Editing The Pen Addict 263/transcript (section)

== Field Notes ==


'''Myke Hurley:''' I only bought five. That's all I need. Mm-hmm. Only five. All right. Speaking of buying more. Okay. Let's talk about Field Notes, the Campfire Edition. It came out a little bit later than we expected. We thought that it would come out last week, but it actually came out this week.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Was it on a Monday or Tuesday? Was it Monday? It was weird. Something like that. I think they were running late. So they dropped it whenever they could.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So I wanted to play a game this time where I want me and you to try and guess what the other one thinks about these notebooks. Right? Okay. So we can maybe flip a coin or something to see who will go first, unless you have a preference. And I will say what I think of yours. You will say what you think I feel about the Campfire Edition. And then once the guesses are out of the way, we can say how we feel about this edition. So that might be something new to try.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Okay. So we'll make it easy. I'll go first. Okay.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So what do you think I think about the Field Notes Campfire?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I think you love them. I think you think that they have the Americana vibe that Field Notes is traditionally known for. Even though the campfires are not an American thing, they harken back to the America the Beautiful editions. The patch is one of the coolest things they've done.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' And you're just not sure about the colors of the grids inside the notebook.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Okay.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Otherwise, I think you love it.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So I think a lot of the same things for you that you've said for me. I think that you will love the Americana vibe to them. I think that that will appeal to you, that outdoorsy thing. I think that you will really like the inside colors. I think you'd really like the patch because that's so up your street. It's unbelievable. And I think that you're excited about different colors of the grid paper. That's what I think. So why don't you go first? What do you think about the Campfire Edition?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' You're 100% accurate. Like this is a, I think this is a hard one to do unless you're going to really shock me that I think we're going to think a lot of the same things. But I could be very wrong about what you think. You're dead right on what I think. If Brad was designing a Field Notes edition, this is going to contain a lot of the things that Brad would do. This is what I figured, yeah. It checks all the Brad boxes. This is a perfect edition in my book. This is what I want every quarter from Field Notes. It's beautiful. It's challenging. It's neat. It's fun. It's got a story. It's got a cool accessory. And it's nailed. I mean, this is a perfect edition in my book. Doesn't mean it's the best ever edition, but this is a perfect Field Notes release, according to me, and what I want from the brand. Perfect.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So talking to you has made me more excited for these. Because this set doesn't push my buttons.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I figured that you were up to something when you said, let's do this.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. A couple of things for why. I don't, I'm not an outdoorsy person. So campfires are not my thing. Right. I think that this is focusing on a slice of Americana that's not the slice that I enjoy.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right. Because you didn't grow up, you know, sitting around a campfire. You don't have those stories. I have none of that. A lot of us may have those stories, right?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Exactly. And then the other part of it, for why it isn't really speaking to me, is because I've seen this before. Like, they've done this before. Right? Put pictures on the covers.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So I thought that too. But they did do it differently. They have done it differently. I mean, this is essentially a.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Right? With the half tone.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' A painted picture. Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' And I bet when I have them in my hand, I'm going to be like, oh my god, these things are incredible. But when I see the pictures, it's like, I've already had Field Notes with pictures on the cover. So, like, the fact that the theme doesn't speak to me, plus the, I've kind of seen them do some of the technical stuff before, it hasn't blown me away. For that reason. I think that's completely fair. The two parts of it, they don't speak to me as much as usual. But, I mean, I know so many people that are, like, going gaga over these. And I think it just speaks to who you are as a person a little bit more, as to whether you would find the design, like, really speaks to you. Because, I mean, I tend to be more interested in the mechanics of the production. Mm-hmm. And, you know, so I love it when they push the envelope. And so, like, the original, was it America the Beautiful that had, that was the pictures? That one, I absolutely adored that addition because the paper was when they really kind of drilled down on making the paper even better. Plus, it was like, oh, wow, pictures. I mean, so I feel like I've seen pictures before, you know. So, I'm not as excited about these as I have been some more of the recent releases.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, one of the things that always makes me excited is when I get three different covers in the three-pack. That's always fun. That is good.

'''Myke Hurley:''' That is good. And I like that they've done that again because that is cool.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Those are some of my favorites. Even if it's just three different of the same color, like Shenandoah, you know, three shades of green. I always like that. That's a fun thing for me. So, yeah, I think these are going to do really well. I do think all of your points are very valid. And, you know, as far as, you know, definitely not for everybody. But this is such a Field Notes feel to this release that I'm excited. You know, this is 100% Field Notes.

'''Myke Hurley:''' This is what they're all about at the core, right? Right. This is what they're all about. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. And not that they don't attempt that every time. You know, they take chances and risks. They have different things.

'''Myke Hurley:''' They have different parts of the personality of the company that expresses itself in certain ways. And, like, the Americana is a big part of the company, a big part of the brand. And some of their best notebooks have come from that. Like, the Tradesman edition or, like, the Workshop edition, right? Like, it is this Americana feeling. But I don't get the nostalgia for that in that way. Like, the Americana stuff that I like is, like, when it's being big and American without being, like, brash. You know, that's the kind of stuff that I enjoy. Sure, sure. And this is just, like, a slice of life that isn't mine.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yep. That makes complete sense. And I didn't think about it from that aspect when thinking about what you would think about. So, that's good.