Field Notes Snowblind
| Snowblind | |
|---|---|
| Release Date: | First released::Winter 2015 |
| Item No.: | Item No::FNC-29 |
| Innards paper: | Paper used::Finch Paper Opaque Smooth 60#T "Bright White" |
| Edition Size: | Edition size::25,000 packs |
| Official Page: | Field Notes Snowblind |
Description[edit | edit source]
You know how when you turn your face up into the bright sunlight, even on the coldest winter day, it can totally lift your mood? Well, that’s what our latest limited-edition, seasonal release is all about. The Winter 2015 Quarterly Edition (our 29th) fulfills our ongoing promise to “try new things.” At first glance, it’s a wintry white-on-white, along the lines of our Northerly edition from a few years back, but take Snowblind out into the sunlight, and it’s a whole different story.
The covers (100# Sappi McCoy Silk cover stock) are silk-screened (a Field Notes first in itself) with two custom inks. The Field Notes logo is a pearlescent “interference” ink that glimmers and sparkles, and the rest of the book is coated in a nearly-magical “photochromic” ink that changes color when exposed to sunlight. Indoors, they’re white, outdoors they’re blue! The body pages are 60# Finch Opaque text paper marked with a very faint gray graph, and the books are bound with glossy white staples. [1]
Reception[edit | edit source]
Paper[edit | edit source]
Inks[edit | edit source]
Both inks used in this edition were custom-mixed for us and screen-printed by H&H Graphics in Vernon Hills, Ill. Interference ink contains a finely-ground powder of pearlescent pigments. It’s sometimes used for document security, since the effect is difficult to replicate and doesn’t appear on photocopies. The reflected color varies depending on the light source and the viewing angle. In this case, the ink appears clear and glossy at first glance, but sparkles with metallic colors ranging from blue to gold when viewed at an angle.
Photochromic ink changes color when exposed to a specific range of ultraviolet light. The ink appears colorless indoors, but changes to blue in about 15 seconds when exposed to a strong UV source like mid-day sunlight. The color fades away in a few minutes when removed from the UV source. The change is not permanent, and can be repeated.
These UV-sensitive pigments are fairly new to market and contain some sort of precious metals and unicorn dust that make them ridiculously expensive. Ink is usually a tiny fraction of our printing costs, but we were pretty excited about these, so let’s just say we took a bit of a hit in the ol’ profit-margin to get ’em into the world. [2]
Specifications[edit | edit source]
01. Proudly printed by the good people of eDOC Communications, Mount Prospect, Ill., and the stand-up folks at H&H Graphics, Vernon Hills, Ill.
02. Cover: Sappi McCoy 100#C "Silk White," with a thick, brute force squeegeeload of custom-mixed "Photochromic Blue" and "Interference Blue" inks.
03. Innards: Finch Paper Opaque Smooth 60#T "Bright White," with a gentle touch of "Hoar Frost" soy-based Saphira ink.
04. Outer cover screen-printed on a Sakurai cylinder automatic 40" press. Inside cover and innards printed on a Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 105 40" 6-color printing press.
05. Bound with a Heidelberg Stitchmaster ST 270 5-pocket saddle stitcher with cover feeder/scorer & Rima RS 10S in-line stacker, with appreciation to the usual suspects.
06. Corners precisely rounded to a 3/8" (9.5mm) radius with a Challenge SCM double round-corner machine.
07. Body pages intentionally left blank, a COLORS first. 48 Pages.
08. Memo book dimensions are 3–1/2"× 5–1/2" (89mm × 140mm).
09. FIELD NOTES uses only the Futura typeface family (Paul Renner, 1927) in its materials.
10. All FIELD NOTES memo books are printed and manufactured in the U.S.A.
