In the winter of 2014, we were invited to participate in a group exhibition titled Some Assembly Required—organized by the Vancouver Design Bureau and hosted at Walrus. Each participant was to present a project that could be purchased in parts and easily assembled.

In brainstorming the form of our submission, we felt it was important to create a product that reflected not only our design approach, but would also benefit the everyday needs at the studio. We moved forward with the concept for a B6 notebook—a tool that we used on a regular basis for meetings, ideation, and list-making.

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Colour inspiration from 2014 Winter Trip in Iceland

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Neenah ENVIRONMENT® Paper in 100C and 24W

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Three cover paper stock options:
Neenah ENVIRONMENT® Grocer Kraft 100C
Neenah ENVIRONMENT® Weathered 100C
Neenah ENVIRONMENT® Wrought Iron 100C

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Simple design with minimal design graphics.

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Signatures can easily be assembled or disassembled without any glue or adhesive.

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Signature opens flat making it easy and enjoyable to write, take notes or draw.

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Close up of how the signatures are assembled to the cover

Design
The challenge and true uniqueness for the project revolved around creating a bindery system for the book that was equally strong enough and easy to customize. We dived into substantial research and exploration for a possible method; yet this proved to be quite a difficult challenge for us. At the same time, we desired to find a method that still allowed the book to look well constructed and clear of any paper creep or alignment issues. Our final iteration consisted of a flat fabric elastic-band and indents on the top and bottom of the spine for both the signatures and the cover. This method allowed users to easily interchange old and new signatures.

Paper
The construction of the notebook also provided opportunities to assemble different paper types together. Working with Spicers paper, we were able to source a wide selection of cover and text weights of paper from Neenah’s environmental collection. While having just returned from a recent trip to Iceland, we chose the paper tones with Iceland’s landscape as our inspiration. The final notebooks provided a selection of three different cover choices and five text weights.

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Sector
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    • Location
    Vancouver, Canada

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