase of this exorbinant morning infusion:
Yes, I paid $1.08 for a tea bag. Why? Because it's what I want my work to be. It's striking, yet the colors are understated. The type is meticulous and well-chosen, the materials are fine and pleasing, the concept is unexpected, yet the overall effect is familiar and comforting. The design simply works.
Yes, I paid $1.08 for a tea bag I will likely never use. It sits on a shelf by my desk, an icon in a growing collection of great design that with time, exploration, and [sadly] money, I will continue to enrich my environment, and my work, for years to come.
I regularly notice things like this that I consider to be well-designed. Unfortunately I am very anti-pack rat, so I can't bring myself to collect things like this. I'm sure your collection deserves much admiration and will end up in the Smithsonian some day. :)
Is that a real sprout coming out the top?
Now wouldn't that be something!? No, it's paper with a wired bit of yarn...but evocative enough to make you wonder and orders of magnitude cheaper :)
Sure is quiet around here... :)