I welcome you into the world of notebooks. The object you are now holding in your hands is the final result of a year-long research. I am Emma, a student of the Experimental Publishing Master course at Piet Zwart Institute in Rotterdam. During the second year of our studies, we are asked to work on a research project and to make it public in this specific context.
The result of my research is a kick-starter kit, or a game, or a (note-)book, to start questioning and experimenting with the creation of notebooks.
My aim was to create an object that could be used, and not only consumed. Thus, I would like you, my reader, my user, to become a maker through the use of this kit. I hope you will enjoy the journey through my texts, my prototypes, my questions and my answers. I hope you will find your way in the practice of making notebooks and you will explore the feelings of creating your own tool.
I made many different choices in the creation of this work, and I would like to share them with you. Therefore, if you are interested in knowing more, go on reading!
One of the main reasons I feel the urgency to discuss this topic is based on both my personal experience and the experiences of others during their growth. It revolves around the standardization of abilities, desires, and ways of living. Throughout our lives, we are expected to meet certain standards and conform to generalisations. However, these structures may be comfortable for some individuals while making others feel completely out of place.
In general, in society, I don’t like that we are expected or used to be all the same, that expressing who we are is not part of daily life, but many times it’s a shaming process that has a lot of impact on growth and development of self. I believe that the rise of consumerism has contributed to this phenomenon. We have become accustomed to the idea that we can simply buy objects, disregarding whether they are tailored specifically for us or if they are designed in the same way for everyone else in the world.
I would like this research to be a sort of manifesto for a general context but using the notebook as a metaphor: Who are you? How does your brain work? How do your ideas come along? What are your needs from a tool that society provides in a standardised form?
It is not only about making a notebook, it is how making a notebook will put you in the position of questioning who you are and the objects you use, why you use them and how something made by you for you could look and feel like.
HOW THE (NOTE)BOOK IS MADE
Initially, the goal was to create a kit for making notebooks that could be read, but also used to practically make notebooks. To do so, I used my existing collection of texts, conversations, images, thoughts. Making a multitude of prototypes throughout the research process helped shape the material concept of this (note-)book, intertwining practical prompts and inspirations with theoretical texts. I made these prototypes to be able to analyse them and write about them; on the other side, I needed the right notebooks to take notes and develop this project, supporting my thinking and learning needs.
The first prototype worth mentioning is “the first notebook kit: An adjustable and editable notebook with included tape and papers for continuation” (find the analysis in the cards!). This notebook is directly inspired by the concept of index cards: they are cards used to store a small amount of content. Reading about them in history, I discovered that they are mainly used for two reasons: as a memory aid and to create new connections. I divided the texts into smaller cards, making editing choices and ensuring each card can stand alone. This prevents overwhelming the reader and allows for creating connections between the cards. In the moment the concept of modularity found me and grasped my interest, I created another prototype: the triad notebook. This prototype is composed of 3 rows (as the one you’re holding has 4), that can be browsed in different ways, helping to recreate connections between the different sections.
Next to modularity, customizability was another essential aspect, as the core concept of the entire project. I want to acknowledge our individuality and the desire to interact with objects in our own way. To achieve this, the chosen spine lets you, the user, to take possession of the object and participate in its use and creation. The spine allows a 360 degrees rotation so that all the content in the rows can reconnect to the other rows. In addition, it enables experimenting with different notebooks structures; you could mix your own pages with the provided ones; you could get rid of all the pages I provided, and fill it in with yours. Or you could make new notebooks. In addition, the pages can become cards and can be used without the spine. Would they still be a (note-)book then?
Defining when a notebook ceases to be a notebook has been a question throughout this process. While this publication is printed, I hope that through these different considerations, at least for some, this could still be defined as a notebook.
The content originates from my own reflections and the notes I took, both digital and handwritten. The latter were notes and now, after printing them out I wonder, are they still?
Last but not least, to minimize paper waste the publication is printed on an A4 layout. Further information about paper size is provided inside this spread.
HOW THE (NOTE)BOOK IS DESIGNED
Through these last two years in the course, one of the main things we have been taught is to use alternative ways and tools to produce our publications. This is one of the reasons why I chose to develop a Python script for the purpose. But it doesn’t stop here. The script generates a different positioning for each card every time it is run. This deliberate randomness in the placement of the cards allows for a user-centric experience, where the order and arrangement are not predetermined. The script enables the generation of different PDFs for printing with each reload, ensuring that users encounter a distinct arrangement of cards every time the content is printed. This approach embraces modularity again, as the connections between cards can vary based on their specific positions. Whether one reads card A next to card B or card A next to card C, the experience will differ. The intention behind this is to offer an individual experience to each user, encouraging them to create their own unique connections.
