Bill’s notebook reminded me of one I had received in early 2012 when I first joined Envy Labs to work on Code School. It was a similar notebook sporting a grungy stamp of Envy Labs’s signature Tesla Coil logo. I remember appreciating that little notebook and using it to jot down ideas and concepts.

At the end of 2012, Tim Dikun — a designer at Envy Labs — had beautiful wooden coasters created with the logos of Envy Labs and Code School. Last year, Justin Mezzell carried on this little tradition at Code School by creating metal pins with goofy badges as a nod to Code School’s game-like dynamics.
There’s something really nice about the idea of showing appreciation to your teammates not because it’s a thing your boss told you to do, but because you want to. Because you’re actively trying to figure out a way to show them how much they mean to you, how much you care.
Nathan’s notebook made me want to do just that. And by the time this idea blossom in my head,
Nathan had been busy with a new project called LocalNotebooks. The goal was similar to his original concept with Bill, except this time he used OpenStreetMap data to create stylized renditions of Orlando neighborhoods. Instead of wax paper transfer, he also started using a laser etcher from a local fabrication laboratory called Factur.

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