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A stack of paper with an ornamented or garnished cover -- notebooks are used for a variety of purposes, from making notes to journaling, writing and often for sketch or drawing purposes. People who love to take quick notes, draw or compose usually have such notebooks. The more artistic the notebook, the more elegant the person's choice is a common perception.
Notebooks used to be household items sold in every stationery. Today, however, notebooks have left stationaries to enhance online platforms' product variations. Entrepreneurs are coming up with creative ideas and designs for notebooks, making them a complementary fashion element.
Innovative online stores of stationery items own a huge collection of notebooks. Handmade, uniquely designed, motif-based, thematic, traditional, non-traditional, irregular-shaped - all sorts of notebooks are available in online shops.
The sellers even experiment with handmade, parchment, recycled, and woven paper pages. There are variations in formation, too, like spiral, composition, business, pocket size, journals etc. We have listed here the most popular destinations for notebooks on social media and other online platforms.
Dhakayeah
With a fusion of the old and modern Dhaka cultures, Dhakayeah is a well-known art gallery based in Dhaka. The platform identifies itself as a visual poetry of a bustling city filled with nostalgia and motivated by the customs and cultures of Dhaka. With its beautiful graphics, Dhakayeah celebrates the capital Dhaka with its aesthetic illustrations. It aims to preserve traditional Dhaka for people around the globe. So they ship their illustrated posters all over the world.
Dhakayeah's colourful prints scream to be displayed in any art enthusiast's room. The posters' names are also enticing, for instance - 'Stardust memories,' 'Cast a spell on me,' 'Dacca gothic,' and others.
In 2019, Dhakayeah decided to start producing diaries and notebooks. It decided to showcase its products at The Dhaka Lit Fest, the perfect place to experiment with customer reactions to its products. A big segment of its customer base has always desired to see the artwork on items they use daily.
Dhakayeah's themes are largely based on Dhaka's whimsical, fun and dreamlike imageries. Often the illustrations, which are the most popular ones in terms of sales, are turned into hardcover notebooks. One of the most popular names is 'Winter in old Dhaka,' depicting an alley in old Dhaka at night with the Ahsan Manzil towering over the neighbourhood and a bride about to elope with her beloved. Another is 'Shakespeare Sadarghat', where there are boats and launches of Sadarghat and duplets having love affairs.
Jothashilpo
A well-known brand of notebooks is Jhothashilpo. It is a Dhaka-based business working to preserve Bangladesh's traditional folk arts in many parts of the nation. It attempts to close the gap between regional craftspeople and the contemporary commercial system.
Jothashilpo began operating professionally in 2016. Artists from Kushtia, Jamalpur, Pabna, Tangail, Rajbari, Sylhet, and Barguna provide genuine handmade goods. The platform has been appealing since it supports women and traditional art.
One of its most well-known products is the hand-stitched cover for notebooks. Additionally, it has notebooks that have been painted, embroidered, or have a jamdani theme. The price range is reasonable, too, so this makes an excellent present for anyone.
One of its most well-known products is the hand-stitched cover for notebooks. Additionally, it has notebooks that have been painted, embroidered, rickshaw arts, cinema banners or have a jamdani theme. These notebooks' prices are reasonable, making them an excellent present for anyone.
Sevendaysnotes
Are we ignoring the straightforward act of putting pen to paper to create magic in this age of smartphones, computers, and all the advanced technologies at our fingertips? Are we losing the ability to write, which has sparked the development of magnificent books, great civilisations, and magic?
Sevendaysnotes is here to preserve the lovely habit of taking out a notepad and jotting down one's innermost ideas or a simple doodle that expresses one's love for a certain location, person, or perhaps even a particular moment. Using symbols and signs to express our innermost feelings, dreams, emotions, and creativity on a blank paper is no less than magic.
Since Sevendaysnotes values the craft of writing and the enduring charm it produces, it manufactures custom paper notebooks and paper accessories. The shop also believes that a poet or artist may remain hidden in our souls, waiting to discover the most exquisite corners of our minds. It believes its creative and aesthetic works can bring those hidden corners into the light. Currently, Sevendaysnotes is planning to make notebooks specifically customised for specific regions.
Khata Khori
Although Khata Khori initiated online, they opened a warehouse within the first six months and an outlet in Jamal Khan, Chittagong, within a year. They are popular for quality notebooks, memo pads, sketch/drawing pads and bookmarks. All paper products here are budget-friendly.
Khata Khori has a unique matchbox-sized quick note named 'Retro matchbox mini memo pad.' These are easy to carry, usable for office purposes and can also be gifted.
The entrepreneur Masud Habib shared about Khata Khori products, "We try to give the product a vintage feel by avoiding a bit of shine. Keeping the trends in mind, we set theme, choose covers or concepts. We also focus on educational and public awareness messages."
Recently Khata Khori launched a FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 notebook with Messi winning the World Cup. It broke their previous single-day sales record. Vintage notebook collections with Che Guevara, Marlin Monroe, Satyajit Ray and Rabindranath Tagore are available here. Besides, Bangladesh-themed and modern art-printed notebooks can also be found in their collection.
Craft Berry
Craft Berry sells resin-made products, including pendants, earrings, finger rings, jars, photo frames, bookmarks, clocks, key chains, coasters, notebooks and showpieces.
Among all, notebooks are given extra care in production as people would pen down their secrets there.
"Different stores widely sell notebooks. We wanted to stand out which is why we chose to make resin-covered notebooks," shared the founders of Craft Berry Nusrat Jahan and Noshin Nowal.
A resin-covered notebook requires resin, flowers, flakes, pigments, glitter etc. Since most raw materials are foreign products, the prices are higher than regular notebooks.
Bookandread.com
Bookandread.com is a bookstore with a few collections of notebooks led by its owner Atikur Rahman. It has both online and spot purchase options. The vintage notebooks with parchment paper and leather covers are attractive -- exactly the kind of notebooks we have seen in movies used by the explorers or the discoverers. Bookandread.com brings these from Rajasthan, India.
Bookandread.com's vintage leather journals are exquisite and fashionable and are expertly made by professionals. They are crafted with handmade paper and leather. The hard leather covers are said to be of ox and buffalo. Fresh cotton is used to make the handcrafted unruled deckle edge paper. The cover colour gives these notebooks an antique, vintage and classic look.
These notebooks are large and have conventional lock mechanisms. The thick leather coverings are engraved with lucrative designs. They are perfect as wedding gifts, thank-you presents, farewell gifts or gifts for special people. They can be used as a personal diary, spell book, memory journal, personal organiser, poetry journal, pregnancy log, and more. Pens made of feathers and set in stone, attached to the notebooks, make them even better. Strong hand-stitched bindings ensure their sustaining lifetime.