WHY A PRINTED PUBLICATION IS IMPORTANT
Apart from everything described above, for example the possibility to edit the order of the cards, or to manipulate the spine and transform the basic structure of the object, there are other reasons why a printed publication is necessary at this point.
First, the choice() method, one of the Python functions used in the main script, selects a random element from a list. You know that it is choosing from a list of options, but what happens in the back, it’s not given to you. So, I wondered: what happens when you mirror digital interactions into a physical movement? When this concept is applied to the (note-)book in your hands, you become the one determining how you navigate through the rows of cards. You have control over the changes, appearances, and disappearances of content. While the specific content behind each card remains unknown, you can physically perceive the anticipation and surprise.
Secondly, the act of turning the pages, the feeling of the paper are essential features that add a lot to the experience. Through this research, I have discovered the significance of reading and taking notes in physical form. What I found the most interesting is the impact and importance of the physical act of turning pages and the spatial layout of text: readers engage more, understand and remember more; the spatiality of a physical object facilitates a deeper interaction and comprehension of the materials. For further insights, refer to the excerpts from my thesis.
THE METHODS USED
The methods I used to feed this publication are multiple experiments and approaches I worked with between March 2022 and April 2023. The first one is my personal notebook process that consists in the creation of different prototypes to analyse and question my use of notebooks and to discover how to modify them to adjust them to my needs. The second method consists in having discussion groups to collect opinions through conversation and questions. The third one involves gathering and analysing the work of other users to understand how they approach the same process. The last method is the Collaborative Explorative Sessions (C.E.S.): the C.E.S. are a collaborative playground to experiment with a collection of exercises together with the workshop participants. I created the C.E.S. through the knowledge acquired in the process and specifically thanks to the first three methods included in the research, as well as inspired by Generative Design Research, which includes the end user in the design process (Sanders and Stappers, 2014). All these methods will not be discussed inside this publication, but related thoughts and opinions will be presented in some of the cards. In addition, the results of the research are published in my thesis, “Paper Notebooks: From an Industrial Model to a Tool of Expression” (2023), produced in the context of the graduation research from the Experimental Publishing (XPUB) Master course at the Piet Zwart Institute, Willem de Kooning Academy, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences.
<h1class="introtitle">"How to make a notebook that - from industrial model to tool of expression" is your personal guide to crafting a notebook that is made to support your individual learning needs, as well as an invitation to explore self-expression with an hands-on approach.</h1>
<divclass="card img"style="background-image: url('1_situation/content/prototype_The_Letter_One.jpg'); background-size:cover; "><divclass='image_titles'>The Letter One</div></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>Q: who do you write for?</h4>
<p>03.10.22
time-specific writing [erica° said]= writing that makes sense only in the moment you wrote it.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><pclass="tensteps"> step 8. should the cover be hard or soft? can you re-use a cardboard you already have? or maybe a parcel you received yesterday?
</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h1>to adapt a cardboard you already own</h1>
<divclass="card img"style="background-image: url('3_paperformat/content/prototype_The_First_One.jpg'); background-size:cover; "><divclass='image_titles'>The First One</div></div>
<divclass="card text"><h2>thesis excerpts: the importance of making DIY notebooks</h2>
<p>Someone might think that inviting people to make personalised paper notebooks contributes to paper waste and does not participate in recycling values. Instead, if done properly, DIY can be the best solution to avoid waste and save money simultaneously. Not everyone needs to be active in the same way, but everyone can build up a certain consciousness when personally deciding which ‘ingredients’ to use, also from a monetary point of view.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>NOTES ON PROTOTYPE: the metal rings one</h4>
<p>15.03.23
Yesterday I discovered I hate writing on vertical large notebooks. I always start making lists and it's never visual and I hate it because I get super lost and also in conversation/brainstorming notes there is no structure at all and I feel uncomfortable because I am not sure I can trust my own notes. In addition, metal rings don't work for me. I am too messy, I have texts everywhere, I cannot track the last thing I wrote, I need to go in order. </p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h2>thesis excerpts: levels of creativity</h2>
<p>The basic level of creativity is doing, which requires a minimum amount of interest. This happens when we use a notebook already made in the industry and bought from a shelf. The second is adapting. This action is made to personalise and change an object you already have. You could create a back pocket, or insert post-its to create more space. The third level is making. This happens when we build a notebook from scratch but we follow predetermined patterns. This action needs more time and energy. The last level is creating. Creating is making something that does not yet exist. It relies on the use of raw materials and the absence of pre-existing rules.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>NOTES ON PROTOTYPE: choice of paper</h4>
