Duly Noted Notepad

This holiday season, I made this notebook for my coworkers. I almost didn’t do anything as the holidays just sort of snuck up on me and suddenly I had little time left. I was ready to resign myself to doing nothing, when I had a burst of inspiration to create a notepad that was fairly simple in design and doable in my short time frame.

Things are constantly being reworked, edited and overhauled in advertising. I feel it all the time as a designer; “It’s great, but…” and then a list of things I need to change. It’s normal. Coworkers and clients look at something and want edits, then see those edits and want more edits. It’s a long ongoing process.

Thus, I thought this notepad would amuse my coworkers since they probably receive at least one of these suggestions daily. On the back I chose a quote that I felt was appropriate.

I also I created a bellyband for my holiday message. It has been “proofed” in red, and these changes should improve the copy.

The Estate Game Pad

Growing up, my family often trekked out during the height of summer to visit relatives in California. We went by car, and as children this was an especially long drive. Being cooped up in a small space isn’t really pleasant for anyone, and there were certainly bouts of whining and complaining by my brother and me (mostly about the heat since we didn’t have air conditioning in the car for many years).

Car games could amuse us for a bit, and one of the games my brother and I would play was the “Estate Game”. We would take turns and select the possessions we wanted when our parents died. (A cheery game, I know. And don’t worry, our parents were not offended by this game—I dare say that it amused them.) Inspired by this childhood memory, I decided to create a game pad for this game.

Natto Pad

Natto Pad (tag for hanging)

I am not a natto (fermented soybeans) fan. I knew before trying it that there was a slim chance that I would actually like it, but I tried anyway because every so often food can surprise you; sometimes your preconceived notions are incorrect. This was not one of those times.

DIY: Paint Sample Index Card Pad

I had a stack of index cards that I was never going to use. Quite frankly, I wasn’t even sure why I had them since I’d never used them while in school (once upon a time ago). To finally use them, I decided to make a pad.

Cock and Bull Story Pad

I enjoy wordplay. Words carry so much within them: the meaning of the words themselves, the sounds they create when spoken and the surprise of unexpected words strung together in an interesting fashion.

You Must Be 20

Beer-chan pad (front)

Food with personality is funny to me. Characters that you can eat or drink, well, their fates are already sealed…and they were delicious.

I’m Going to Hell Pad

As I was roaming a paper store, I came across blank pads and wanted to do something with them. I didn’t have an idea per se when I bought them, but what eventually came to mind was that a pad has two sides, and I wanted to use this double-sidedness to my advantage; like something dealing with opposites. Opposing forces. Polarizing sides. Good vs. Evil. And finally settled on heaven and hell.

DIY: Gift Card Pad (part 1)

If you’re like me, you get gift cards. Sometimes, the gift card design is pretty cute and I just don’t want to throw it away once I’ve used up the card. So I keep it because I’m a packrat and think I might use it at some point in time.

So, I decided make the cards into notepad covers.