“We feel that people get their best ideas at the most random places,” explained Ricky Navarro of Pocket Wires. “So we decided to make a book for designers to sketch their iPhone app ideas.”

The result is the Pocket Wireframe book from Pocket Wires, a little notebook intended to help app designers place their ideas into context right away. Ricky Navarro and Tom Gurka are the duo behind the project.

The interior pages of the Pocket Wireframe book feature an iPhone 4s template, complete with hash marks to show the location of the status bar,and top and bottom navigation, in both landscape and portrait orientation. This way, application designers can see what their designs look like at actual size.

The inner cover features a key to guide new app designers through the layout of the phone screen.

Pocket Wires took a series of fun photographs featuring their books in use in those “random places” that Ricky mentioned: at the bus stop, at the coffee shop, on the sidewalk…the perfect pocket size of the Scout Book enables you to keep it with you at all times—because you never know when inspiration will strike.

The Pocket Wireframe notebooks are available on the Pocket Wires website for $5 each or $12 for a three-pack. The books are available in bulk quantities at wholesale pricing, so if your entire office needs a pocket-sized wireframe notebook, give these guys a call. Pocket Wires is aiming to get them into art school bookstores and art supply stores in the near future, so keep your eyes peeled.

Thank you to Pocket Wires for the photographs!

Wedding invitation design. Portrait photography. Vintage heels. Handmade scarves.

Are you excited yet? Because you should be. The Weaver House is poised and ready to launch as a creative studio that offers these exciting goods and services—and so much more. Sister duo Hannah Olavarria and Kelty Luber have long had solo creative practices as OLA Collection and Steep Street, but this year they decided to join forces.

They added Scout Books to their growing catalog of goods and treats soon to be available for sale in their online shop. The pocket notebook will join large prints of found vintage photographs and postcards designed by the Weaver House ladies. They created an amazing video to showcase their wares and offerings. Check it out!

Their need for Scout Books grew from personal experience: “Kelty and I both tend to wander around with scraps of paper stuffed in our purses with ideas, memories, notes, etc. We liked the idea of designing a little notebook that could hold all of those things,” Hannah explained.

The books feature Weaver House’s tagline, “Like No Other,” which is a reference to their services and products (limited, hand-made, one of a kind vintage, unique design and photography), and their customers, whom Hannah describes as “amazingly different, one of a kind people.”

The Weaver House is set to launch this spring. In the meantime, check out their excellent blog to keep up on their happenings.

Thank you to The Weaver House for the use of their lovely photographs.

“Keep those eyes peeled and those ears tuned for new notions and interesting ideas. Because they’re out there, and they’re ripe for the picking.”

Laura Green from Primal Screen shared the concept behind their recent Scout Book project, and we must say we’re now convinced that traveling through creative space is probably a lot like traveling through outer space.

Let’s explain.

Primal Screen is a branding design studio specializing in the entertainment and marketing realm. They’ve been creating moving content since 1995, and have produced work for an impressive cast of clients including HBO Family, Nickelodeon, Discovery Channel, the Sundance Institute, and loads more.

Primal Screen put together a gift pack for their clients this year that included a set of custom Scout Books. It wasn’t just any gift pack; it was an intergalactic creative space exploration kit! And, as Green explained, “Any diligent mission includes log books.”

The idea started with a poster printed by Methane Studios and grew into a complete collection of spacey tools. In addition to the poster, clients received a glow-in-the-dark gravity tester, a map of space, a pen promised to last seven years, and two Scout Books.

One Scout Book is intended for left-brain specifics, and the other for right-brain pursuits. Laura Green elaborated:

“Inside your left brained notebook you’ll find detail-oriented graph paper and useful gravity conversion for popular planets. Your right brained book has blank pages free for roaming and a handy photo of space.”

Primal Screen’s creative use of the Scout Book format is perfect evidence of Scout Books being excellent gifts and excellent tools. And, as this project has shown, they’re also perfect tools for the exploration of creative space. Now get out there and explore!

Thank you to Primal Screen for the images!

CDS makes things happen. The Oregon- and Chicago-based creative firm offers a diverse array of services ranging from brand development to interior design and manufacturing for commercial retail settings.They create a visual plan and then they make it real.

