Field notes

Inspired by the vanishing sub-genre of agricultural memo books, ornate pocket ledgers and the simple, unassuming beauty of a well-crafted grocery list, the Draplin Design Company of Portland and Chicago’s Coudal Partners joined forces in 2007 to produce FIELD NOTES.
FIELD NOTES began as a 3.5×5.5” notebook featuring rustic, kraft-paper covers and 48 pages of graph paper. The line has since expanded to include ruled and plain paper, a mixed pack of all three, and additional office accoutrements such as ballpoint pens, pencils, and calendars. All the smartly-designed, vintage-styled products evoke a lost era of Americana: full-service gas stations, Great Plains feed stores, Midwestern industrial small towns, and offices full of manual typewriters and hand-written receipts.

Hoping to reconnect to the inspired simplicity and usefulness of these times, Draplin and the team at Coudal Partners sought to create a new brand, utilizing what was great about the originals yet adding their own dash of tongue-in-cheek nostalgia.
As the product line expanded, word of mouth spread like wildfire, aided by the popular blog at fieldnotesbrand.com. As FIELD NOTES’ popularity grew, glowing reviews followed, from all forms of media including the New York Times, Lifehacker, and Monocle.
2009 saw the introduction of FIELD NOTES COLORS, a quarterly series of limited-edition notebooks exploring new colors and printing processes. As these exciting new variations on the original theme have generally sold out immediately upon pre-sale for members of the FIELD NOTES mailing list, many customers have opted to order a Colors subscription, thus guaranteeing delivery and never missing a new release.

The FIELD NOTES brand continues to grow, both in sales and product line. In addition to online availability, more than 100 shops across the world now carry FIELD NOTES merchandise. From Singapore to Anchorage, this diverse lineup of retail locations include boutiques, stationers, general stores, camera shops, art galleries, museums, and international retailers.
New FIELD NOTES products are always in development, from new colors, sizes, shapes and everything in between.