Original kraft notebook / Field Notes
Field Notes began when designer Aaron Draplin made pocket memo books by hand as gifts, and the Original Kraft is essentially that first object put into production. It is a 48-page pocket notebook, 89 by 140mm, with a brown French Paper kraft cover and a three-staple saddle stitch, sold in three-packs with graph, ruled or plain interior paper. The 60lb Finch paper takes pencil and most pens cleanly. The format is conceived as a working document rather than a keepsake, something to be filled and replaced, and the staple binding is honest about that expected lifespan rather than pretending to be archival. Selling it in threes is part of the same idea: it removes the preciousness that builds up around a single notebook and nudges you to actually use it.
Design intent
- +Selling in three-packs normalises replacement and strips away the preciousness of a single notebook, so the format encourages use rather than preservation.
- +The kraft cover is thick enough to survive a pocket without a sleeve and thin enough to add no real bulk, calibrated to carry rather than to a desk.
Trade-offs
- -The 60lb paper handles pencil and most pens but will feather with wet fountain-pen inks and bleed under markers; it optimises for cost and portability over ink range.
- -The staple binding has a finite flex life and will loosen with heavy use, consistent with the disposable premise but worth knowing.
Field Notes began when designer Aaron Draplin made pocket memo books by hand as gifts, and the Original Kraft is essentially that first object put into production. It is a 48-page pocket notebook, 89 by 140mm, with a brown French Paper kraft cover and a three-staple saddle stitch, sold in three-packs with graph, ruled or plain interior paper. The 60lb Finch paper takes pencil and most pens cleanly. The format is conceived as a working document rather than a keepsake, something to be filled and replaced, and the staple binding is honest about that expected lifespan rather than pretending to be archival. Selling it in threes is part of the same idea: it removes the preciousness that builds up around a single notebook and nudges you to actually use it.
Design intent
- +Selling in three-packs normalises replacement and strips away the preciousness of a single notebook, so the format encourages use rather than preservation.
- +The kraft cover is thick enough to survive a pocket without a sleeve and thin enough to add no real bulk, calibrated to carry rather than to a desk.
Trade-offs
- -The 60lb paper handles pencil and most pens but will feather with wet fountain-pen inks and bleed under markers; it optimises for cost and portability over ink range.
- -The staple binding has a finite flex life and will loosen with heavy use, consistent with the disposable premise but worth knowing.
