how to make a notebook that is easy to navigate?
metal rings
how to make a notebook that is easy to navigate?
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 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. That said, I will take the last vertical notebook I made in december and rip it apart and 1-change the cover, it was too hard and felt very difficult to open and use. 2-still add the pockets because I am using them in the metal ring one and they are very useful. This also allows me to have flaps on the cover that are also useful to easily find where is the last writing 3-I got rid of one of the signatures I had to make it a bit smaller. 4-I also 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? I will keep you updated. 15.03.23
How do you take notes?
*if some matches are contraddictory, for example, one asks for a lot of space for writing and the other says small, imagine how could that work. If you are obliged to use a certain type of paper that doesn't satisfy other requests, why does it happen? Explaining yourself things while playing helps to understand how different materials and structures influence us.
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.
It becomes customisable because of the type of binding I used. I was not happy use plastic instead of metal, but i had this publication to allow a almost 360 degrees rotation so that all the content in the rows could reconnect to the other rows. I was also not happy with being obliged to buy something specific to achieve my intent. I normally try to find the easiest and most accessible options. To solve both problems, I am happy with what I chose: it lets you, the user, to take possession of this object and participate in its use and creation. This type of spine can be reused for making new notebooks, e.g. it can be cut in smaller pieces to experiment with small notebooks. You can get rid of all the pages I provided, and fill it in with yours. You can mix mines with yours. In addition, the pages can become cards and be used without the spine. Would they still be a book then?
What is the starting need that brought to the creation and use of the notebook?** 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.
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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 so a solution is attaching a needle inside anything that you can hold with one hand.
how to make a notebook to protect yourself from the outside? *need for personal space*
step 7. is there any addition that would make your notebook even more practical?
Cardboards from packages are quite common to have in a house. they become the perfect cover for notebooks. sometimes their shape becomes an invitation for a shape you did not think of before, or helps imagine an add-on that can become essential in your notebook practice.
What to do if you don't finish all the sheets in a notebook?
-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. -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 space with no interruptions or limitations. -i always forget to write dates because it feels very temporary. -i hate how the pages turn around the rings because there is not the right amount of pages to turn it properly. -i do not like the paper I am using right now because it is not flexible or foldable in any way. FOLDABILITY HELPS ME. +my thoughts are never interrupted because it is a very accessible notebook. I do not feel bad in start writing wherever I find it fitting. +I can position every sheet where I want, moving them around after use. 18.01.2023
FACT: Paper sheets follow national or international regulations. For example, the typical A4 used for office prints, is part of the international system ISO 216. This is also important to consider when you are making a notebook. If you decide to go for a unusual shape that does not fit in an already existing size, you'll need to think about what to do with the leftovers of your cut. There are many ways to solve this problem but the main is prevent it before you need to solve it. Could you make the same notebook you had in mind but in some way be able not to cut the paper? I love folds. If you really can't, try to cut a size that could be reused for something else. Make a super vertical notebook for fast thoughts or for grocery lists.
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supi (xpub classmate) noticed how much a different tool/pen has a different result on her way of working/drawing/thinking, how much it makes a difference in the act of playing with the use of the pen. in this case, paper has a substantial impact on the results, so that often pen and paper goes together. supi has started with a common (basical structure) 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 (more simple it is, the least guilty the user will feel while using it) 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. 29.09.22
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 provided in a standardised form? It is not only about making a notebook, is how making a notebook will put us in the position of questioning who we are and the objects we use, why we use them and how something made for us from us could look like.
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All the methods will not be discussed inside this publication, but relating thoughts and opinions will be presented in some of the cards. In addition, the results of the research are published in the 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.
