Black Ink

The flagship location of this local design lab may have more quirk per square foot than anywhere else in the city. Its success prompted the opening of the Harvard Square offshoot, which is also flourishing. Their tagline ("unexplained necessities") may offer cold comfort as you stagger home laden with art papers, hilarious hipster stationery, a Beehouse teapot, seven reusable bags, a log-shaped book on contemporary Japanese forest culture and a vegetable peeler in the shape of the Kraken.