Designer’s Notebook
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In our first few months as designers at Chronicle Books, my colleague Brad Mead and I realized an opportunity for the publisher to better connect with one of its key audiences: people like us.
We developed a proposal and pitched the idea of a notebook that guides users through the design process while also including a reference section and essential tools such as tabs and a ruler. Chronicle Books bought the idea and published Designer’s Notebook.
The notebook continues to make an impact years later. Recently a designer reached out to me saying, “In my continued search to find another notebook for conceptual process and project-focused spaciousness, I've yet to find one that's more aligned than the one you co-created. I bought mine in 2012 and have kept it ever since, even as those projects have completed. I love it that much.”
We developed a proposal and pitched the idea of a notebook that guides users through the design process while also including a reference section and essential tools such as tabs and a ruler. Chronicle Books bought the idea and published Designer’s Notebook.
The notebook continues to make an impact years later. Recently a designer reached out to me saying, “In my continued search to find another notebook for conceptual process and project-focused spaciousness, I've yet to find one that's more aligned than the one you co-created. I bought mine in 2012 and have kept it ever since, even as those projects have completed. I love it that much.”
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/265e970a27088eb5f97daae67c784113413a00506b672375047217097423382d/Schapiro_DesignersNotebook_31.jpg)
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![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f3c50d2a50367a937754e7c4f0c1ceb3f9ffc75f539da84598c0e82b3fa5ead3/Schapiro_Portfolio_0019.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/649feb8525aa358a3f86841991d13abb4790891106660ccc6edaab66d77214ee/Schapiro_DesignersNotebook_32.jpg)