Whenever we ask people about where the stationery obsession began, something that almost always comes up is the memory of going shopping for a new pencil case at the start of term. So inevitably we have often been asked 'When will Mark+Fold do a pencil case? And what will it be like?’
Another request we’ve had many times over the years is for some kind of pouch to keep notebooks safe and clean on the go. Of course, we have been making our Leather Covers for nine years now, but this idea is slightly different. ‘Something you can zip up and stuff in your bag,’ they said.
So at the start of this year, we decided to take on both of these challenges and combine them into a small but perfectly formed range of new pencil cases and pouches. We have been busily working away on this in the background and are now pleased to let you in on the behind-the-scenes journey, and invite you to place your pre-orders for these rather lovely (if we do say so ourselves) additions to your desktop.
Made in London
As with everything Mark+Fold, we wanted these to be made as close to home as possible and we were thrilled to work with a local North East London clothing manufacturer, who are trusted by some of the most respected luxury British brands. Being able to visit locally meant that the process was a true collaboration and we're proud to be making these in our home town of London.
The process: how we designed our Pencil Case and Pouch
As you will probably be aware by now, here at Mark+Fold we are all about the details. When you design products that are this simple, there is nowhere to hide so every detail has to be just right.
Whilst working with fabrics and zips is new to some of us, our production director Helen McGowan has a background in clothing, as former production director for Margaret Howell and TOAST. So we had the dream team for developing this one.
Building the brief
As with anything we create, we started by discussing our personal likes and dislikes when it comes to pencil cases. We have all been collecting them since my school days and have had some that we've loved so much, and others that had little details that annoyed us day after day.
As with anything Mark+Fold, we are not here to make ‘just another pencil case,’ we are here to create ’the classic,’ the one you will use day after day, year after year, and get such joy from the little details that make it feel good in your hands.
From all our research and personal preferences, we came up with the following to guide our brief:
"It should slouch elegantly on my desk.""I want be able to open it and see everything inside.""I want to be able to have a good rummage and find just what I am looking for.""At the end of the day I want to zip it up with a smooth, satisfying motion: like a ritual to tell me that the day is done!"
Tweaking and more tweaking
We had samples made up based on our sketches and the dimensions of the books. Of course, once we had these in our hands, and tried them out, we realised some tweaks would be required.
The pencil case initially had very curved sides and we wanted the overall form to be more geometric, so we tweaked the pattern to straighten out the sides, whilst keeping the extra volume at the back for ‘a good handful of pens.’
The pouch was the biggest challenge. We started with a 2D shape, with a zip along the top. But soon realised that the book was a little too snug for the zip opening, and at the same time the overall pouch felt too baggy — the notebook was too loose inside, and we really wanted it to be held in place. So we spent lots of time discussing this with the factory, who were incredibly patient with us, and we looked at lots of examples of zip construction on all of the pencil cases and washbags we could find! Until we settled on a rather more complex construction, whereby the zip goes around to the side of the pouch and it we added ’sides’ to the pouch. It made things a lot more complicated to make, but we felt it was totally worth it.
We’ve never spent this much time thinking about zips!
The next important detail was the zip! Having never given this much thought, we soon became obsessed with zips and started examining the zips on all of our clothes!
We visited London Trimmings in London, which is an emporium of zips, buttons, ribbons and everything to do with haberdashery. This was the best way to see as many different options as possible, all in one place. And we ended up with a shortlist of samples to take home and try out. Of course, these were all quite similar (black, ’size 8’ ), with just micro differences between them.
So we honed in a little further on the details. We were not keen on shiny metallic zip pulls, and nor did we like the more shiny synthetic zip tapes (you can hardly see these, but we ideally we wanted this to sit nicely with the cotton canvas material). The Riri zips were proving a firm favourite at this point, and then what really swung it for us was the zip pull. Since our zips need to be custom-made for our bespoke design, we get to choose which zip pulls to have and Riri do a great range, including a circle hoop that is exactly the same size as the Mark+Fold thumbcut! So that felt fateful and our choice was made.
Pre-orders open soon
Now that all of the details have been worked through, we are very excited to be launching our pencil cases and pouches in time for summer holidays. The pouch is so versatile that we see it being used just as much for Travel Journals and passports, as for your Classic Notebook and Diary. So we hope you’ll give it a try this summer and let us know what you think!
