Inside the notebook: Xesta

First things first. We will have a sneak peek into some of your most personal objects, we believe. How does that make you feel?

I have zero worries about that! Even though they are very personal objects, particularly in my case as they are my day-to-day notebooks for everything, from daily thoughts to type experiments. Sometimes I go through them in a more public context, such as Instagram lives and I don’t even remember things I’ve written, but that’s okay. I don’t have secrets.

Pens, inks, notebooks and everything stationery. We heard you are in a deep relationship with all of them. How do you think that grew into a full-fledged passion?

I believe it comes from a passion for drawing. I’ve always drawn things since I was little. For me being at the restaurant table inevitably meant drawing on the table paper. My father always did that, and perhaps I took some inspiration from it as well. Also, it helps that my parents looked at it with a very open mind, never telling me off for drawing on everything I could reach. When I joined college I also gained a certain cult for the sketchbook and it just started from there. I also love pens and writing materials. My type of work is great because it allows me to always be on the lookout for something different. From spray inks to different types of papers, I like to explore it all.

It’s pretty straightforward — you have a lettering crush. How does that show on your daily notebooks?

Always, at every moment. I used to say “calligraphy is beautiful handwriting” but beauty is very subjective. I consider all handwriting beautiful. If I’m not making lettering in my notebook, I am scribbling down some notes, making use of handwriting and therefore calligraphy. Considering this, you are always making use of calligraphy.