Five must-have sample books

A few weeks ago I went to a studio moving sale and watched crowds of designers descend on the shelves of free material sample books.

Design studios relish in the arrival of a new sample book, the joy of receiving a well packaged piece of post in 2015, the prospect of the many projects to come, incorporating all of these beautiful materials, and the rare sense of purpose that it brings to your desk. Surrounded by all these pointless techy devices perhaps it’s the pure practicality of these little directories that gets us all excited.

In celebration of the much coveted sample book, here are five that we think you should all be trying to get your hands on.

1. Arjo Wiggins

Although Arjo Wiggins is still one of the lesser-known European paper mills, they’re actually the world’s leading manufacturer of creative and technical paper, with operations in Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia.

Arjo manufacture a huge range of paper and in recent years have really stepped up their game when it comes to sample books. In 2014 they produced A +S61, a limited edition case bound book which displays 61 of Arjo’s Creative Papers. A +S61 is a beautiful book that would be at home on any designerly shelf, as well as being a practical, paper specifying tool.

The catch? Only 1000 of these were made, which were sent to industry trendsetters across France, Italy, UK and Northern Europe so you might have to pretend to be very important to get one.

2. Bute Fabrics

Bute Fabrics are a designer and manufacturer of wool and wool-rich upholstery fabrics based on the Isle of Bute in Scotland. Their fabrics can be found in Buckingham Palace and The Royal Box at Wimbledon – if you’re lucky enough to make it there – and are used by British Designers Tom Dixon, Barber Osgerby, Jasper Morrison and Scotland’s own Timorous Beasties. You can have your own piece of Bute on your desk if you’re lucky enough to have one of their lovely sample binders – with small swatches of each and every Bute fabric.

3. Protomold

Protomold are a Minneapolis-based injection molding company offering low to mid volume production in less than three weeks. Although we can’t condone you having your plastic components printed all the way in North America, Protomold do produce a really useful sample book of sorts called The Protomold Cube.

The Protomold cube showcases a range of available surface finishes and examples of good and bad form for bosses, gussets and ribs. It also shows the effects of using overly thick or thin sections on part quality, and how to incorporate holes. Design blog, Core77 described it as “an ME (Masters in Engineering) in a box. It’s clear that this would be a hugely useful tool for anyone making their first forays into plastics production, and ProtoMold give these out for free to Designers and Engineers.

4. GF Smith

GF Smith are a paper merchant with a celebrity status amongst design students. They bring together beautiful papers from all over the world and seem to have an ability to produce endless mesmerizing print, whether it’s their casebound book designed by Made Thought to tell the story of the people behind GF Smith (whilst displaying a bunch of their beautiful papers) or their sample books which you would be hard pushed not to find in every design studio in the land. GF Smith’s huge range of stock means that if there’s one sample book in the studio, this is the one you need.

5. Carvalho, Batista & C

Carvalho, Batista & C (CBC) is a portuguese agency that designs and manufactures a range of interior building fittings and products including balustrades, taps, signage and bathroom accessories. Reminiscent of a game of Jenga, this very simple design retains the focus on the varying tones and colours of the wooden samples within, no doubt a valuable tool for any interiors project.

Read Standout Packaging Design from Scotland & Beyond