<p>15.03.23
I also do not like too thin paper but not too thick. It needs to fold a bit but it cannot be something like copy or office paper so between 120gsm and 200gsm. I am not also a giant fan of coloured paper to write on but I love colors so I don't really know how to solve it. I made the cover super yellow though, so maybe that will calm myself down!</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>PROCESS NOTES: what i would like is</h4>
<p>18.04.23
I would like to create (active) makers, not consumers. The final outcome needs to be something to be used to make, not only to receive/consume. I want the users of this work to participate in the act of making notebooks against capitalism and commodity practices. I want to expand the spaces of this medium.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>PROCESS NOTES: a personal notebook process</h4>
<p><strong>What are the negative sides? What could be a different approach to solve the issue?</strong></p>
<p>If what has been analysed above did not work, why didn't it work? Analysing what worked and what did not help to reason on new ways to solve the issue.</p></div>
<divclass="card img"style="background-image: url('1_situation/make-a-notebook-that/prototype_Prototype_from_CES_2.jpg'); background-size:cover; "><divclass='image_titles'>Prototype from CES </div></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>PROCESS NOTES: a personal notebook process</h4>
<p>A personal notebook process is the ever-changing process a person can go through, by analysing and keeping attention to their individual note-taking activity and their use of paper notebooks to understand themselves and their needs.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h3>tools to make notebooks: do you need a folding bone?</h3>
<p>This tool helps us to fold the sheets to avoid breaking paper, especially if thick, and to be more precise. For this, you can use the back side of any metal knife. Or anything that is flat, hard and with a smooth surface that you can easily hold in your hands. Try with other objects too, you will be surprised!</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h1>to describe one experience</h1>
<divclass="card text"><h4>PROCESS NOTES: research and starting point</h4>
<p>During the first semester at XPUB I used an Iperborea notebook, measurements: 10x20. I find the size amazing, but as it involves cutting paper out from an a4 sheet, I didn't want to create a new notebook out of that idea without finding a solution that would not waste anything. I thought about folding instead of cutting: it was nice to add additional notes on the side of the main sheets.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>NOTES ON PROTOTYPE: some new ideas on how to play with the structure of the notebook</h4>
<p>30.09.22
Thought about the fact that the limit of binding is that there's no space for easy customisation or add-ons after it's closed at the beginning. Instead of the <em>notebook kit</em>, where i felt there was too little rigid structure and the user could feel too lost, i imagined to use the same technique starting from a bound one [name: <em>the infinite notebook</em>]. It is bound, but free to move: the user is also able to cut out pages, re-position but also keep in what they care about.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><pclass="tensteps"> step 4. while wondering around your pages, consider when you wrote something, in which situation, for which reason. do you know how is the notebook supporting you? </p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>PROCESS NOTES: general rule on making notebooks</h4>
<p>It is important to have entry points to access the notebook. This means having a structure that does not slow you down or interrupt the moment in which you want to write something down.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>NOTES ON PROTOTYPE: the last one</h4>
<p>28.03.23
<em>The last notebook</em> I made for myself and that I hope will follow me until graduation, as an answer to my thoughts on the 15.03.23. Overall, I am super happy with it. The fact that it fits in the inside pocket of my jacket is just one of the amazing features this notebook is offering. I am already noticing that the different width of the pages is making a difference. </p>
<p><em>Look for the image in the cards</em></p>
<p><em>where I have written my</em></p>
<p><em>"thoughts on this notebook"</em></p>
<p><em>(hint: yellow cover).</em></p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>NOTES ON PROTOTYPE: the notebook kit</h4>
<p>20.09.22
I delivered to Supi° the first <em>notebook kit: An adjustable and editable notebook with included tape and papers for continuation</em>. The idea is that this type of notebooks allows the user to build it up easily as their needs come over and adjusting and editing while using it and not being forced to stay in a standardised area for standardised notebook users.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h2>thesis excerpts: the first codex</h2>
<p>In the Medieval period, the first codex format for manuscripts was created, replacing the papyrus, and the purpose of use shifted “from a cumbersome mnemonic aid to a readily accessible information storehouse” (Hobart and Schiffman, 2000).</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>NOTES ON PROTOTYPE: this publication</h4>
<p>02.05.23
