I love these tiny little sketchbook pages, made by Juan Casini, a graphic designer and illustrator based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
He describes these as “Drawings and compositions with recicled materials and letraset typefaces, made during trips and vacations.”
See more at Pocket Sketchbook. He’s also got some more great sketchbook art at Sauce Sketchbook, an example shown below:
Since today is the Martin Luther King holiday, it crossed my mind to wonder if I could find any photos of notebooks he used… and sure enough, I did! And it’s quite wonderful.
As described on the King Center’s website:
“Contained in this notebook is a draft of Dr. King’s statement to Judge James E. Webb following his arrest during the Rich’s Magnolia Tea Room Sit-In. There is also an outline of a letter to female students who were arrested during the sit-in. On other pages a child practices handwriting.”
See the original image and other documents in the digital archive of the King Center at Blue Spiral Notebook | The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change.
This week’s addict is another young one who is getting an early start on collecting. Esmé emailed me these photos of her collection and the commentary below.
“Attached are photos of my notebook collection. I’m 16, I’ve been writing a diary since I was 9 (although before that I dictated to my mum and she would write diary entries for me in a princess notebook, before I could write myself)- diaries 1-12 are in the loft now, but number 13 is currently in use and stays in my box of in-use notebooks (the green one- there are 8 books in there). On the shelf are filled notebooks and art journals of various sorts (ten of them) since the start of this year, and in the plastic drawer is my set of empty notebooks and sketchbooks waiting for me (6). I also have a few others somewhere in my room, but I have no idea where. Â I’ve only been collecting notebooks for a year or two, because until I was 14 I would tear out the useful pages of the notebooks I brought to school and throw away the rest (I’m horrified at myself now, but they were cheap notebooks that would have fallen apart anyway). I have different books for different things now, including the purple notebook with the cakes on it- that’s been with me since I was 9, and I use it for creative writing. It’s almost full, so I have a new one waiting for me. It’s falling apart, but I love it dearly!”
I wish I had filled my notebooks so diligently and creatively when I was a teenager. And you can see that she has really used that cupcake one pretty intensively! I’m sure Esmé will be building up an amazing collection of notebooks filled with some great writing over the next few decades! Thanks for sharing your addiction, Esmé!
A cool story from the Manchester Evening News:
Angela Prince, 74, found the dust-covered notebooks while clearing the attic of her aunt and uncle’s attic in Partington.
They appear to be written by children of the Hall family, who ran the medical herbalists Hall’s Hygiene in Salford until the 1970s.
Retired secretary Angela, who lives in Withington, stumbled across the diaries as she cleared out the house of her late relatives.
She has now turned sleuth to find how the diaries – which give an emotional insight into the privations of war – relate to her family. One entry on 20 June, 1940 reads: “First real raid alarm at 3.15 am. All awake in good time and downstairs. Day in bed, horrid and cold. â€
The writer also documents the progress of the war both in England and abroad, noting how many losses were suffered by the army on each side and following the situation in Africa.
On 7 November 1943, the entry reads: “Hitler’s speech in Munich. More boasting even though news at its worst – says nothing could beat them.â€
But they also give an insight into the lighter side of wartime life, detailing a visit to the cinema, where actors Shirley Temple and Nigel Bruce were the stars….
This story ran back in November 2013. I wonder if she found the owners! I love the diaries themselves– a “scribbling diary” in that format sounds like a great idea. I wish I could see the pages inside…Â It’s interesting that they were made by Boots, still an active drugstore chain in the UK today, with that same logo. I did a little googling and discovered that these were made for decades, and must have been the standard diary many people bought every year and used faithfully. Here’s a few photos from an eBay listing for a 1960s version:
Looks like more extensive “useful info” pages than most diaries… and I love the columns along the page edges so you can use it as a ledger to record spending too!
And lo and behold, they are still making a version of this, though it looks quite different and it sounds like they have introduced some innovations that people aren’t happy about: Boots Scribbling Diary 2014. Sounds like it’s time for them to make a nice nostalgic facsimile of the original for modern users– I bet it would sell like crazy!
Read more at Help grandmother from Withington in Manchester find the owner of Second World War diaries found in her attic – Manchester Evening News.
Beautiful hand-lettering in a Moleskine planner:
See more at CUSTOM-OTHER 2 — LetterCult — Designspiration.
This week’s addict contacted me by email to share this photo:
I love this collection– the almost architectural way they’re stacked and shelved, the consistency of notebook types and date/subject labeling. And many of them have a nice worn in look– not totally beat up, but that slightly dingy and soft look that comes from frequent use. And the sheer massiveness of the collection! I think I counted 136 notebooks! I’d love to know more about what’s inside…
I’m guessing most of these (aside from the composition books) are Moleskines, but some also look like they could be Markings, Piccadilly or softcover Miquelrius notebooks. There are some two-packs in the still-wrapped pile at top left that I think could be Clairefontaine, or perhaps Fabriano. It’s fun trying to detect the subtle differences in a collection like this! Thank you D Murphy for sharing your addiction!
I’ve admired Lapin’s notebook art for quite a while so I was happy to see he’s got a line of notebooks and planners with Miquelrius, including this one:
See more at Agenda PASSPORT 2CV MR ART BY LAPIN | , | Agendas, libretas, cuadernos, carpetas, mochilas, estuches, bolsas, libreta, cuaderno, material escolar, mochila | Miquelrius-PapelerÃa y complementos para profesionales y escolares.
