John Tolva sent us this photo from Ghana.
I love my iPhone, even have a certain affection for my Moleskine, but there is no way I would have pulled out either to take notes of these craftspeople. Their work was direct and unpretentious, and Field Notes fit right in.
See more of John’s photos here, and catch him reading (live from Ghana via iChat) at the Field Tested Books events in Chicago (tonight, 7/22) and NYC (Monday 7/28).
A very well-traveled and eagle-eyed Mark Kohlman of Minneapolis, Minn., brought a little tidbit to our attention yesterday. It turns out we (kind of) made the pages of the amazing Good Magazine! The July/August issue that’s on the stands right now.
On Page 16 in the contributors section, up in the upper left corner, there’s a grainy shot of a bulletin board, and smack dab in the middle of that sucker is a Field Notes memo book. Check it out, right here.
Once the day was done and all the orders were shipped out, we raced up to the magazine rack to grab a copy, frantically flipping through the pages to get to our little moment.
And there it was. Tiny as hell, but nevertheless, right there for all to see. Much pride was felt.
We love Good Magazine, and are very proud to be in it, no matter how infinitesimal the showing.
Dan Ward just got his Airman Battle Uniform:
The new Air Force combat uniform pants have a little pocket on the outside of the calf area. I wasn’t quite sure what to put there, and then realized it’s the perfect size for a Field Notes memo book. I carry one around all the time. This isn’t an official federal endorsement, of course, but I think I’m allowed to say… it fits the pocket perfectly. Thanks!
We originally thought the bitmapped camouflage thing would get old fast, but we’re still loving it, and it complements our Dur-O-Tone cover nicely.
Dan, we thank you for the photo and kind words, we thank you for serving the U.S. of A., and we thank you for hopefully steering some big government contracts our way in the future. Bravo Zulu.
Dave Appel had this to say about a recent transaction involving some Field Notes: “A couple months ago I met up with an old friend of mine and he gave me a Rotring mechanical pencil and in turn I gave him a Field Notes booklet. This is what he sent me, so I thought I would pass it along to you guys.”
And thanks for doing so, Dave. Good will and graph paper among men. Just fine with for us.
And hey, we’re down with Oatmeal, and we’re down with moms, so, you know, dig it: Here’s the full recipe.
We’ve been into Legos as long as the next guy. Good math and good design just don’t go out of style.
Our “Western Massachusetts Regional Distributor” Roger Cameron works for Lego and uses Field Notes exclusively for his day-to-day packaging design process. You’ve seen the new Indiana Jones sets, right? Well, Rhaj is one of the craftsmen behind those beauties. The next time you are at the toy store, be sure to pick up a couple sets, and get in real good and close on the boxes. You’ll see Rhaj’s masterwork up close.
So the new issue of Lego Magazine came out, and when you turn to page 14 you’ll see some Field Notes tucked away in the corner, doing the good work for brick fans the globe over. Lego Magazine designer Scott Decoteau had a hand in this little shoot, and we can’t thank him enough for believing in us.
Can’t even begin to tell you how much this excites us. Wow.
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And hey, if you shredders reading these words ever need any snowboard wax, look no further than Magical Go-Go. Rhaj is a busy man. Not only is he designing Lego packages, he also runs this little snowboard wax company, and, is raising a beautiful little family. One of the greatest guys ever. Really.
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JUST IN FROM RHAJ AT LEGO’S HEADQUARTERS IN ENFIELD, CT: “For your information, 7 x 2 grid on a Field Notes page is approximately equal to a LEGO 1 x 4 brick.” Good to know, good to know.
FULL DISCLOSURE: So you know what you are getting, our friends at BuyOlympia.com have offered up a thorough gallery showing Field Notes in all their glory. The only thing missing is page after page of writing, drawing, sketching, and elaborate escape routes filling the things up. Great work, guys. Field Notes Northwest will be stopping in soon to check in on the progress.
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Here’s what Northwest Norm says about Field Notes: “I love ‘em, I can’t do without ‘em… I use the shit out of these things…”
Well put, Norm. We need you. Thanks for the good work.
We’re ultimately flattered to be of use at such an important moment. We’re betting the pictures posted on Jeffrey’s flickr account tomorrow will be a lot cuter.
Frank Chimero uses Field Notes. The proof comes to us in the form of a digital image showing us some of his thinking behind the Illinois offering of his amazing, “The States” illustration series. Don’t even think about not “checking out what this guy is about.” He’s got a case of Sears Tower-sized talent, we’re proud to provide the graph paper to keep it all on the up and up. Thanks, Frank. Keep up the good work.
Take Jared’s word for it: You don’t want to wash your Field Notes.
This pile of drying slop was sent up from one Jared Eberhardt of Long Beach, Calif. An “idea man” in his own right, he accidentally left his latest Field Notes memo book in the back pocket of his jeans and threw them into the wash.
So here’s a shot of him “drying out his ideas.” We hope everything works out, man, and thanks for yer support.
Our take on it: Don’t wash yer clothes. “Proper hygiene” is overrated.
(Addendum from Bryan) Andy at Pencil Things had a little bit better luck when he accidentally washed his Field Notes. We’ll do some more testing over the weekend, but for now, we still don’t recommend it.
If you’re in the habit of carrying around a memo book and a pen, you know it’s like carrying a very lightweight laptop computer, minus the internet. (It does have some built in games, I’ll cover that in my next post.) What I’m getting to is, Field Notes, like a laptop, makes a great babysitter. A couple hours into a long car trip, after someone left $120 worth of Disney DVDs in the gravel outside a restaurant in Indiana (I’m not blaming anyone, I’m just saying…), you’ll be grateful to still have a way of entertaining a 4-year-old in the back seat. Above, you can see my daughter’s vivid and disturbing imagination translated to paper. I’m pretty sure that’s some sort of evil princess, and that’s girl-frankenstein on the right. [Read more →]