I want to make the binding "openable" because, in this way, the entire book can be taken apart and become a notebook. Or the rings can be used for something else and the prints can be moved around or used as cards, or attached on walls or anywhere. It opens up a bit the concept of book and re-connect it to a "printed" notebook. It also gives the freedom to completely tear it apart. I like the idea that a book is something "stable" and in this way this publication is more similar to a notebook. I left space for others to contribute or make their version of it.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h2>thesis excerpts: my aim</h2>
<p>I aimed for users to take part in every section of the design process as well as the practical creation of the object, to explore the endless spaces of a notebook and the memories and knowledge hidden inside of it.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h2>thesis excerpts: how note-taking affects learning</h2>
<p>There are two ways in which the act of note-taking can affect learning: “The encoding hypothesis suggests that the processing that occurs during the act of note-taking improves learning and retention. The external storage hypothesis touts the benefits of the ability to review material” (Mueller and Oppenheimer, 2014).</p></div>
<divclass="card img"style="background-image: url('3_paperformat/make-a-notebook-that/prototype_Prototype_from_CES.jpg'); background-size:cover; "><divclass='image_titles'>Prototype from CES</div></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>NOTES ON PROTOTYPE: the letter one</h4>
<p>20.03.23
From the first CES, I had this recurrent idea in my head: one of the participants made this very very long strip-notebook, underlining how much the narrowness of the paper would help them to free their mind and free-write. Therefore, I bound this <em>letter notebook</em> with a little string to close it so that it would resemble a gift and folded, so that the length would be discovered just after opening (surprise effect). Then I free wrote both letters: they came out quite different from each other.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>PROCESS NOTES: the past</h4>
<p>The main concept of using leftovers to make notebooks was born while I was making a book as a Christmas gift for a friend: it was late and I could not go and buy anything so I used every type of paper I had in the house. Different papers, with different weights, different colours, everything kept inside an Amazon box’s cardboard. I realized how interesting it was to create books from waste and finding ways to make it work.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h3>tools to make notebooks: do you need a cutting mat?</h3>
<p>This is easy. If you need to cut paper, there are two ways: or you fold it and insert your knife in the fold to separate the two parts. This method works well if you, for example, when you need the sheet you own to be cut in two identical parts. The other way works especially if you own a real and sharp paper cutter. You will need a ruler on top of the paper, with the measurements marked, and a sort of cutting mat. I once used another notebook, but that was radical. Other options are any piece of wood or thick cardboard, anything that nobody cares if it get ruined.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><pclass="tensteps"> step 3. touch the paper you have, fold it, write on it. is it too thick? too thin? too yellow? check what's right and what's not for you.
</p></div>
<divclass="card img"style="background-image: url('1_situation/make-a-notebook-that/prototype_Prototype_from_CES_1.jpg'); background-size:cover; "><divclass='image_titles'>Prototype from CES </div></div>
The reason why I am interested in notebooks is that I find it weird that every person writes in the same way with the same device and it doesn’t make sense because we are all different and need different methods to engage with a piece of paper, annotate things, remember things, learn things. Not every is one fit.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h2>thesis excerpts: what is note-taking?</h2>
<p>Ann Blair defines note-taking as “the product of practices of reading and writing taught in school and reinforced by various cultural models” (Blair, 2010, p.5). </p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>CONVERSATIONS ON NOTEBOOKS</h4>
<p>[ ] Notebook for important thoughts and sketches</p>
<p>C: I use it less than before</p>
<p>E: Do you know why?</p>
<p>C: What if i draw something and it's not nice? After I have drawn it then I have to keep it there, inside my notebook and the notebook is ruined with bad drawings.</p>
<p>C: I compare the pages to see if they are all beautiful.</p></div>
I have always been interested in the materiality of objects and their touch and how to build things myself. A lot is also about subjectivity and modularity: I am fascinated by the fact that, also a publication, for example, can be created in a way that every person that uses it can react in their own way. I think it's a lot about disrupting known formats and ideas.</p></div>
<divclass="card img"style="background-image: url('1_situation/content/prototype_Prototype_from_CES_1.jpg'); background-size:cover; "><divclass='image_titles'>Prototype from CES </div></div>
I started to make recycled notebooks during my bachelor's already, in that case it was mostly just about recycling and reusing materials and I really enjoyed to use trash to make notebooks. Then I heard a lot of people feeling guilty in using nice notebooks. I thought that trashy notebooks could therefore be better for people because they would get used.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>NOTES ON PROTOTYPE: new idea for books' annotations</h4>
<p>12.11.22
I need a notebook for ideas sketching and development = where to write down a sudden idea fast and easy and then have the space to develop it in the future = organised but free space to express maybe with a little sum-up section</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h1>something you have in the room you are in</h1>
