Traveler's Notebook Army Edition by Midori x Nigel Cabourn | Tokyo (JAP)

A fine pairing, heritage authority Nigel Cabourn and Japanese stationary company Midori present a functional and classic-looking notebook. With evident military inspired detailing, the passport-size brown leather cover carries the signature Cabourn ‘broad arrow’ emblem stamped in the leather and a bullet shaped brass pencil.

Available from Slow Down Joe

Black Utility Notebook by Doane Paper | Texas (USA)

In 2003, Chad Doane found himself in a group meeting and realised half the room were using a lined legal pads, while the other used a graph paper notebook. This observation led Chad to sit in-front of Adobe Illustrator and design an original grid and line pattern, now known as Doane Paper. Initially Chad trialled his custom made Doane Paper on a website that was free to download.

Naturally gathering momentum, Chad found visitors to doanepaper.com who had downloaded the free PDF sheet started to request the Grid + Lines pattern as a physical article. This lead Chad to create a writing pad with the help of a 50 year old Arkansas based school supply manufacturer.

2008 saw the Doane Paper go from a writing pad to a journal in the form of a utility notebook. The Doane Paper Grid + Lines pattern is now available in various forms but a favourite is the useful pocket sized Black Utility Notebook. Crafted in the USA, the 48 page notebook is made from recycleable paper, printed using soy-based inks and binded by a rugged 3 staple saddle stitch. (Notebook size: 3.5” x 5.5”, grid size: 125” x 125”, wide ruled line spacing).

Left – Doane Paper Black Utility Notebook, Grid + Line Pattern, Pack of 3