A research log for the perfect no-waste-notebook

.TRASHBOOKSatelier concept

The main concept of TRASHBOOKSatelier 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 was to create books from waste and finding ways to make it work.

I worked for a while on a series called Sketch(totrash)books, no waste editable sketchbooks, consisting of books made of waste. These sketchbooks are meant for artists to paint on the cover and make every single book unique and personal, helping the planet! At present, many of the sketch(totrash)books are made from waste offered by Boothsprint, a printing house in Penryn, UK. Most of their covers are made with delivery cardboard packages.

.current research

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 for lateral annotation

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.

at the moment, the current notebook has already shown a series of pros and cons:

+ it occupies less space but offers bigger pages
+ the additional lateral wings allow modularity: the user can move the wings to connect with multiple pages at the same time 
+ if the user forgets something the wings give more space to write
+ the wings 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 wings 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

(see gallery for results)

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"

idea: triangle book

.materials

a4 multiple types of papers (white, cream, coloured, thicker, thinner etc..)
a4 wrong prints
amazon cardboard

.notebook analysis

.prototypes updates

.first prototype march 2022

inside overview
inside overview
inside pocket
opened
ouside cover
paper selection
side view
notebook in the wild

20.09.22

I delivered to Supi the first notebook kit: An adjustable and editable notebook with included tape and papers for continuation

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.

21.09.22

Made a prototype for chae (a multicolumned notebook: could we fold it more?)

Officially opened the notebooks (temporary) archive

30.09.22

some new ideas on how to play with the structure of the notebook..

[left page] 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. so instead of the prototype of the [notebook kit: An adjustable and editable notebook with included tape and papers for continuation], 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: the infinite notebook]. At the same time, this opens an option for loose sheets that through the use of glued tape can be attached as plain paper to the loose ones. It is bound, but free to move: the user is also able to cut out pages, re-position but also keep some they care about.

[bottom right page] the second idea instead works more on the concept of modularity: reconnect content between the three sections, making possible to have an overview of 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 triad notebook. The notebook could also be shared for multiple uses, maybe using every row differently. The question is if i am obliged to use a spiral ring or a copta could also work? need to try out

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? DOCUMENT

12-11-22

New prototype for books' annotations

Concept:

write on separate sheets and then put them together with strings or rings.

Pros:

Different paper sheets so I can write separately and then decide how to organise the notes

Cons:

I am annoyed that I cannot add things to the text if the space is finished

New:

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 unorganised 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.

December 2022

I made a new version of the notebook I had till the beginning of this semester. 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 this time to have different sections, to see if it was possible to have the content that touches specific topics in the same area. 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 use it because I do not know where to start --> GENERAL RULE: 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.

For me this interruption 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.

if it happens, most of the time the risk is that the person with the idea in mind does not want to write it down anymore, or easily runs towards a simpler and more accessible sheet of paper, that in most cases is a flat industrial notebook.

My answer to this, after writing on that notebook around 4-5 pages, has been a totally different approach than the first one: I do not use it anymore. The easiest solution is to cut it in half. (follow in January)

18 January 2023

I made a new notebook with metal rings and started to use it.

CONCEPT.

it feels better to have metal rings and the chance to position every sheet where I want.

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.

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.

PROS.

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.

FUTURE. I would like to edit the one I am already using to fix the problems I am having at the moment.

change paper

add more paper

fold paper

pay more attention when i re-organise materials

GALLERY

User:FLEM/Notebook

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