sketchbook redesign

Ok, so lets talk about sketchbooks. I'm a big believer in sketchbooks

and sketching as a general lifestyle. (Let me also say that these

posts by Mark Kennedy pretty much reflect my thoughts on the vital

practice of sketchbook use far more eloquently than I ever could. The

guy's amazing.) Anyway, I'm pretty particular about my sketchbook, as

a person should be. I like cheap paper, so I don't feel bad using a

lot of pages, and I like a convenient and rugged shape, because I

carry and use the thing everywhere. Flexibility is also important to

me. It's tough to find something to fit these requirements.

 

Spiral bound books are out of the question, they get caught on

everything, get bent up, and the pages look ugly if you take them out.

Adding pages is a real issue. They have books with the little

perforations, but they always seem to rip out too easy. I don't like

properly bound books either, they don't lay flat and are hard to draw

in and scan.

 

I am a huge fan of simple glue bound blocks of paper, like Canson's

"Biggie"9x12. People often overlook these, and that makes good sense,

because the spine is fragile, and the pages quickly fall out. They are

at first glance the last choice in quality or design. That is, unless

you add one simple thing to the equation: Binder clips. With the

addition of a binder clip this sorry block of pulp becomes a thing of

beauty. The clip stays on the spine and gives steel support, but it

can also go on the opposite side to secure the book for rugged travel.

It facilitates as well the effortless addition and removal of pages

with out compromising the structure. It's perfectly flat closed,

unlike a spiral, and can lay perfectly flat for scanning, unlike a

bound book. Neither can close for security as this can. It's really a

wonderful combination.

 

The clipped biggies greatest flaw is it's ugliness. Canson has some

nice white minimalist stuff going on at the bottom, but then they go

and write "Biggie" right across the front in faux sharpie. Nice. So

with my new one I did a cover redesign. It's simple and eye catching,

good to remind me to draw. I put a little creative directive for

myself in the guise of a warning, and added my contact info and

instructions in the case of misplacement. I also made a big place for

start and finish dates; I go through these things pretty fast and I'll

like to reference and organize them that way. In the end it's more

personal, more horizontal, more fun, and more yellow. It also took all

day, so I'm posting it here to make myself feel better about putting

so much time into it. If you view large size, you cane even read my idiosyncratic notes.

Done