<divclass="card text"><h4>PROCESS NOTES: a personal notebook process</h4>
<p><strong>What is the starting need that brought to the creation and use of the notebook?</strong></p>
<p>This question helps to highlight the starting point and main reason for the creation of a new notebook (or modification applied). it can be described in a few words.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h1>to create space for temporary thoughts</h1>
<divclass="card text"><h4>NOTES ON PROTOTYPE: some new ideas on how to play with the structure of the notebook</h4>
<p>30.09.22
This idea works on the concept of modularity: reconnecting content between the three sections of the book, making possible to have an overview of the content even when the space on the column is finished. By choosing a specific method (that could be colours, page number, or even a personal one created on the go) it should become intuitive to move in the space of the <em>triad notebook</em>.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>PROCESS NOTES: how this process could help you</h4>
<p>15.03.23
What I want to say is not necessarily that this process will make your way of writing on paper better or different, but just that it will make you feel more comfortable with the object, use it more, make more useful notes that can be re-read and used. Do you think there is something you could change that will make you use the notebook more and that will help you more in your work or projects or any life experience?</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>NOTES ON PROTOTYPE: some new ideas on how to play with the structure of the notebook</h4>
<p>30.09.22
Recycle notebooks paper to create new notebooks: check paper making --> if i destroy the paper sheets of a notebook in water, then i make a new notebook out of it, then i melt it again, and again, it should become smaller and smaller?</p></div>
<divclass="card img"style="background-image: url('4_add_ons/content/prototype_The_First_Notebook_Kit.jpg'); background-size:cover; "><divclass='image_titles'>The First Notebook Kit</div></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>CONVERSATIONS ON NOTEBOOKS</h4>
<p>[ ] C: I have a notebook just for a podcast</p>
<p>I use lines only when I have to write everything aligned and organised</p>
<p>I skim the ideas in my head first, or talking, and then I write down when I have a precise idea or keywords I am sure about.</p>
<p>[ ] Sudden ideas: on her phone</p>
<p>Problems/hates:</p>
<p>[ ] Anxiety of blank pages</p>
<p>[ ] What to do with the back side of paper I have written on? Waste of paper.</p>
<p>CREATIVE SOLUTION: glue one page on the top of the other</p></div>
</div>
<divclass="page">
<divclass="card text"><h4>Q: How to transform anxieties into notebooks' features?</h4>
<p>Thought about how the uncomfortabilities felt with a notebooks can come from certain anxieties we have in life and how we can transform those anxieties into notebooks features (e.g. how can I make a notebook public without thinking that what I write is stupid?).</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>CONVERSATIONS ON NOTEBOOKS</h4>
<p>[ ] questions to the point
write differently on the shape they made</p>
<p>the shape changes the way I write
vertical words in lines give me the urgency to let things out --> let's bind together the urgent notes</p>
<p>[ ] narrow paper for stream of consciousness and play like notebooks with columns</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>Q: What makes a notebook a notebook?</h4>
<p>05.04.23
When something gets printed, does it stop to be a notebook? </p>
<p>Clara° and I discussed about the limits of the pages, how paper books do not allow annotation because of the little space in the margines. We tried to define what is a notebook for us. I said that for me it's something that accompanies you in certain situations and offers a support. Clara° said they are periodicals. They are positioned in a specific location, and during a certain period of time, where and when the user goes back recurrently. </p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h2>thesis excerpts: the origin of notebooks</h2>
<p>Note-taking has existed for a long time but there is not much evidence of it before the XV century (Blair, 2010, p.1). Nowadays, notebooks are mostly used for annotating for later use, but in the past, they were used to organise and classify materials (Yeo, 2008). They “were part of daily life for literate, educated individuals, (..) were prompts for material that should be stored in memory” (Yeo, 2008). Paper notebooks consisted of the work of intellectuals on parchment, to transmit oral knowledge.</p></div>
<divclass="card img"style="background-image: url('4_add_ons/content/prototype_The_Ring_One.jpg'); background-size:cover; "><divclass='image_titles'>The Ring One</div></div>
<divclass="card text"><h2>thesis excerpts: making notebooks’ creation accessible</h2>
<p>Recycling and reusing are important in my practice. It concerns not only materials but also the purpose of making notebooks’ creation accessible: Do I have time? How can I make things faster and easier? What if someone is not skilled or has no time? Has no materials? Where can makers gather second-hand materials for cheap/free?</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>NOTES ON PROTOTYPE: the notebook kit</h4>
<p>09.11.22
I tried the concept of the notebook kit I made for supi° on myself. It has been helpful to reorganise thoughts in very small sheets of paper. This obliged me to describe a concept in a little amount of words.
The second characteristic is that it allows me to move the sheets around and then attach them together when I finalise decisions.
