About six months
ago I was sitting at my desk and I remembered a game I used to play with my son, Jerry. We would sit down with a sheaf of blank paper and one of
us would make a squiggle with a pen or pencil. The other person’s job was to
try to add to the squiggle in such a way that it was transformed into a
recognizable picture of something. Then the roles would be reversed and so the
game went on.
It struck me
that most people like to doodle, either when they are on the phone, or waiting
in a doctor’s waiting room, or during a long and tedious lecture in class. The
only problem with doodling is that often you can find yourself doodling on
lined paper, which somewhat spoils the work of art. So while I was sitting
there musing about the various merits and demerits of this abstruse conundrum I
had a flash of inspiration. What if there was a notebook that had blank spaces
on every page, so that someone could doodle away in them without the effect
being marred by lines running through it. And what if one of those spaces had
starter squiggle, just like in the game. And so the idea for the
Doodle Space Notebook was midwifed into the world and became a reality.
It took me a
while to draw out a squiggle on each page and I found it surprisingly
difficult not to repeat myself after a while. Nevertheless I persevered and
after grueling toil and frustration I managed to produce the 100-page notebook
and start selling it on Amazon.
The blurb on
the back of the notebook goes like this:
“The Doodle Space Notebook is the only
notebook that leaves proper space for doodling. Everyone doodles from time to
time. How annoying is it when you’ve just completed an epic doodle only to have
the effect spoiled by the lines on the page disfiguring your artwork? The
Doodle Space Notebook solves this problem. Each page has, not just one, but
three spaces in which you can doodle away to your heart’s content, while
filling the surrounding lines with notes, poetry, nasty comments about your
neighbors or any other literary masterpiece you like. Each of the 100 pages
contains a starter squiggle that you are challenged to make into something
recognizable by drawing on it using the squiggle as a basis. The Doodle Space
Notebook combines sketchbook and notepad in a wonderful blend of art and
literature that you won’t find in any other notebook or journal. It also comes
with a tasteful and elegant cover that is reminiscent of the Victorian journals
and diaries of many moons ago. All in all, the Doodle Space Notebook is a
welcome addition to all the other notebooks, journals and scribble pads that
you have collected over the years and can take pride of place on any bookshelf.”
So if you’re
bored and find that you are of an artistic bent why not invest in your very own
boredom-cracker in the shape of a handsome multi-purpose notebook. It’s
available on Amazon.com for the ridiculously low price of $6.99 (and it’s even
cheaper in the UK).
Labels: Doodle Space Notebook, doodling