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. 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] 19.09.22
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during the first semester at xpub I have been using an iperborea notebook, measurements: 10x20 I find it amazing but the fact that it involves cutting paper out, 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 and I actually came up with a nice solution: folding both sides I thought it was nice to add additional notes on the side of the main sheets. this option later suggested an additional possible feature: folding just on one side to create a bigger paper sheet, by opening it. the idea is to create a notebook that permits the user to play it around and adapt it to their own needs 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) 30.03.22
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How to make a notebook that can give the user the possibility to to build the notebook based on the momentary need that comes out while using it? *→ Analysis of the 'first notebook kit' from needs point of view: this notebook was made out of the need of space and freedom, no restrictions but an open and accessible interface that allows the user to build the notebook based on the momentary need that comes out while using it. *
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+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 +it allows me to move around the sheets and then attach them together when I finalised decisions +it was helpful for this specific purpose of reorganising and connecting thoughts -it's very fragile and not very usable if not sitting at a desk. It can help to explain concepts and ideas, through the unfolding and opening mechanism, but it is of any use as a portable notebook 09.11.22
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how to make a notebook to collect scattered notes?
step 5. look at the shape of your notebook. is it small? is it big enough?
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how to make a notebook that slows you down? *--> from conversations 'smoothest paper to prevent myself from hesitating because of no friction' = friction slows down*
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?
how to make a notebook to experience the world? *idea for a notebook that does not imply to be looking back at notes: 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?*
These locations do not only offer small rectangular sheets, but sometimes they get rid of stocks they can't use anymore. When you walk around a city, and pass by a stationery, get in and have a look. You might be surprised! Same in printing locations.
Do you take notes to keep or to let go things?
Why do humans use notebooks?
This publication is a collection of materials that all try to help you, a user (that could soon become an active maker), to get inspiration and start making notebooks into your own practice. some texts will stop and continue on a different card: try to reconnect them to go on reading! Nothing is in order, every piece of the publication is positioned almost 100% randomly in the different cards. You might feel lost, in that case move on, read something else, write down something. You might find an explanation somewhere else. some of the cards are pieces of my personal thoughs while, in the last year, i have been experimenting with notebooks' making. They might feel completely out of context, as also the pictures of the notebooks these comments are referred to are randomly spread around the publication. Use your imagination and get lost.
how to make a notebook that exaggerates the scattered and the chaos? *need for new inputs out of the mess *
step 10. put everything together and start again. did you achieve your requests? can you do something different?
How much taking notes is involved, for you, in the process of learning?
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 is 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 adquired 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).
This is easy. If you need to cut paper, there are two ways: or you fold it and use your knife in the fold to separate the two parts. This method works well if you, for example, start from an A4 and need to make two a5s: it means, when you need the sheet you own to be cut in two identical parts. The other way works well especially if you own a real and sharp paper cutter. You will need a ruler positioned on top of the paper, with the measurements marked, and something that works as a 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 with cut lines.
I also inserted some empty pages in the publication, to let some space for thoughts or ideas (if they come while browsing through). The main reason though, is that i have been wondering when a notebook is not a notebook anymore. I knew this publication was going to be printed, but i hope that through this different considerations, for some, this could still be defined as a notebook. The content comes from my reflections and the notes I took, on my laptop and on my notebooks. They were notes and now, after printing them out I wonder, are they still? To conclude, the publication is printed on A4 sheets to avoid paper waste. I picked for you 5 different types of paper to let you feel different options already intrinsically within the publication.
step 6. now take paper you might have around you. or buy some. how should this paper be like?
Do you use lines or plain paper?
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Have you ever intentionally thrown away a notebook?
What is the starting need that brought to the creation and use of the notebook?** 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.
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Any knife would help with this. Obviously, the less sharp the knife, the less polished the cut will look like. In this 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!
