You’ve seen them on the metro, at a café, or in your Instagram feed. The guy with his dog-eared copy of Moby Dick. The woman with her hand resting on a well-marked copy of Proust’s In Search of Lost Time. Maybe it’s coincidence, maybe choreography – either way, it’s a look. Books have become part of the outfit: peeking from tote bags, posed beside cappuccinos, props in the everyday theatre of taste and thought.
Is it performative reading, or is it real? Probably both. Because when you carry a book in public, you’re not just reading – you’re saying something about yourself. About curiosity, maybe. About style. About being the kind of person who still makes space for paper in a world of screens. Call it performance if you like, but it’s also part of your personal brand – the story you tell about who you are and what you value.
But books aren’t the only paper that can help stake a claim for your sense of taste – consider the notebook. It’s the quieter cousin of the paperback. And it’s less about what you’re reading and more about what you’re thinking. A good designer notebook looks good in your hand but also gives you something to do with it. It’s not just an accessory – it’s broadcasting the fact that you have an inner world all your own.
The mishmash × prodir collection captures that balance of aesthetics and purpose. Designed by mishmash, an up-and-coming Portuguese brand exploring every nook and cranny of the paper world, and produced in Italy, each personalized notebook features FSC®-certified pages that offer the ideal surface for handwriting. Minimalist, tactile and elegantly branded, they’re made to personalize with your logo – a refined canvas for your company brand. Paired with a Prodir pen, they become a branded notebook set that doesn’t need to shout. It quietly says your brand has taste – and the tools to back it up.
Because in the end, we’re all performing – every choice, every object, every note we take. The trick isn’t to stop, but to make an elevated performance become a part of you.