ITO BINDERY’s Drawing Pad has no cover. People who pick it up for the first time sometimes ask, “Why doesn’t it have a cover?”
Most notebooks and sketchbooks have a cover to protect the pages inside. But the Drawing Pad is a little different.
What we value is being able to enter directly into the act of writing.
The Drawing Pad originally began with the idea of creating a tool for creators.
To begin working immediately, without opening a cover.
And then:
Draw.
Tear off.
File away.
We wanted these actions to flow as rhythmically as possible. Even the small action of opening a cover can slightly interrupt the rhythm of drawing.
The Drawing Pad took shape through repeatedly reflecting on these ideas.
The backing board of the Drawing Pad is made from recycled paperboard produced from used corrugated cardboard.
It has enough thickness and firmness to provide stability, whether held in the hand or placed on the lap. Because of this, it can be used naturally even without a cover.
The header section is also finished with micro perforation processing.
After writing, each sheet can be cleanly torn away, down to the very last page.
One visitor to our shop once told us that they keep the sheets they wrote on in their Drawing Pad, tearing them off and storing them, then looking back at them after a certain amount has accumulated.
Without a cover, they felt able to continuously write down ideas as they came to mind. By doing so, they could later look back and trace how their thoughts gradually came together, and how ideas took shape over time.
They also mentioned that seeing the accumulated sheets gave them a sense of how far they had progressed.
Reducing stress during use as much as possible is also something we value deeply.
Rather than adding unnecessary elements, we carefully refine only what is essential.
The Drawing Pad was created from this way of thinking.
The absence of a cover is not the result of stripping something away. It is the form we arrived at by thinking carefully about the act of writing itself.
To pick it up and begin writing immediately.
That natural flow is something we continue to value.