I love listening. It is one of the only spaces where you can be still and moved at the same time. — Nayyirah Waheed — Monday May 13th — —

The idea is to die young as late as possible. — Ashley Montagu — Monday May 13th — —

“What art does — maybe what it does most completely — is tell us, make us feel that what we think we know, we don’t. There are whole worlds around us that we’ve never glimpsed.” Greil Marcus — Monday May 13th — —

Serrote Soap Notebook

Lisbon-based couple Nuno Neves and Susana Viela of Serrote make limited-edition notebooks for connoisseurs and collectors of typographical gems. Printed on vintage Heidelberg presses, their graphic design is inspired by items from popular Portuguese culture such as tablecloths found at traditional luncheonettes and the shape of traditional biscuits. They also make special editions of notebooks experimenting with designs and materials, using their craft to the fullest. 

A special edition notebook we particularly like is the Blue & White Soap Notebook which was produced last April and is made out of blue and white soap. This soap, which is also called monkey or Offenbach soap, is known to be used in Portugal since 1881 and even today people use it to wash clothes, remove stains, hand washing, disinfection and personal hygiene. There are even those who use it as a hair care product.

The Blue & White Soap notebook by Serrote was created for those who like to handwash clothes and dry them in the breeze and sunny weather. When you open the notebook you can almost feel the sweet smell of cleaned clothing. The cover is printed in two colors in letterpress, and the inside gathers different soap patterns printed in offset. The dimensions of the notebook are 14,2 cm by 22 cm, and only a limited 1440 copies were produced.

Order it online on the Serrote website or buy it at one of their retailers.