ORIGIN STORY

Some Field Notes are “FieldNotes-ier” than others, and our Winter 2023 edition, “Heartland,” might be the “Field Notes-iest” yet. If you’ve been following us for a while, you know that Field Notes were born of the vintage agricultural and industrial pocket memo books that FN co-founder Aaron Draplin has been collecting for years. See Aaron explain in one of our early films, in one of our early films, “From Seed.” We’re also huge fans of mid-century printed ephemera like the WPA posters that inspired our “National Parks” Editions. 

Putting this all together, we asked artist and screen-printer Dan McCarthy, who illustrated three of the covers from the National Parks Series, to create a rural panorama across the covers of three books, each depicting a different time of day: sunrise, midday, and evening. The results are everything we hoped for, a lovely combination of theme, color, and utility that really capture the spirit of American farm life.

The pocket-size books feature McCarthy’s artwork printed on sturdy 100# Domtar Cougar cover stock. The body of the book is Finch Opaque 60# text with a “Big Sky”-blue 3/16" grid. Each book features a unique set of “Practical Applications” based on the daypart illustrated on the cover. You’ll find these books indispensable whenever you take a moment from your busy day to catch your breath and collect your thoughts — on the farm or wherever else you may happen to be.