Where can I get a custom designed notebook from?

Question

There are people out there who are just like me. We rarely memorize information just for the purpose of having it. We use Google to know things and we look things up as we need them. We are those people that keep a notepad handy for writing down everything so that we don't have to remember it but do know where to retrieve the information.

My question for the community is "Where can I get a custom designed notebook?" I don't mean a pocket book that has a custom cover. I am talking about choosing the number of pages dedicated to a calendar, dedicated to financial transactions, and dedicated to just normal note-taking. I would love to have something that specifically meets my recording needs and still fits in my shirt-pocket. A big thank you from all of us note-taking freaks!

Answer 1

There's a company that had a Kickstarter project hit over the summer that lets you build you own custom bound journals. The company is called Bound Custom Journals and seems like it'd do what you want. If you want to see more details of how their process works, you can check out their Kickstarter page.

Answer 2

The whole Filofax concept works like this - you have a binder and a vast range of inserts you buy to fill it.

The link I have given you is a UK one, but I think they are available everywhere.

(aside: I used to use one, but these days I seem to use 5 different small notebooks which live in different places - one by the computer, one by the cooker, one in my jacket.... not sure if I am less or more efficient now)

Answer 3

The Levenger Company makes a notebook called the Circa Notebook that allows you to add custom pages (i.e., day planner, graph paper, lined paper, etc...) in any order and number that you like. They also sell a paper punch that will make any leaf compatible with the notebook should you need something more custom.

Answer 4

If you know what pages you want, print them out yourself and have it bound at a place like Fedex Office (formerly Kinko's). This site DIYPlanner has great templates available for free in many different sizes.

Answer 5

I'm surprised nobody mentioned the Hipster PDA yet. It puts all the configuration back into your hands, and together with the alreay mentioned templates found at D-I-Y Planner, it's probably the most flexible and customizable solutions. Searching the web for both terms spills out many more templates, examples, and articles detailling their use.

Answer 6

If you can't use InDesign, you could hire a designer then get a one off print from a company that can do binding which would be rather expensive; or, print everything yourself and then bind it with string.

P.S. On an average lithographic print run, it doesn't get cost effective until you're printing > 5000 copies.

Answer 7

You could design your own here: http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/ and generate a pdf you can take to be printed and bound.

Answer 8

I made exactly the book you are suggesting for a friend's birthday - suprisingly quick and easy... http://lifehacker.com/5867554/how-to-make-print-and-bind-your-own-books