The “Pitch Black” Field Notes Ruled Memo Book was first made in 2013, and quickly became one of their most popular memo books, so after a few reprints they’ve made some upgrades and it’s here to stay! Perhaps the most significant change made was moving to custom-duplexed covers. Working with a fellow American Made company, the French Paper Company in Niles, Michigan, they came up with a Field Notes-exclusive cover stock upgrading the look & feel of the notebooks – paper & stationery nerds check out all the details below!
The Details:
- Set of 3 Classic Field Notes Memo Book style notebooks
- Dimensions: 3-1/2″ × 5-1/2″
- Materials: 60# Finch Opaque body paper, Ruled
- Bound with glossy black staples and sturdy 118# covers featuring a Field Notes-exclusive black/kraft duplex paper from French Paper Co
- Pitch Black logo discreetly printed on the back
- Designed, printed, and manufactured in the US
- Stationery nerds scroll all the way down for all the nitty gritty details!
The Maker:
Field Notes as a brand owes their existence to a tradition of promotional memo books distributed to American farmers over the last hundred years by seed, tractor, and other agricultural companies. Field Notes co-founder Aaron Draplin has been collecting these for years, “rescuing them” from obscurity. His ever growing collection has served as the inspiration for the Field Notes brand as well as their ethos. While they first started with packages of three graph-ruled booklets wrapped with a thick kraft brown cover Field Notes has since printed dozens of variations and introduced the wildly popular quarterly additions, exploring new colors, papers, printing processes, and special packaging. They’re based in Chicago where they design their products, which are then printed not too far away in Mount Prospect, Illinois using French Paper Company products from Niles, Michigan.
Specifications:
- 01. Proudly printed by the good people of eDOC Communications, Mount Prospect, Ill.
- 02. Cover: French Paper Co. custom-made 118#C “Pitch Black Duplex” (“Blacktop” and “Packing Brown Wrap”) with a brute force application of “Stephanite” (outside) and “Dachshund Nose Black” (inside) soy-based Saphira inks.
- 03. Innards: Finch Paper Opaque Smooth 60#T “Bright White,” with a fine, 1-color application of “Light Mist Gray” soy-based Saphira ink.
- 04. Cover and innards printed on a Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 105 40″ 6-color press.
- 05. Bound with gloss black staple wire on a Heidelberg Stitchmaster ST 270 5-pocket saddle stitcher with cover feeder/scorer & Rima RS 10S in-line stacker.
- 06. Corners precisely rounded to 3/8″ (9.5mm) radius with a Challenge SCM double round-corner machine.
- 07. Ruled lines: 1/4″ (6.4mm).
- 08. Memo book dimensions are 3-1/2″ × 5-1/2″ (89mm × 140mm).
- 09. FIELD NOTES uses only the Futura typeface family (Paul Renner, 1927) in its materials.
- 10. All FIELD NOTES note books are printed and manufactured in the U.S.A.