I wanted this publication to have two main characteristics: modular and customisable. The modularity became important to me and my way of taking notes and making notebooks. Modularity allows reconnections, both physically both content-wise. In this context, I decided to produce this publication as a physical 'random choice' to access the content: rotating the cards on the rings, the materials are scattered and re-connected by the user (you).
offers four different features to invite the act of making a notebook and reason on the properties of all the features. read and imagine the connections that are randomly created more as a story, could that happen to you? what would YOU need in that specific situation? e.g.: "I go in different locations to take notes so I need a notebook that is transportable (A); it does not have a binding (B); it needs a lot of space (C) for writing and sketching; it can have an additional feature if I find leaflets or information sheets around that I need to save (D) in this notebook" *if some matches are contraddictory, for example, one asks for a lot of space for writing and the other says small, imagine how could that work. If you are obliged to use a certain type of paper that doesn't satisfy other requests, why does it happen? Explaining yourself things while playing helps to understand how different materials and structures influence us.
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I made some modifications to the metal ring notebook: added color separation for sections equipped with a small pocket; is it going to work? the sections are: notes on texts, thesis to do lists, project brainstorming, archipelago, personal stuff. a pen holder a4 sheets folded in half that allow a more structured note-taking; they are thinner than the old ones 09.02.23
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 sum-up window/space I always feel like when I write on my paper notebooks is never definitive, i feel it like a work in progress that then is completed when I move the notes on my laptop. If I move them on my laptop not organised I feel stressed because it doesn't allow me to think/reason/process but it doesn't even allow my brain to relax because things are in order.
how to make a notebook that helps not to forget the notebook? *need to remember to remember*
Do you have different notebooks for different purposes?
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What are the positive sides? Does it work within the starting purpose? 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.
What is the difference in use between digital devices and paper notebooks? For which reasons do you write on them?
you do not have any of the materials or tools they always advertise as 'essential' if you want to make your own notebooks? Let's see what you can use that you already have at home, without the need to spend money or loose the interest because you need too much stuff... let's see.
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One of the main urgency I have to talk about this topic is that both from my personal experience and the experiences of others during growth: standardisation of abilities, of desires, ways of living. We are supposed to satisfy standards and generalisations throughout our entire lives, structures in which some people feel comfortable in and some others not at all, especially if we talk about young humans that are still building up on their personality and still discovering their abilities and strategies. 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 feel that with the spread of consumerism we got used to the idea that we can just buy objects and it doesn't really matter if they're made for us in the same way they are made for everyone else in the world. How to challenge this?
+it occupies less space but offers bigger pages +the additional lateral flaps allow modularity: the user can move the flaps to connect with multiple pages at the same time +if the user forgets something the flaps give more space to write +the flaps can be used differently by everyone -the fact that it’s folded means it’s thicker and it’s difficult to write if it’s too big +by using it horizontally the above problem is resolved +can have patterns/contents that move from the flaps to different pages throughout the notebook [also at later stages if you are still working on the topic] +fold page wing to avoid the page to be moved by the wind (!!!) +offer different types of paper to people if they want to draw (or whatever) without ruining the binding and of a nice shape//vertical -still can’t write because it’s too big -it can get wet --> make it waterproof 20.03.22
step 2. look at your notes and move through them. what do you notice? do you see any pattern in your behaviours?
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step 8. should the cover be hard or soft? can you re-use a cardboard you already have? do you have an old cardboard from?
how to make a notebook not to categorise?
how to make a notebook that can travel?
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This tool help us to fold the sheets to avoid breaking paper, especially if thick, and essentially to be more precise. Instead, you could use the back side of any metal knife. Or anything that is flat and hard and you can easily hold in your hands. Try with other objects too, you will be surprised!
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.
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step 9. fold it, or not. bind it, or not.
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step 1. take your current notebook. look at it, open it. where do you write? what do you write?
how to make a notebook as an act of rebellion?
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There are a lot of locations in almost every city that collect paper that cannot be used anymore. Luckly, nowadays, most of these locations, such as printing spaces, stationery shops, book makers, separate and recycle the materials they cannot use. Most of the times, these leftovers are in a very long rectangolar shape, do you know why? When you print, but the shape of your print doesn't 100% fit the paper sheet you are printing on, this produces a lot of leftovers, mainly on one side or two of the sheet.
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