Lines from Launch LA: Field Notes serves up the write stuff
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
New trade show Launch LA, which opened its doors at Santa Monica Airportâs Barker Hangar, delivered on its promise to serve up a smartly curated mix of apparel, footwear and accessories that spoke to the Southern California lifestyle, but the first brand I want to highlight isnât a clothing label. Itâs a pocket-sized notebook.
To be honest, Iâve known about Field Notes for a while now, ever since my wife picked up a three-pack of the 48-page stapled graph paper memo books ($9.95) during a J. Crew shopping trip. It was part of the brandâs 50-state âCounty Fairâ collection and each of the blue, red and yellow covers (representing the ribbon colors awarded at a county fair) was printed with the name and outline of the state of California.
At first I didnât think anyone would share my obsession with the retro-flavored, decidedly analog note-taking medium, but when I recently gave one to my sister-in-law and she immediately held it aloft and proclaimed it âso Wes Anderson,â I realized she had a point.
Designed, printed and manufactured in the U.S. using the Futura typeface (this information is among the facts printed inside the back cover), theyâre exactly the kind of thing youâd expect to see turn up in the hands of a character from Andersonâs latest movie, âMoonrise Kingdom.â
In a partnership between Portland, Ore.-based Draplin Design Co. and Chicago-based Coudal Partners, Aaron Draplin found inspiration to create the 5-year-old companyâs flagship product in the old-school agricultural memo book used by crop inspectors and farmers.
Michele Seiler, who was representing the brand at Launch LA, said J. Crew started stocking their wares several years ago. âWeâd decided we didnât want to go into stationery stores where weâd be competing with a bunch of other brands, and focused on menâs fashion stores where weâd be seen as a $10 add-on to a $100 purchase.â
And there is a certain element of seasonal style to the books, especially the limited-edition runs of specific colors (including neon hues for summer and icy whites for winter 2011) and themed editions like the aforementioned 2010 County Fair edition (which Seiler says has been so popular that it has been brought back as a permanent offering) and a red-covered fall 2011 âFire Spotterâ edition (âcelebrating forestry and tall towersâ).
The most recent, for spring 2012, which harks back to the memo booksâ agricultural roots, is the âNational Cropâ edition ($23.95): custom-boxed sets of six notebooks, each paying tribute to one of Americaâs top six (legal) crops; corn, soybeans, hay, wheat, cotton and sorghum. Each of the 7,500 boxes in the limited run also contains an embroidered logo patch.
Is it silly to fall in love with a tiny little memo book? Probably. But itâs a whole lot less silly than falling in love and not having some place to jot it down.
Local stockists can be found at the Field Notes website, which also offers an e-commerce option.
ALSO:
New SoCal trade show set for July 2012
Fashion critic Booth Moore shops the coast
Kendall Jenner is Beverly Centerâs face of FNO
-- Adam Tschorn