Writing in style — the notebook edition

Hardly anyone writes anything by hand in class these days. Other than some really strict schools, university classes are less and less paper based as students either record their lectures or read handouts from their phones, and the art of beautiful writing seems to be losing out.  

Office memos are also now email-based and printouts have replaced writing by hand. Note taking appears to be lost art, as more and more things are recorded.  

But notebooks, so attractive, often colourful, and most often offering smooth and superior paper quality, are still selling! The variety in good notebooks, especially with creative covers and good quality paper are quite hard to come by, but stationery shops never fail to stock-up on notebooks. Some youths use notebooks as a medium of self-expression and passion for their favourite shows, characters and fandoms. Even made-for-office-use notebooks apply a personal and professional touch to one's work space, as well as instil a thought to identity or belonging with the job. 

Buying it

To begin with, just about any well-known stationery store sells notebooks. If you are looking for something to write down on a day-to-day to-do list, you are better off staying away from the 200-plus page ones used for math classes.

Also what you write with matters. Gel pens work best with thicker paper; fast note takers need smooth pages; ball points with thicker nibs need paper with a bit of grain — everyone has his or her unique writing style which needs a specific type of writing surface. 

So before buying the notebooks some testing and mulling is bound to happen.

where to buy?

Newmarket's Modern Stationery and Angel Stationery offer a good selection. Starting from mid-ranged ones to fancy imported notebooks costing Tk 1000 for a 50-page writing pad, these stores have got you covered. In fact, New Market's Azimpur Gate side (south side) has a horde of stores waiting to be explored. Nilkhet too has a variety of stationery shops on the outskirts of the maze like structure. Gyankosh is another store that has a variety of notebooks suitable for every possible use. A rule of thumb is, where there is a school or university, there is at least one stationery shop that sells good notebooks. 

Let's not forget the online side of things. Customised notebooks can be ordered from 'Woodpecker' or 'Banana' via Facebook as well as from a host of other upcoming sites. Officesupplybd.com offers stationery as well as office notebooks, as do online book sellers like Papertree and Rokomari.

DIY

Making a notebook of your own is not too hard, and also allows for a lovely hobby. The easiest and simplest way to do it is to get some common printing paper, cutting it into a desired shape, and then binding it. 

Stores now offer a variety of binding methods other than the typical spiral binding. If you are willing to go the extra mile in customising, try sewing the pages just like a book.

YouTube tutorials are a good guide for beginners. Once you have mastered your pages, it is only matter of time before the covers are glued or sewed on. The final product will stand as a testament of creative capacity. One tip for DIY notebook makers is to leave the front cover blank. It acts as a canvas to doodle on during boring classes or draw on. Whatever the content on the inside, the cover will stand as the identifying statement of the user.

Writing by hand may have taken a back stage, but there are people out there who hoard notebooks just for the cover and the paper quality. Branded notebook brands like Moleskin still have not splashed into the scene, but that does not mean local brands like 'Hearts' or 'Bashundhara'  are lagging behind. All that remains now for the note taker is to pick his or her favourite.

By Iris Farina

Photo: Collected