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A Division of UnderConsideration

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2009
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2017

Mohawk selected 25 letterpress studios across the country to participate. Each designer/printer was allowed to choose a cover/text weight from the Mohawk Loop line and sent a carton of each stock. In return, the designer was asked to design and letterpress 50 notebooks that Mohawk will sell on the Felt & Wire website. All proceeds benefit the Design Ignites Change program. Presented here is one of the notebooks, by Missing Q Press.

My inspiration came from a really old french botanical journal that I bought this summer in a vintage shop. It was so simple, yet useful. And full of pencil drawings from the original user who had carried it around maybe using it as a fieldbook during their studies (perhaps?) It’s dated 1901 on the front and is all in french (including the hand written notes) so it has definitely had quite a journey. The “Thai Gold” color of the cover felt vintage and modern at the same time, plus I knew that I wanted to print using transparent white ink so I need a darker color. The process was new and exciting for me—I definitely plan to add some notebooks to my upcoming line of paper goods available this fall.

I had never bound anything before (other than saddle-stitch or sewn bindery on much smaller programs.) Since this notebook was rather thick, I chose to pad each notebook by hand and affix them to the back cover. The biggest challenge was that I wanted them to look professional and not “hang out” from the inside. Luckily, I have a 30” Challenge paper cutter so I was able to leave the covers and inserts oversized and then trim them (5 at a time) in the cutter for a perfect finish. I asked several bookbinding sources about gluing the book spine to the cover, but I chose to leave it unattached. This allows the notebook to be used all the way down to the last page without leaving an unattractive glue residue on the inner spine.

Lessons in binding and lessons in giving back, not a bad way to spend the week. And now that this journal, and many others are available at the Felt & Wire Shop, you can do your part by supporting the good cause and getting some sketching done at the same time.

Other Feedback Loop Notebook Projects:

“The Perfect Pour” Poster

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The Feedback Loop Notebook Project

Production Method

Design

Missing Q Press: Jason McDaniel

Printing

Missing Q Press