Milligram
Milligram
A premium stationery lover’s dream.
TURN SOUND off
TURN SOUND off
If you know your Moleskine from your Rollbahn, or your LAMY from your Kaweco, you'll know that Milligram is Australia's ultimate destination for the stationery-obsessed. For their Melbourne Central flagship, we were tasked with designing a retail interior that could hold its own against some of the world’s most considered product design.
Let the merchandise lead
Milligram's customers arrive with intention. They come to touch, compare and discover; to spend twenty minutes debating the merits of two fountain pen nibs.
Our retail interior design has created the conditions for that kind of absorption – an experiential retail environment that encourages dwell time, rewards curiosity and is, truthfully, designed to play second fiddle to the objects on its shelves. Colour comes almost entirely from the merchandise, and every display surface is purpose-built for exploration.
Signatures made spatial
The oversized ruler on the store’s facade (now a feature across all Milligram stores) playfully nods to what’s contained inside. First impressions are everything in retail interior design and this spatial signature tells you, in a single glance, that the Milligram brand experience is one of wit and precision.
Inside, fluted polycarbonate panels catch the light at different angles throughout the day, giving the space a dynamism that shifts from morning to close. The material is unexpected in a retail context, which is why we chose it: this is a brand unafraid of flouting convention.
Texture at every scale
Great brand experience interior design lives in the details that customers notice without knowing why. Here, it's the warmth of the timber shelving against the cool of the concrete; the satisfying weight of the brass fittings; the way the porcelain accents punctuate the palette.
We worked with builder MIC Projects and lighting specialists Ambience to ensure that every fitting, fixture and finish landed as intended under retail lighting conditions – a step that separates a considered fitout from a merely beautiful one.
Paging Doctor Milligram
There's two activations that make our Milligram stores memorable (and, we reckon, genuinely irreplicable online): the Pen Hospital, which invites shoppers to bring in their well-worn writing instruments for repair and restoration; and the Customisation Counter, where notebooks and pens are engraved on the spot.
These services aren’t just add-ons; they’re the spatial expression of Milligram’s brand DNA and opportunities to earn repeat visits and genuine customer loyalty. Both stem from the same insight: customers who shop here don’t just buy stationery, they form relationships with it.
Project Info
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Milligram
Melbourne VIC
220sqm
Under $1M
Spring 2017
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Awards
WINNER: Melbourne Design Awards (2018)
SHORTLISTED: IDEA Awards (2018)
publications
Just like a well-loved leather journal, our Milligram stores are designed to get better with time. A low-key, neutral material palette forms the backbone of the store: rendered concrete, warm timber, porcelain and brass fittings that recede gracefully behind Milligram's vibrant product range.
Just like a well-loved leather journal, our Milligram stores are designed to get better with time. A low-key, neutral material palette forms the backbone of the store: rendered concrete, warm timber, porcelain and brass fittings that recede gracefully behind Milligram's vibrant product range.
Partner with us
collab@studioy.com.au
