Field Notes began in 2007 in Chicago, inspired by the agricultural memo books that American seed and farm supply companies gave away to farmers in the early twentieth century. Co-founder Aaron Draplin, graphic designer and typographic obsessive, took that utilitarian tradition and turned it into something with genuine cult status. Today, Field Notes Brand is one of the most collected stationery brands in the world, with a devoted following built on limited edition releases, meticulous production specs, and a philosophy that can be summed up in their motto: "I'm not writing it down to remember it later, I'm writing it down to remember it now."
The Format
Every Field Notes memo book is 3½" × 5½" (89mm × 140mm), pocket-sized, saddle-stitched, and built to be used. They use only the Futura typeface family throughout all their materials, a detail that speaks to the brand's design rigour. All Field Notes products are printed and manufactured in the USA.
The Range at Pure Pens
The Original Kraft is where it all starts - 48-page memo books in graph, ruled, plain, or mixed packs. The cover is French Dur-O-Tone "Packing Brown Wrap" with a single hit of black ink. Simple, honest, and exactly right.
Pitch Black takes the same format and strips it back further - black covers, black staples, available in ruled or dot-graph. Introduced in 2013, it became one of Field Notes' most popular books almost immediately.
The National Parks series is a collaboration with The Fifty-Nine Parks Print Series, featuring illustrated covers celebrating America's national parks. Pure Pens stocks all six series (A through F), covering 18 parks from Yosemite and Acadia to Glacier, Hawai'i Volcanoes, and the Everglades. Five percent of sales goes to the National Parks Service.
Expedition notebooks are built for the outdoors - printed on Yupo Synthetic paper, which is waterproof and tearproof. The covers reference Antarctica, with a topographic map in spot varnish. These are for when a regular notebook won't survive the conditions.
The Left-Handed edition is identical to the Original Kraft Ruled, but with the staples on the opposite side and the direction reversed, a thoughtful detail for the ten percent of writers who've always had to make do.
Field Notes and Fountain Pens
Field Notes paper is not specifically optimised for fountain pens, the 60# Finch Opaque body paper can show some bleed-through with very wet nibs or heavily saturated inks. For drier writers and finer nibs (EF or F), they perform well. The Expedition's Yupo Synthetic paper is not suitable for fountain pens; use pencil or ballpoint. For fountain pen-specific use, the Original Kraft plain or graph packs are the safest choice.
For a broader look at fountain pen-friendly paper, see our Fountain Pen Paper Guide and our roundup of Fountain Pen Friendly Notebooks.
Shop Field Notes at Pure Pens
Browse the full Field Notes range at Pure Pens.