Field Notes is a limited edition print shop that produces quintessential booklets for all your note-taking, ideas and sketch needs.
LEGENDS OF THE FALL: At a glance, Field Notes’ Fall “Autumn Trilogy” edition (also sold here individually) seems perfectly simple, but the subtly debossed leaves and embossed logo are the result of a very complicated process. First, three beautiful cover papers were selected from Mohawk’s Via line: “Warm Red,” “Safety Yellow,” and “Scarlet Orange,” all with a vellum finish. These roughly approximate the Fall leaf colors of the North American Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum), the American Elm (Ulmus americana), and the Scarlet Oak (Quercus coccinea).
A FEW IMPRESSIONS: Using photographs for reference, the shape is traced with contours and vein patterns of each leaf into a vector file, then a “lock-up” of each cover layout with the logo and cover text. A sculptor at the diemaker then converted the flat vector files into a computer model to evaluate the tolerances for embossing and debossing, and to simulate how the covers would look under various lighting conditions before the expensive and time-consuming process of diemaking could begin. After reworking the files a bit, a master die was carved in precise detail into a brass plate on a CNC-machine, a ten-hour process for each design. Each master die was then painstakingly polished and inspected, and imperfections were cleaned up by hand. When the masters were finished, “counters” were made by pressing the master into hot resin. The counter and master were then used to make the duplicates that were necessary to stamp the artwork on multiple locations on the press sheet.
DIE ANOTHER DAY: While the dies were being made, some tests were run to determine the ink/varnish balance to best bring out the subtleties of the 3-D shapes. Too much of a tint would overwhelm the virtually “blind” emboss that we were after. Once on press, the balance was too strong, so our pressman suggested using the varnish without a tint. He was right, it was perfect. Pressmen know their stuff! After a few tweaks to the dies (and biting our nails during the ensuing 10-hour waits) the varnish-printed cover stock was delivered to the embosser, the dies were carefully aligned to the varnished areas, and the sheets were stamped.
FALLING INTO PLACE: Meanwhile, ruled body pages were printed on Finch Fine 70#T “Soft White” in gray with double top rule matched to the cover colors. Finally the books were bound with gold staples.The final result is wonderfully subtle at first glance, but a close look reveals a deeper complexity. That sounds like a pretty over-the-top way to describe pocket memo books, but we bet you’ll agree when they’re in your hands.