It was helpful for the purpose, but the overall idea is that it's very fragile and not very usable if not sitting at a desk. It can help to explain concepts and ideas but it is of any use as a portable notebook.</p></div>
<divclass="card img"style="background-image: url('3_paperformat/content/prototype_The_One_that_did_not_work.jpeg'); background-size:cover; "><divclass='image_titles'>The One that did not work</div></div>
<divclass="card img"style="background-image: url('4_add_ons/content/prototype_The_One_that_did_not_work.jpg'); background-size:cover; "><divclass='image_titles'>The One that did not work</div></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>Q: How do you write?</h4>
Let's think about how we make things: if i want to address something, the way I do it is as much as important as the content that I choose. Let's challenge the tools of production, the medium, the space in which it's been produced, how and where the work will circulate.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h3>tools to make notebooks: do you need an awl?</h3>
<p>What is it? This is not a hole puncher, but more like a hole maker. You'll need this in case of a thread binding, to help your needle to pass through the sheets correctly (the sheets need to be alligned - if that's what you want) In this case, a knife would not work. What about a needle? That's already what will pass through the holes. You can also use a needle that is a tiny bigger than the one you'll use for binding later. Yes, it does hurt a bit when the paper is not very thin. A solution is creating your own tool, by attaching or glueing a needle inside anything that you can hold with one hand. </p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h2>thesis excerpts: the commonplace book</h2>
<p>During the XVI century, the commonplace books (the term in English appeared around 1578) became significant in education and pedagogy and were “private notebooks in which students and scholars kept extracts from the major classical texts” (Yeo, 2008). </p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>NOTES ON PROTOTYPE: the metal rings one</h4>
<p>18.01.2023
I feel restricted in the moment I have to write on a flat a5 page. I feel like the content is never organised because I can write in every direction and most of the time I use visual note-taking, or note-making, especially the circular method (have starting points in the middle and then move around it), i get lost in the space because I have no interruptions or limitations.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h2>thesis excerpts: index system</h2>
<p>By the middle of the XVII century, the need to produce new and unexpected knowledge through the creation of connections between content had emerged. One relevant work to mention is by Secondo Lancellotti (1583–1643): he created an index system in which he would insert “associative cross-references and pointers whenever and wherever possible, enabling the reader to surf through” all these annotations, “replacing reading with a type of early modern hypertext” (Cevolini, 2020).</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h2>thesis excerpts: the problem of notebooks</h2>
<p>We live in an era in which we can decide to continuously fulfil our desires, without wondering or understanding what we truly need or want. Many people buy a paper notebook because they are attracted by the idea they have of this object, of that nostalgic feeling of hand-writing. Yet, users of paper notebooks, as I discovered through multiple sessions and conversations, frequently tend not to start or complete their notebooks because they are not conscious of the possibilities this medium can offer.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h1>to transport tools (e.g. pen) within the notebook</h1>
<divclass="card text"><h4>NOTES ON PROTOTYPE: the letter one</h4>
<p>20.03.23
I produced a special notebook to deliver a starter for a conversation around our projects to Kim° and Chae°.
The concept was to give each other something in form of a letter or gift, or anything we could think of, and deliver it to the others in our group. I made a sort of notebook that can be used if you need to write letters, get rid of thoughts, write fast, brainstorm for projects or writing tasks.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>NOTES ON PROTOTYPE: this publication</h4>
<p>03.05.23
The final publication is selected content organised and split into little cards. This content, through a python script, get inserted into an a4 template and can be printed as a booklet. Ideally, every time, the PDF comes out differently through random choice. The content mixes only in the same row, not between rows, to avoid contradictory connections (the user will be able to move them around by themselves afterwards anyway).</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>Q: What do you keep and what do you let go in the writing process?</h4>
<p>Notebooks as ecology of thought: e.g. who uses it to organise, who to think, so what happens when they write it down?</p></div>
<divclass="card img"style="background-image: url('1_situation/content/prototype_Prototype_from_CES_2.jpg'); background-size:cover; "><divclass='image_titles'>Prototype from CES </div></div>
<divclass="card text"><h2>thesis excerpts: the gloss and the summa</h2>
<p>A new need arose from the growth of accessibility to books: how to deal with contradictory information. One solution has been the ‘gloss’, which consisted in adding comments in small cursive on the side of a text. Another solution that appeared in the XII century was called ‘summa’ or summary, which purpose was to cut “the diverse interpretations to establish a core of truth” (Hobart and Schiffman, 2000): it began with a question, then contrasting opinions were listed and it ended with a conclusion or ‘sententia’. </p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>NOTES ON PROTOTYPE: the last one</h4>
<p>15.03.23
1) I noticed that I made some of the folded sheets a bit wider than the 20x30 that I used before and some less and I want to see if that cm more I have will influence how I feel. As with the wide sheets I am having problems, how much do I have to reduce it to make it the perfect width? </p></div>