From the mailbag:
From Martin & Jeanette: We are a husband and wife team from Kent, England and we hand craft and hand sew our own range of leather notebooks and sketchbooks.
Here’s a link to our Etsy site: http://www.etsy.com/shop/
Ashkan writes about his “series of notebooks and pocketbooks for musicians and guitarists in particular. It is a series called MUSIC PAPER. There are a number of designs with blank Chords, Staff, Tablature etc. A website tells a little more on the series: www.pelemeleworks.com.” You can buy them on Amazon: Music Paper notebooks
Paul, Rich, and Ebbe introduce the A:LOG notebook for architects. Fully funded on Kickstarter and available for pre-order now:
Fabio introduces TADA handcrafted letterpress notebooks:
And from Emily:
Here’s an exciting item to be my first review of 2014:
I’d heard about the Hobonichi Planner on a few other notebook sites, so I was very happy when their US marketing person contacted me to offer a sample for review. 2014 is the first year they’ve done an English-translated version of this planner, which has been popular in Japan for years. From their press release, here’s a bit of background:
In the West, Shigesato Itoi is best known as the writer behind EarthBound, a famous—and famously weird—videogame. In Japan, the copywriter is better known for his online magazine, Hobonichi, and a line of Hobonichi products as charming and unique as the game series itself. Amid each new collection of designer belly-warmers and +LOVE t-shirts and art books is their flagship product, a 400-page daily planner with quotes from Itoi’s long-running column (as well as Hobonichi’s most fascinating interviews) on each page, a precise, grid-based design, and carefully chosen materials.
During the year, the Hobonichi Planner is a repository for to-do lists, stray ideas, ticket stubs, and photos. But just as much work goes into making sure the planner outlasts its final page—the slogan, “Uncover Your Story,” is based on Shigesato Itoi’s hope that each planner will help tell you the story of your year well after you’ve lived it.
More than 10 editions later, each planner launch is an event in Japan, where Hobonichi Planner lovers line up outside stationary stores to buy the latest edition and browse the new designer covers. After a pilot launch in 2013, the 2014 planner is Hobonichi’s first worldwide release. It’s not just a productivity aid—it’s a companion.
First impressions: what an elegant package. It’s about 4 1/4 x 6″ (shown below next to a pocket Piccadilly notebook for comparison), with precise edges and tightly rounded corners. I’ve never seen such a small rounding diameter on a notebook corner before, and I really like it! The cover is a bit stiffer than that of a softcover Moleskine, and has the Japanese characters for techo and a nice little three-key logo. The spine says Hobo and the year.
Inside, you get grey endpapers, and then the beginning of the book lays out a year-to-a-page calendars for 2014 adn 2015, then a 2-months-per-page view, then a month-on-2-pages view for a handy look at the year ahead, plus a couple of months into 2015 for advance planning. Then you have the main section, with a day-per-page layout for the whole year. A “techo” is a Japanese planner that is meant to be used as a sort of combination diary/sketchbook/scrapbook, not just a calendar, so the page layout is not constrained with a strict schedule– you get a nice squared area, with the date and moon phase and holiday indicators at the top, a quote and small monthly calendar on the bottom, and a line at the left edge with a 12 in the middle, I guess in case you do want to divide the page into hours. The outer page edge has the months numbered almost like a thumb index to help you find your place faster. In the back, you get some free-form dot-grid pages, and helpful info such as the typical clothing size conversions, dialing codes and international holidays, plus the fun bonus of illustrated pages about Japanese Sake, sushi, and drinking tea around the world. At the very end, the last page gives you space to write your name and contact details.
I love the design and how much care has gone into it. All the little details make it special– I almost hesitate to describe them all here, because it was such a pleasure to discover them as I paged through the planner. The red ink used on Sundays was a particularly fun surprise. The quotes are from the Hobonichi online magazine, so many of them are from Japanese sources that most of us in the US won’t be familiar with. I was glad they weren’t from all the usual suspects on the usual topics– here, there are insights on design and style, and random funny stories. You can never be quite sure what will be next.
Writing in the techo is a rather luscious experience– the book opens nice and flat, and the paper is smooth and fine. My favorite fine point gel ink and fountain pens went on smoothly and flawlessly. But the downside of the fine paper is its thinness. Showthrough is more than average, and wetter pens can bleed through.
For some reason, I imagine the show-through bothering me less than in might in other notebooks– the whole concept of filling the pages with jottings and sketches and having the two sides blend into each other a bit is rather appealing. Check out the Hobonichi Love Tumblr site to see some of the ways people fill and decorate their planners, inside and out.
Speaking of outside decorations, that seems to be a major sideline for these planners. As is, it’s merely an insert for many users, and the online store offers a plethora of covers, which in many cases add the elastic closures, pockets and ribbon markers than the basic planner itself lacks. Numerous as their options were, I didn’t see any I liked better than this 3rd party offering (available here):
The price of the Hobonichi Planner is 2500 yen, which comes to just under $24.00 at current exchange rates. A Moleskine page-per-day diary is about $22.00, so when you consider the higher quality and fun features of the Hobonichi, I think it’s a great value. If there was any downside to this planner for me, it would be that it’s not my favorite dimensions– I love the 3.5 x 5.5″ size for my notebooks, so this is a bit larger than ideal, though I admit the extra page space is nice. But other than that, I really love this planner. Now I have to decide how to work it into my daily notebook routine, and fill it in a way that does it justice!
