Build-A-Notebook

(top image by Adrian Lasrado)

November 2018
Github repository

I developed and led a seminar in the Columbia Makerspace in order to teach students how to build their own customizable notebook, based on my previous sketchbook design.

The design consists of:

a laser-cut acrylic front cover
a laser-cut acrylic back cover
a synthetic leather spine
laser-cut acrylic inserts
paper sections bound by staples or string
and a combination of metal rivets and string to hold it all together

This was by far the largest event I’ve ever hosted to date – the Facebook event quickly garnered interest from over 900 people! This was far too many for the Makerspace to accommodate, so I had to cap attendance at 100 people spread out across 4 different time slots.

The laser-cut parts were designed in Adobe Illustrator. All of the design files and the Bill of Materials are available on Github under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license. If you decide to host your own version of this seminar, I’d love to hear about it!