Spark & Riot’s Marek Partys on Talismans and Seeing Clearly

Marek Partys may have built a career creating bold, playful worlds for brands including IKEA, Telekom, Zalando and McDonald’s, but his workspace favourites are pleasingly low-key.

The Spark & Riot director’s chosen objects include a pencil holder that doesn’t hold pencils, a stress toy he has decided definitely works, and a cleaning cloth that has quietly become essential to his entire existence.

Here, he shares the small, strange and surprisingly useful things that help him shift perspective.

The Bitten Apple
This bitten apple is probably the most important object on my desk.
It’s supposed to be a pencil holder, although I don’t actually use any of the pencils or pens sticking out of it.
My daughter made it for me, so its practical purpose became irrelevant pretty much immediately.
I have three kids, but strangely, I don’t keep photographs of them around my workspace.
Instead, I have this slightly imperfect little apple.
Somehow it does the same job, maybe even better.
Whenever I look at it, there’s an immediate connection to home and to them, especially when I’m away working or completely absorbed in something.
Among all the objects on my desk, it’s probably the least useful and by far the most important.

The Stress-Relief Toy
This stress-relief toy is probably the simplest creative tool I own.
As soon as I start fiddling with it, it feels like my right hemisphere finally clocks in for work.
It feels as if my hands are keeping the rational side occupied while the more intuitive part is free to wander around and make connections.
I use it a lot when I’m writing or trying to solve something creatively, but it’s also become my trusty companion during calls.
If I really need to listen and concentrate, having something in my hands strangely helps me stay focused rather than distracting me.
I’m not sure there’s any science behind it, but at this point I’ve convinced myself it works, which is probably enough.

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