<divclass="card img"style="background-image: url('1_situation/content/prototype_The_Ring_One_2.jpg'); background-size:cover; "><divclass='image_titles'>The Ring One </div></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>NOTES ON PROTOTYPE: the last one</h4>
<p>15.03.23
I will take <em>the one that did not work</em> I made in december and rip it apart. I will 1) change the cover, it was too hard and felt very difficult to open and use. 2) add the pockets as they have been very useful. 3) get rid of one of the signatures as I had to make it smaller. 4) I made some of the folded sheets a bit wider and some less and I want to see if those cm more I have will influence how I feel. As with the wide sheets I am having problems, how much do I have to reduce it to make it the perfect width? </p></div>
From the first CES°, I had this recurrent idea in my head: one of the participants made this very very long strip-notebook, underlining how much the narrowness of the paper would help them to free their mind and free-write. Therefore, I bound this <em>letter notebook</em> with a little string to close it so that it would resemble a gift. I folded it, so that the length would be discovered just after opening (surprise effect). Then I free wrote both letters: they came out quite different from each other.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>PROCESS NOTES: what is modularity?</h4>
<p>15.03.23
see modularity: "the degree to which a system's components may be separated and recombined, often with the benefit of flexibility and variety in use" (Ampatzidou et al., 2020)</p></div>
<divclass="card img"style="background-image: url('4_add_ons/content/prototype_The_One_that_did_not_work_1.jpg'); background-size:cover; "><divclass='image_titles'>The One that did not work </div></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>NOTES ON PROTOTYPE: the metal rings one</h4>
<p>18.01.2023
It feels better to have metal rings and the chance to position every sheet where I want.</p>
<p>CONS. I am very unorganised. At the moment I am always writing everything that comes very fast, in whatever position in the page. This leads to a big amount of content without a structure/any entry point. It is not accessible after some time I wrote things down.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>NOTES ON PROTOTYPE: the metal rings one</h4>
<p>14.02.23
I noticed how much i work with numbered lists when i have a flat sheet of paper. I think it's pretty evident, looking at <em>the first notebook</em> and <em>the ring one</em>, how much the shape changed the content. It is very hard right now to use this notebook for brainstorming. I am only writing lines of text and cannot connect with other things at all.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h2>thesis excerpts: the value of making</h2>
<p>As Gibson (2019) argues, making, and learning through making, provide “us with the opportunity to control the narrative of ourselves in a way that off the shelf consumption does not (..): it is an act of subversion”. What we produce with our hands suddenly becomes part of the representation of the world around us, and it includes our vision and our active participation in it.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><pclass="tensteps"> step 2. look at your notes and move through them. what do you notice? do you see any pattern in your behaviours?
<p>pocket size notebook to bring it everywhere</p>
<p>used to describe an entire experience</p>
<p>sticky notes for temporary thoughts</p>
<p>flexible, has dots for concepts and reflexions</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>PROCESS NOTES: what is experimenting?</h4>
<p>19.09.22
Experimenting is sometimes an hyperbole and exacerbating a concept. It also means being able to create a notebook that is no longer functional but concretely describes the meaning of the desire or need.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h3>tools to make notebooks: do you need a cutter?</h3>
<p>Any knife would help with this. Obviously, the less sharp the knife, the less polished the cut will look like. In case, I would suggest to appreciate the rough cut: it shows the inside of the paper, it makes the notebook thicker and last but not least: if you are a perfectionist or someone who feels scared of ruining nice looking objects, this might help you to loosen yourself and feel more free to use your notebook. Bye bye guiltiness!</p></div>
Someone said (Brendan Howell): our collective work is having new ideas to find better alternatives to th(e ma)instream ways that shut down every imagination chance, they offer the “best” way. Do it in a different way. + "Thus, throughout, I demonstrate how a certain thread of experimental poetry has always been engaged with questioning the media by which it is made and through which it is consumed" (Emerson, L., 2014) —> the medium is the message (Mcluhan, 2013).</p></div>
<divclass="card img"style="background-image: url('1_situation/content/prototype_The_Ring_One_1.jpg'); background-size:cover; "><divclass='image_titles'>The Ring One </div></div>
<divclass="card text"><h1>to create new connections between content</h1>
<divclass="card text"><h2>thesis excerpts: the moleskine</h2>
<p>In the XIX century in Europe, a specific type of notebook spread around: the moleskine. The name means ‘leather’ in English and it has been used to describe a notebook with a black cover of a very strong vinyl-coated material, a little pocket on the back and a rubber band. The notebook has been used by many famous authors and artists, becoming very well-known in Europe, “until plastic-covered ones gradually replaced them from the 1950s” (te Heesen, 2005). In 1997, Moleskine became a trademark for an Italian company and spread all over the world, evolving and following the trends to stay up to date.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h2>thesis excerpts: the spatial memory</h2>
