Eleventy: Tamara Shopsin's Five Year Diary

This past Christmas my friend's mom got her a ten year diary. The basic idea is that there is one page for each date, but the page is broken up into ten sections, one for each year in the decade. So, you go through the diary page by page, only writing in the top section. (Incidentally, the limited space makes it less intimidating to keep up with.) At the end of the year you start over again, and write in the next section down, repeating until you've filled it up. The fun of it is that along the way, you're looking back at what you were doing exactly a year ago, two years ago, three years ago, etc. As soon as my friend showed it to me, I suddenly felt like my life was slipping away from me, and I needed to get one for myself right away before I "lost" any more time.

But, as you can see if you follow that link, that ten-year journal is now unavailable, so I had to do some looking around, and I fell upon this five year one that I like way more anyway (from a design perspective anyway).

I found it while browsing my favorite local bookshop Hennessey + Ingalls, which is just a paradise of books and magazines about graphic design and art. The designer of the book is Tamara Shopsin, apparently related to a family in NYC who runs a restaurant with an odd distribution arm for "novelties", including this book and many of Tamara's other designs. (Still not quite sure what that's all about – there appears to be some other entity involved called crazy1eye too. I'll have to investigate next time I'm in New York... Let me know if you've got the scoop on these people!)

I love the illustration on the cover. And I really love the fabric – itty bitty pinstripes. (They kind of remind me of a prison mattress...but not in a bad way?)

One interesting thing about this diary is that you write in the years yourself, so you can start it at any time. There is also a book log in the back where you can record what you've read...I guess so you don't forget?

And, a travelogue with an awesome world map. It actually spills over onto the next spread from the page you see above. The map is credited to "Eric Gaba based on Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion Sky-Ocean World Map." Any design based on Bucky F is good by me!

One last thing about the book that these pictures don't show: the diary's proportions, and the feel of it in your hands, are very charming. It's pretty small and narrow, so it fits nicely in your palm. And, the book board is really thin (but still stiff – it's definitely hardcover). I can't really explain the quality that lends... like it's someone's homemade book project or something. Anyway, check out your local art book store and just hold one. (And, if they don't carry it, ask them to!)

And I think I'll close this post with some of Tamara's other items that I found amusing, in case you don't have time to check out the links up top...

"Count the Triangles" post card set