Leather and Binding Cloth Notebook

These notebooks show how much functional surplus value the aesthetic approach of a designer can create. The design goal was to show the stitch-free, raw-edged workmanship of ox neck leather, in which – because of its 3mm thickness – the usual inner book cannot be bound. The solution was and insert fastened to a leather binding with rivets and eyelets. Now the inner book can be inserted and then removed when it is full – to be replaced with a fresh one and archived. The result is a notebook made of luxurious material with a restrained design, a fantastic haptic, at a price which is more than amortized by life-long use.

We commissioned the insert in an unusual material: a rough binding fabric with a good grip made from a mixture of flax and oakum (oakum is a short-fiber flax derivative, traditionally used for gaskets or insulation). It owes its toughness to a special finish which was the method of choice for strengthening battered library book bindings in the era before PVC.