Introducing Dwight Livingstone Curtis, a New York-based writer who’s here to tell us about the many uses of a Shinola notebook. Take it away Dwight:
A notebook is more than just a .doc: it’s an artifact, a mark in time, a record of the act of creation. It’s a seismograph for your subway rides around the city, a bib for your coffees in the park, a shield and a pencil case and a portfolio. And, like a baseball cap or a pair of jeans, a notebook benefits from a little scuffing. The shine becomes a patina, the edges curl to fit your back pocket, and it starts to appear and disappear in a flash of muscle memory. Before you know it you’re writing on the inside back cover and it’s time to move on to a fresh one.
A Shinola notebook is a good place to start. They’re made by hand in Michigan by Edwards Brothers Malloy, who have been doing this for over a century. We’ve partnered with them to produce a line of linen-covered notebooks in three sizes, with hard- and soft-covers, plain, lined, and squared formats, and acid-free paper sourced in sustainably-maintained North American forests. We also offer thinner notebooks with paper covers. Whatever’s on your mind, we make a notebook to hold it.
Check out to see some photos of the ways we’ve seen our notebooks put to use by artists and writers, designers, a bartender, a back-of-the-envelope mathematician, even an enterprising Upper East Side botanist. Do you use one yourself? If so, we’d love to see how. Send photos to info@shinola.com, and we’ll post our favorites.
Each notebook comes with pop-out cardboard tools: here, a ruler and stencil, which can be stored in a folder in the inside back cover.
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A Manhattan bartender’s original recipes, shown against his home bar.
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Thick, acid-free pages hold ink—or watercolor paint—without bleeding through.
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A selection of pressed fauna from East 96th St.
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Still life with flowers.
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No idea too big.
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Writing and photography by Dwight Livingstone Curtis.