Given the increase in Kindles, new Blackberries, and 3G iPhones, it’s nice to see a black item that keeps notes the old fashioned way. Doane Paper utility notebooks are mobile in their own way at less than four by six inches and only 48 pages — ideal for bite-size musings.  Portland print show Pinball Publishing uses soy-based inks and recycled paper to create the grid+lines notebook line. Perfect for pockets.

Way back in the Summer of 2006, long before we directed you toward the miracle that is Doane Paper, Chad Doane decided to count the ways in which he loved Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke. Rather than picking up a flower and pulling of petals he decided to make a crossword puzzle using his invention that was dedicated to the diminutive musical mastermind. He didn't think anything of it and more or less just scanned it and posted it onto his flickr page. Eight months ago, seemingly out of nowhere, Keith Stephenson contacted the Doane Paper principle to request a new art and design book he was working on. Well eight months have come and gone and Doane's puzzle has hit the printing press along with plenty of other interesting grid and square design work in Squares, Checks and Grids, The third volume in the highly collectible Communicating With Patterns series from Keith Stephenson and Mark Hampshire of multidiscplinary design agency, Absolute Zero Degrees. The book, which pays “visual homage to squares and checks, an inspirational graphic collection of different occurrences of squares and checks from all environments” is available on Amazon and is definitely worth a gander.

Back in June we told you about Doane Paper, the brainchild of Chad Doane, who decided it was a fine idea to combine good ol’ horizontal-lined legal paper with grid paper to create one genetically engineered super-paper that would grow so powerful that it would rule the world.

While Chad’s product just might be the bees' knees, it requires a patent before it goes on to dominate the global market. Well, the thing with the patent process is it involves lawyers and lawyers cost money.

In order to do raise the money to handle such legal matters, Doane has opened up an online boutique and are we thankful he did, as The Doane Paper Shop at Cafe Press provides a pretty sweet selection of paper-themed paraphernalia available for your purchasing pleasure. With the boutiques boasting 49 styles of buttons, 8 types of t-shirts as well as tote bags, stickers, fridge magnets, and coasters, you're sure to find something to your liking. So go ahead, buy something. It'll make Chad happy…but perhaps more (or less?) importantly, it'll make Chad's lawyer happy.

Okay. This is hard to swallow, but there once was a time when the words “peanut butter” and “jelly” didn’t really sound right together. And, as much as the thought of a PB+J-less life makes us all feel like withering up into little human-raisins, we must realize that at one point there were nuts, and there were berries, and mashing them together would have made us look like huge weirdos.

Good thing some people just don’t care if they look crazy, because if not for them I would be malnourished. Additionally, the world would be missing Doane Paper Version 2.0, an item that is entirely inedible but in all other aspects a similar example of mix-mashed goodness. Chad Doane was in a product design meeting, and noticed about half the room was using legal pads while the other half used grid notebooks. Doane, torn over which side he identified most strongly with, decided to squash the two together, resulting in a patent pending stationery design that incorporates grid and ruled lines onto a single sheet (eureka!). Then, Doane was sort of like, “I could sell this!”… and then he was all, “I COULD PUT THIS ON MY SITE FOR FREE DOWNLOAD!”

That Chad Doane is a smart man. Now if he could just figure out a way for me to eat this paper…