This is it! What better way to start this blog than with one of my top favorite Field Notes editions? The one that launched my obsession?
I don’t quite remember where I heard about Field Notes intially but Raven’s Wing is definitely what made me subscribe to their COLORS editions. Well, me and two other friends together, to be precise. We pooled our money and got one subscription, each of us getting 2 memo books every season. At the time, that seemed more than enough. Ah, what a humble beginning.
I can't really call this a review. Details, maybe. Highlights, perhaps. Biased gushing, for sure.
Raven’s Wing was a fall COLORS edition back in 2010. One of the fastest selling editions, I heard. What did it for me is the black on black. Sexy as f***. And surely, I’m not the only one who thinks of Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven?
Check out that linen texture! And the letterpress!
And the black text on gray on the inside covers! Come ON!
Firsts
What’s interesting about this edition is that the inside cover is a different color from the outside cover. If you watch An Obsessive’s Guide to Field Notes Colors: Part Two, you learn that the paper used for the cover is duplex, meaning two different sheets were bonded to form one sheet. In this case, it's Neenah Classic Linen 120#C in Epic Black/Charcoal, Epic Black making the outside and Charcoal making the inside. Neat-o!
And, apparently this was the first edition to don a belly band that’s not white. I quite like the "Butcher Orange" belly band, how it contrasts against the black and makes the overall presentation very striking. I wish I had the Butcher Orange edition to compare the colors with but alas, County Fair is the earliest edition I have. Insert sadface. Will I ever get my hands on Butcher Orange?
(Nevermore.)
Some fun (for me) details:
- Raven’s Wing (Fall 2010) is the 8th edition in the COLORS series.
- Item number: FN-01 (labeled on the belly band)
- Edition size: 15,000 books/5,000 packs printed in October 2010.
- Outside cover: Neenah Classic Linen 120#C in “Epic Black/Charcoal,” letterpress-debossed and spot-varnished black on black, by Flywheel Letterpress, the same folks who did Grass Stain Green edition previously.
- Inside cover is grey, and the text is printed in black soy-based Toyo ink with offset press.
- Graph grid inside: “Fog” grey soy-based Toyo ink
- Paper inside: Boise Offset Smooth 50#T “White”
- Belly band paper: French Paper Co. "Butcher Orange"
- Film: Making of Raven’s Wing
- Staples color: silver
My favorite Practical Applications:
- #04. Triple Agents Suspected
- #05. Tangled Webs Woven
- #30. KDHGVXANGORNUMGWXCNB (Cute, Field Notes. I get it. No, I really do.)
Have you cracked the above code? I finally got it deciphered, thanks to Matt. If you want to know, click the text below! Spoiler alert! Spoiler alert!