CDS recently created a custom Scout Book for the Globalshop Tradeshow in Las Vegas. Globalshop is the world’s largest annual event for retail design and shopper marketing. It features a massive selection of design companies all seeking to differentiate their design and build services from their competitors.

The CDS Scout Books in action at the Globalshop Tradeshow. Thank you to Laura Brady at CDS for the photo!

CDS used Scout Books to set themselves apart. The books feature pattern-based branding that supports the company’s overall workhorse identity.

“Jot” “Note” and “Mark” are joined around a hammer and pencil shield by “Aha!” to reference that lightbulb moment that may very well come after careful planning and note taking.

A CDS-made interior for a Folsom, California Whole Foods. Image courtesy CDS website.

The company has created logos and identities for countless groceries across the US, as well as build-outs for various markets and retail environments. They pull inspiration for their interior designs from the environment surrounding them; for example, for a development of a Whole Foods Market in Folsom, California, the team drew inspiration from local landmarks as well as colors from California license plates to reference the nearby manufacture of the state’s plates.

As their clever URL boasts, CDS can do it.

You Who! is a children’s rock variety extravaganza that creates a crazy fun environment for little ones and parents alike. Curated by Seann McKeel and Chris Funk in partnership with Northwest favorite McMenamins, You Who! is a good old fashioned variety show complete with puppets, comedians, parades, magicians and sing-a-longs.

Think that’s it? There’s an interesting twist: the second half of the show boasts a live performance by a rock, hip-hop or dance band! A variety of excellent bands from Portland and beyond have performed at You Who! events.

©2012 inger klekacz

Scout Books joined the fun by collaborating with You Who to make a fun pocket-sized workbook for the attendees. Scout Books are perfect for little hands, and the interior pages of these books were filled with creative activities, fun games and plenty of illustrated fodder for imagination. John Moen of the Decemberists contributed fantastic band artwork to the interior.

©2012 inger klekacz

The most recent installment of You Who took place last month at McMenamins Kennedy School, an old elementary school transformed into a theater, hotel and restaurant. Kids and parents gathered with puppets and the band The Shins for an afternoon of lively performance and fun.

Scout Books make an excellent workbook or coloring book, with 32 pages ready to be filled up with drawings, notes, scribbles and creativity of all shapes and sizes.

Thank you to Seann McKeel and You Who! for the use of their photographs.

Ugmonk is back with a set of three new type-based Scout Book designs! This time they made a three-pack featuring positive, feel-g0od language designed around their new motto, “Do What You Love What You Do.”

Jeff Sheldon, designer and proprietor of Ugmonk, explained that “the quality of the Scout Books and the style of the Ugmonk designs makes a great combination.”

The trio of books comes with the release of a new line of t-shirts featuring similarly positive language. The new products join the ranks of Ugmonk’s huge online shop, full of typographic t-shirts, leather notebooks, posters, leather mouse pads, tote bags and more.

Check out Ugmonk’s 2012 look book to see their latest t-shirts. Get your hands on a set of Ugmonk Scout Books here! They’ll help you remember to always do what you love, and to love what you do.

Do you have a favorite pen? We all tend to have a handful of beloved ballpoints tucked into pockets and pencil jars…and really, what better to accompany a pen than a notebook?

JetPens, an online source for fine pens, created a pocket notebook for their community of pen enthusiasts.

Shu Yao from JetPens writes, “Over the years, many of our loyal customers have requested JetPens gear such as t-shirts…we thought that since we are a stationery store, why not make our own notebooks?”

And so the JetPens Pentown notebook was born. A two-color illustration wraps the cover, creating a whimsical city made from stationery items. The books boast a grid interior, and were instantly popular with dedicated JetPens fans, explained Shu Yao.

JetPens held a competition in their community to see who could spot the stationery items that make up the illustration, which was quite popular among the group of pen and ink enthusiasts.

Why a city built out of office supplies? Designer Shu Yao explain:

“I guess since I stare at pens all day here at JetPens, the thought of a city of pens just popped into my head.”

Get your own here, in the JetPens shop.

All images courtesy JetPens.

We’ve reported on the awesome work of Megabolt in a Case Study article in the past, but we wanted to share their latest creative endeavor with you.