<p>A process takes place when we take notes and the type of interface we use to do it makes a difference: “The hippocampus is crucially involved not only in memory encoding and retrieval processes but also in spatial memory itself” (Umejima et al., 2021). (..) Throughout my research, I discovered how much it is important, for recovery and reviewing reasons, where I specifically write words or sentences. Recently, I found myself scared of forgetting because the pages of an unfitting notebook did not allow a proper instinctive positioning of the content while taking notes.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h2>thesis excerpts: what is a notebook?</h2>
<p>“The notebook as a paper machine consists of the functions noting and storing of notes. ‘To note’ means first and foremost ‘to write down’, from the Latin ‘notare’, or from ‘noscere’, which means ‘to get to know’. (...) writing results in a praxis with paper that requires certain gestures, performed acts, rituals and tools.” (te Heesen, 2005)</p></div>
<divclass="card img"style="background-image: url('2_binding/content/prototype_The_One_that_did_not_work_1.jpeg'); background-size:cover; "><divclass='image_titles'>The One that did not work </div></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>NOTES ON PROTOTYPE: supi's notebooks</h4>
<p>29.09.22
Supi° has started with a basic notebook, then moved to other prototypes. One that she made herself (and to which I contributed with a simple rubber band to avoid the paper from breaking), in which she's using photocopies paper <em>(the simpler it is, the least guilty the user will feel while using it)</em> and a 0.38 Muji pen. This type of notebook is giving Supi more space for organisation (or mess) but especially, it's creating new and unexpected connection between the content of the pages. </p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>PROCESS NOTES: when i can't use a notebook</h4>
<p>What interrupts me from using a notebook is that I do not know where to position the sudden ideas or thoughts I have. From this statement, I understand that what I need from the next notebook is to have the possibility to immediately write down what I have in mind, wherever I position it, without feeling any guilt regarding the appearance of the pages of my notebook. It is also important that it does not look too perfect, so that I feel okay in using what I have however I want.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>Q: What is a notebook?</h4></div>
<divclass="card img"style="background-image: url('3_paperformat/content/prototype_The_Ring_One_with_coloured_sections.jpg'); background-size:cover; "><divclass='image_titles'>The Ring One with coloured sections</div></div>
<divclass="card img"style="background-image: url('2_binding/content/prototype_Prototype_from_CES_1.jpg'); background-size:cover; "><divclass='image_titles'>Prototype from CES </div></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>NOTES ON PROTOTYPE: supi's notebooks</h4>
<p>29.09.23
Supi° presented me some updates on the use of her notebooks. Supi noticed how much a different tool/pen has a different result on her way of working, drawing or thinking, how much it makes a difference in the act of playing with the use of the pen (the way you interact with the pen, an object that teaches her through the act of drawing - notebooks as discovery space). In this case, the pen has a substantial impact on the results, so that often pen and paper goes together.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>Q: how to make a notebook as an act of rebellion?</h4></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>PROCESS NOTES: a personal notebook process</h4>
<p><strong>What are the positive sides? Does it work within the starting purpose?</strong></p>
<p>This is to understand if the solutions that have been found and applied to the new notebook are valid and working. This is important mostly not to lose track of the reasons underneath the concept and to evaluate how much the modifications worked.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h2>thesis excerpts: notebook as subversion</h2>
<p>I chose an object or medium which is the emblem of productivity and that participates in consumerist practices. The aim is to convert it from an industrial model to a tool of expression, a self-thought and subversive object.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>NOTES ON PROTOTYPE: the one that did not work</h4>
<p>05.12.22
I found some problems in this new version I made:
It's very inflexible. I cannot turn it around, I cannot open the pages completely and I cannot use the two pages as a whole because the curve is too big. It's too thick and bulky. I cannot transport it easily, there are too many pages to start from. I tried to insert different sections. The problem is I am not able, every time I take notes, to visualise in which area the content I want to write should go into, so then it ends up that I don't write at all because I do not know where to start.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>Q: how to make a notebook to experience the world?</h4></div>
</div>
<divclass="page">
<divclass="card img"style="background-image: url('1_situation/content/prototype_The_First_One_1.jpeg'); background-size:cover; "><divclass='image_titles'>The First One </div></div>
<divclass="card img"style="background-image: url('2_binding/content/prototype_The_Last_One.jpg'); background-size:cover; "><divclass='image_titles'>The Last One</div></div>
<divclass="card img"style="background-image: url('2_binding/make-a-notebook-that/prototype_The_Wiki_Scroll.jpg'); background-size:cover; "><divclass='image_titles'>The Wiki Scroll</div></div>
<divclass="card img"style="background-image: url('3_paperformat/content/prototype_The_Ring_One.jpg'); background-size:cover; "><divclass='image_titles'>The Ring One</div></div>
<divclass="card text"><h4>PROCESS NOTES: i want to play with my notebook</h4>
<p>19.09.22
I want to have more, to be able to play with my notebook, to know it better. I started to reason on how, as we’ve been creating our personal tools online, we could also create our personal analogue tools. Notebooks are individual and personal objects, but they’re treated like everyone has the same need from a piece of paper.</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><pclass="tensteps"> step 10. put everything together and start again. did you achieve your requests? can you do something different?
</p></div>
<divclass="card text"><h1>to separate content in different sections</h1>
