Our process

Take a peek behind the shutters at our beachside factory in Northumberland, where we design, print, bind and assemble our collection.

The functionality of our products hinges on the quality of the materials that we use. We are fortunate to have most of our production and assembly processes under one roof, which gives us greater control over our material selection and manufacturing methods. At each stage of production, we source high-quality materials with the lowest possible environmental impact. Improvement in these areas is a never-ending pursuit, and we enjoy testing new materials, equipment, and production techniques whenever possible.

Paper and Print.

Our books begin life as large, single sheets of paper.

Our notebook paper is currently sourced from a Swedish paper mill, the first in its industry to receive Cradle to Cradle accreditation for its responsible, low-impact production methods.

Our sketchbooks use paper from Cumbria, one of the last of its kind in the United Kingdom and only a short drive from our Northumberland factory.

Notebooks with layouts are printed via offset lithography by our hometown manufacturing partners (and neighbours), Martins the Printers.

Folding & Sewing

The paper is then machine-folded into either 8- or 16-page booklets, known as signatures or sections.

These sections are then machine-sewn in-house in sets of 10 using a method known as Smyth sewing or Section sewing.

This stage is crucial for durability and the books’ eventual lay-flat capabilities.

For the time being, we use recycled poly-cotton thread for its strength and durability, but we are hunting for a suitable plastic-free alternative; so far, we have yet to find one that can withstand the strain of the sewing machine. We’re planning a second round of testing of degradable samples in the near future and are looking forward to sharing the results.

Binding

These unprocessed sewn signatures, known as book blocks, are then prepped for binding. The sewing machine leaves a small amount of slack in each thread on every book block, which we tighten by hand. This is a time-consuming process but has a big impact on the neatness of the finished book.

These sewn book blocks are then placed in stacks of between ten and twenty in a book press, and a thin layer of PVA glue is applied to their spines with a brush or roller.

When dry, PVA is highly flexible; although not fully degradable, it has a relatively low environmental impact. We are also keeping our eyes peeled here for plastic-free alternatives being developed, as this would be the last piece in the puzzle for a fully degradable book.

Most large-scale book manufacturers do not use PVA as a binding adhesive due to its relatively long drying time and the need to apply it by hand.

For us, though, it is definitely worth the extra effort to make our books truly lay-flat.

We also like having a more traditional, manual task as such an integral part of our production process. It gives us greater control over our products and enhances the hand-finished quality of the books.

Covering

Our covering material is sourced from the Netherlands. Both our hard cover and flex covers are from companies that have impressive, innovative approaches to sustainability and are relatively close to home.

The cover board also arrives in large sheets and is cut to size by us before we blind-deboss our logo on the back cover using our mid-century Kluge platen foil stamper.

Although designed over 100 years ago, the Kluge is still perfectly up to the task. We like to run old pieces of kit like this where we can; they’re much easier to service and maintain, which is great for environmental impact, and are generally much more enjoyable to use.

We then affix our fabric tab by hand to the inside of the back cover or each book using a simple jig.

The bound book blocks are then passed through a Schmedt PräLeg casing-in machine, which rolls a thin layer of PVA onto each side. The front and back covers are then applied by hand.