Megabolt is a project that uses art and design to empower kids in hospitals to find strength through creativity. Their growing network of artists, illustrators and designers brings art to hospitals, hosting sketching activities and poster making sessions for kids battling serious illnesses.

Megabolt has used the Scout Book format to regularly release limited-edition artist sketchbooks. With every purchase of a Megabolt sketchbook, a child in a hospital receives one of their own.

Megabolt released their newest project today, the latest edition of the artist sketchbook series that comes with an accompanying print. John Vogl of The Bungaloo created the artwork for this new Scout Book, and his work was then translated into a series of limited-edition posters created in collaboration with kids at a workshop.

The kids created the backdrops for each print, unique and colorful abstract paintings that then had the black line work of Vogl’s piece screen printed directly on top. The posters are one of a kind, and are available for sale with the matching notebooks in Megabolt’s online shop.

We’re always pleased to see the Scout Book used in creative ways. Megabolt pulls together creativity, print and collaboration in order to help kids who are having a hard time, and we’re proud that Scout Books can take part.

The crowd at Ziba Design last week for the GOOD Ideas for Cities event

What if an abandoned high school building was put to use as a community hub for creativity? What if we had a farmers market that took place at night, drawing all types of city dwellers to purchase farm fresh food? What if we had pedal-powered parking meters in our cities that only accepted exercise as payment?

Last week, GOOD Ideas for Cities came to Portland, and a collection of inventive and energetic suggestions for our city were put forth.

More rain! Free tacos!

The design-based initiative is a project from GOOD and CEOs for Cities that pairs creative teams with civic leaders to tackle real urban challenges. Generously funded by a grant from ArtPlace, the program travels to cities across the country to host live events and foster creative place-making in urban communities.

Scout Books is pleased to have been a sponsor of the Portland event, which brought together a top-notch cast of designers, advertisers, artists and planners to present their solutions for a better city. We created a pocket notebook for attendees to jot their own good ideas for improving the way we live in our little city. The notebook featured artwork by Nicole Lavelle and Will Bryant.

Mayor Sam Adams with Alissa Walker

Moderator Alissa Walker (pictured above with Mayor Sam Adams!) traveled from Los Angeles to host the event, which called upon government and non-profit leaders like the Portland Farmers Market, the Portland Department of Planning and BikePortland.org to issue real-world challenges for the teams to solve.

The Portland Mercury, our local alternative weekly, wrote an excellent re-cap of the event, including the challenges and ideas from each team. The evening featured presentations by teams from Wieden+Kennedy, Ziba Design, THINK.urban, ADX, Sincerely Interested and OMFGCO.

We're in such great company among the other event sponsors!

Scout Books was one of many partners that made the event possible, including Widmer Brothers Brewing, Ninkasi Brewing, AIGA Portland, Friends of Graphic Design, and ADX. The event was organized by Portland State University’s Graphic Design department and hosted by Ziba Design.

Part of Team ADX hangs out before the event starts.

Thanks to GOOD for bringing this excellent initiative to our fair city! The outpouring of energy from the Portland community made us even more proud to call this place home. Head to the GOOD Ideas for Cities website to learn how you can bring the program to your city.

Thank you to Tina Le for the amazing photos! 

Set Editons is a home-grown company that creates simple and striking paper goods and “other little stuff.”

Allison Riley started Set Editions in 2004 with the creation of the tongue-in-cheek Stop Talking cards, a set of 25 business cards that urge the viewer to do just that: zip it. In the years since, the company has grown its offerings to include letterpressed and foil-stamped cards and a variety of small gift items.

This trio of Scout Books reflects the quiet, uncomplicated tone reflected in many Set Editions items. Boasting straightforward typography and simple prompts, this three-pack of notebooks urges you to reflect on your personal journey.

Allison Riley writes, “By nature, I am a compulsive list maker, but for my line I look for unusual or occasions or seditious messages to use in everyday formats, whether they be cards, notebooks, glasses, collar stays, etc…he opportunity to record meaningful, if not always sentimental, moments like regrets, expectations, or victories was one I had to seize when I saw your Scout Books.”

Peruse the smart, honest work of Set Editions in their online store, or find them at select Jack Spade locations.