Last week, iA Notebook received the rare iF Design Gold Award 2026. In just one year, the Notebook shot iA to the top of iF’s global design rankings.1 We took this as a good opportunity to share how iA Notebook is made.

The film follows the process in the workshop. Paper is cut and stacked. Signatures are folded, then sewn. Covers are glued and pressed. Blocks are trimmed. Corners are shaped. The notebooks are wrapped and packed. No commentary, just insight into how it was made.

It is a slow, precise process. Each step depends on the one before. Small decisions matter. Pressure, timing, alignment. The book’s simplicity is built through a sequence of careful moves.

This short documentary is quiet but not silent. Its rhythm comes from machines and from the hands that guide them. Cuts, folds and presses form a kind of choreography. Watching the process gives a sense of what goes into each notebook.

  1. As of March 31, 2026 iA has reached number 2 globally, in Design & Architecture Studios for Office/Stationary. Source: iF Design Ranking 2022-2026 ↩︎