People seem to want to digitize everything these days. An improved stylus for your tablet allows you to take notes right in OneNote or Evernote. Drawing apps eliminate the need to carry a sketchbook and a slew of drawing supplies. But sometimes paper is still the best tool for the job. Sometimes the solution that can handle everything, such as a phone or tablet, doesn’t handle the one thing you need.
Princeton Architectural Press has put out a book called Grids & Guides along with separate Grids & Guides notepads. Both are 6″ x 9″ and a great size to toss in your bag. The book contains eight different kinds of paper, including Cartesian grid, isometric grid, ledger table, log-log plot, reticle grid, architectural plan grid, storyboard grid, and polar graph & unit circle. It also includes handy references pages with information such as orders of magnitude, classical mechanics, carpentry, alternative alphabets, and the human skeleton.
These pages are technical paper for sure, but don’t let that stop you from using them for your creative side. The isometric and Cartesian papers, in particular, are perfect for creating designs or Minecraft plans. And the storyboard pages can help plan your next graphic novel or movie.
When you use up the pages in the book, order the Grids & Guides notepads, which contain one each of 1/8-inch grid, isometric grid, and log-log plot pads. The pack also includes some scientific reference material as well.
Grids & Guides and the related notepads are affordable and extremely useful for creative and technical types alike. If you like to sketch out ideas, doodle during meetings, or just see where your mind takes you, check these out.
Note: I received a book and a pack of notebooks for review purposes.
-1 for not including studs-up Lego graph paper.
I highly agree. Although in our home, we’re pretty ‘digitized’ ourselves, we have a stock or notebooks, pens, and all kinds of paper. Nothing beats that spur of the moment feeling and just letting your pen (or pencil) glide over the smooth surface. No digital device can mimic that. I even bring grid notebooks I ordered from http://gridbooks.com/ to work so I don’t miss an idea. For me, it’s just too pesky to whip out my smartphone.