Pull double-duty on your next business outing with the Hankie Notebook ($10). This ingenious invention offers up 60 ruled pages of acid-free paper for your writing enjoyment, while the unique design resembles a folded handkerchief, letting the whole thing hide out in plain sight. Available in white, blue, or red, each with a subtle dot pattern. [Scouted by Shannon]
If you think the name refers to notebooks that look like slices of bread and arrive in "loaf" packaging, well, you'd be exactly correct. The 160-page Sliced Bread Notebook ($60/12-pack) arrives in packs of a dozen notebooks, each stacked together to resemble a loaf of sliced bread and individually numbered so that you can use one for each month, keep track of your notes, or simply continue your crazy routine of only touching things with the number eight on them.
Google Maps may have spoiled your appreciation for old-school paper maps, but one look at David Imus' The Essential Geography of the United States of America ($13-$40) is bound to restore your faith. Created by Imus, alone, over the course of two years' worth of seven-day work weeks, this 50" x 35.3" masterpiece features meticulously laid-out typography, chosen to maximize the amount of information displayed while retaining readability, with emphasis on topography. [via]
It doesn't take a scientist to tell you that sitting on your can all day isn't the healthiest of lifestyles, but if your work requires hour after hour of computer time, what else are you to do? Get yourself one of these Steelcase Walkstations ($4,400 and up). Designed specifically for working while you walk, the Walkstation integrates a treadmill — designed specifically to operate quietly at slow speeds — with an ergonomic, adjustable-height desk, keeping you on your feet and away from the doctor's office.
Behold the awesome old school goodness of these vintage-printed, buttery-soft Homage T-Shirts. They turn back the clock with shout outs to eclectic moments and personalities in sports, music, politics and popular culture. From Bruce Lee to Larry Bird, the tees tell stories of triumph, individualism and hustle. Pay Homage.
Any former art school student knows the drag of carrying around a box filled with various pencils, pens, and other tools of the trade. With the Travelteq Pencil Holder (€65, roughly $85) you can ditch the box for a stylish roll — assuming you can make due with color pencils. Made by hand using Florentine Vacchetta leather, this unique accessory has slots cut for 19 pencils, and even includes some high-quality colors from Bryunzeel.
If you're anything like us, you'll be doing as much of your holiday shopping as possible online — and that means lots and lots of boxes. To get all of those open with minimal effort and permanent scarring, we suggest the Slice Box Cutter ($20). A 2011 red dot Design Award Winner, the Slice sports a hand-sharpened, retractable, adjustable-length ceramic blade with a rounded tip to safely and quickly cut through tape and cardboard — but hopefully not the contents — while the unique design ensures your hand stays out of the way. [Scouted by Jerry]
Our favorite notebooks just got a little more... fiery. Designed to serve as a companion for the diligent men and women who have kept watch of our forests for 100 years, the Field Notes Fire Spotter Notebook ($10/3-pack) features "Electric Red" construction cover stock, "FIRE SPOTTER" printed by hand on a vintage Miehle vertical press, three included temporary tattoos, and all-new light-gray "dot grid" interior pages, which may be worth the order all by themselves.
Put your million-dollar app idea on paper with these UI Stencil Kits ($27). With versions for the iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows Phone, and the web, the kits consist of a stainless steel interface stencil and a pretty great Zebra mechanical pencil. For perfect wireframing, you'll need to pick up a matching device sketch pad ($14).
You don't have to be that old to remember when calculators were cool — and now you can celebrate that bygone era with an HP Limited Edition Calculator ($80). While its landscape layout is slightly less revolutionary than it was 30 years ago when it launched, the 12c — its official name — is still a handsomely retro tool featuring a 10 character display, a RPN entry-system logic, over 120 built-in functions, 20 memory registers, a unique production number laser-etched on the back, a special, limited-edition gift box, and, for the financial gurus in the crowd, is good for use in CFP and CFA certification exams. [via]
When you're in a creative groove, you don't need anything breaking your flow — and that goes double for your writing utensil. The Rotring 600 Drafting Pencil ($33) is a Japan-only dream with a nearly-perfect weight and feel, an all metal brass body with knurled grip and lead grade indicator, a fixed 4 mm sleeve, a clip, and an eraser under the top cap. Also available in silver.
Go beyond the simple pen cup and add a piece of rustic flair to your office environment with a Reclaimed Timber Desk Caddy ($45). Made from antique reclaimed fir timbers, coated in a non-toxic finish, and sporting a number of differently-sized holes, these simple organizers are ready to hold all your most-used tools, big or small.
Love Hi-Tec-C pens but not so enthusiastic about their pedestrian plastic housings? Let the Pen Type-A ($50) come to your rescue. Milled and turned from a solid block of 304 stainless steel, this unique writing instrument supports both Pilot Hi-Tec-C and G-Tec-C Cartridges in a variety of colors and widths, as well as a finish that is made to outlast your desire to hand write anything and a nifty storage sleeve that doubles as a ruler.