*ART* Our first notebooks of 2023 + Behind the scenes of producing our notebooks
Our goal is to bring out two new notebooks every two months, from February to October. So around ten a year. Sometimes it just seems to work out nicely to do more, but ten is a minimum. Two every two months might seem a little odd, but there is a logic to it …
Here’s a little behind-the-scenes info about our process of design and publication.
Every notebook goes through a two-month cycle. We work on a particular pattern that the first month is the design stage and the second is the publishing, copywriting and uploading stage.
It all begins with choosing a piece of art. I have a stash of art, scanned and adjusted, cropped etc, and sitting in a file that we both access. I work on it as I have time and we use that collection for cards, notebooks, prints, and products. When it comes to notebooks, Naomi chooses the artwork that most inspires her at the time – two for two notebooks. She then uses her graphic design wizardly to conjure up two potential covers, front, spine and back as a spread (see the image on the right). I then suggest needed edits, or suggest other ideas or okay it. If there are changes needed, it’s back to the Design Department, AKA Naomi, and we keep going until we get it right. Sometimes we go all the way around back to the beginning, or to the original design Naomi came up with, but we like to be 100% sure of the designs we produce. We work well together and we both just seem to know when a design is right. It just clicks with both of us.
Naomi then chooses and usually creates from scratch a motif that she thinks matches the cover nicely. That becomes the motif for inside the notebook at the bottom of the lined pages. Again, it’s a case of design, edit, design, or just straight approval. Most of these just get approved as is, because Naomi is a bit of a whizz at little motifs. She’s had years of experience doing those kinds of business card and letterhead/website header motifs, and this uses similar skills. The hard part is that it has to be black-and-white, and not too striking that it dominates the page, which can be a bit limiting, but she pulls it off nicely each time.
Once we have an approved cover and interior, it goes to the publishing stage. Naomi works on the full cover ready for printing. The image you see above is just the beginning. For example, it also needs to have the sections added that wrap over the edges of the hardcover and under the endpapers. Take a look at a hardcover sometime. Peek inside the cover and you’ll see what I mean. It also needs the spine finalised and other things adjusted.
During the publishing stage, we also have to write the copy for the product (the kind of thing you’ll read below) – that’s my job. We have to create images (mockups for instance) for the website and sales page. That’s Naomi’s job. We have to create a product page and photo galleries. That part falls to me. We then have to upload to the website and shop – me again. We upload it to our distributor – Naomi does that. Then we link up our efforts, create a live – product-pending – website page, and when the product is ready to go from the printer’s end, we publish or declare it ‘in stock’. All that takes two months, but it’s two books at a time. So ten books a year.
February and March were the first two months of this year’s notebook cycle, so below are our very first two notebooks of 2023.
Leaf Fall: Willow Lane Notebook #13
Welcome to Leaf Fall.
Leaf Fall, using our original hand-painted gouache pattern, is all about the magic of autumn colours and the beauty of falling autumn leaves. It’s reminiscent of a pile of leaves across an autumn carpet of grass, building up as more colourful leaves drift down to join it.
The whimsical pattern wraps the whole cover, including the spine, and inside is a single matching leaf motif on every page. The slightly wider margins and wider lines allow for extra notes, scribbles, doodles, or just the serenity of white space.
With its vibrant autumn tones, this is a charming little hardcover notebook perfect for anyone who loves autumn colours as much as we do. Why wait until autumn to enjoy the beauty of its colours? Keep Leaf Fall with you all year round.
Golden Hour: Willow Lane Notebook #14
About this design:
On a wild windswept plane, as the sun sits low in the sky, the wind is settling, the recent storm clouds are departing, and the birds are returning to play and sing in the tree. This is golden hour.
A perfect little notebook for recording the happy and peaceful times of life, or for settling into the golden hours of your day to write, dream, create or just remember.
More about our notebooks:
All our notebooks & journals are:
A5 size. 5.5’x8.5’
Hardcover
Cream paper
150 pages.
Lined with generous margins for extra notes, doodles and more.
Beautifully designed back and front, some with full original artwork that wraps the whole cover
Either plain inside or have a small themed motif at the bottom of each page.
They have wider lines for:
Bigger handwriting
Those who love swirly cursive
Doodlers and scribblers
Or just for that uncluttered feel of white space. (We love white space in our journals. It’s like room to think and breathe.)
About the Author: Lisa Saul
