We are now open for pre-orders for our 2026 Diary, Monthly Planner and Wall Planner, as well as a new batch of Leather Covers produced in Walsall UK in collaboration with Doe Leather.
If you're new here and wondering what all the fuss is about, you can read about how we developed our first Diary back in 2016.
It’s always a big time in the year for us Mark+Folder’s because we are as passionate as our customers about what makes a great diary. The details, as with all of our products, have got to be "just right."
About the Mark+Fold Diary
We first launched the Mark+Fold Diary in November 2016, and are pleased to have gained new converts every year since. Customers appreciate the fact that we provide a clear structure without being prescriptive. And of course, our diaries are produced to the same exacting standards as our other products — beautiful, sustainably-sourced papers, and our special layflat binding which makes the diary flop open perfectly flat.
Each year we use a slightly different cover colour to differentiate one edition from the next, and since 2019 we publish several different options each year. Customers can pre-order the Diary from summer onwards and we love to see the same name's cropping up year after year.
The diary principles we developed in 2016:
Our design process started (as always) by speaking with our community about what works (and what doesn't) in existing diaries. With the ambition to create 'the best version' of a Diary for our customers, we distilled down all of these conversations into the following principles and this formed the 'design brief' for our diary design.
- Less Ink
We should put less ink on the page than the person using the diary! And what we do put down should feel “light”
- No ‘gumph'
At the start or end of the diary we omit all the world time zones, religious holidays, etc.
- No wasted space
White space should be beautiful and / or useful. We should value the diary, the pages, the space (and respect the time it represents), as much as the person using it
- Compartmentalise!
It’s fun to write in different boxes: long tall ones for lists, short fat ones for reminders etc. Combinations of lines / grids / dots / blank, etc.
- Reinforce the visual picture
People store a visual image of the week in their minds. We can help reinforce this in their memory, eg. by pulling out the ‘am’ and ‘pm’ or distinguishing the weekends from weekdays
- Play with typography
This is our own objective: to have fun and create something simple and beautiful. We can play with emphasising the date (19) / or the day (Monday) and the interplay between the two
- No repetition
It is not necessary to repeat, for example, the month (September) more than once on a spread
- No “pointers”
We want to leave it upto the diary user to decide what to write and where, so we avoid anything like ‘to do’ or ‘notes’
- Beauty is on the inside
Diaries are functional things and for some people an essential tool, so the inside pages deserve our primary attention (the cover will follow)
Read the full story of our Diaries.
Award-winning typographic design
Once we had developed the principles for a great diary design, we began work on the design itself with our brilliant designer, Catherine Nippe, a Swiss-German designer and great friend of Mark+Fold who specialises in typographic design. The layout she developed in close collaboration with Mark+Fold founder Amy Cooper-Wright, is a masterful grid system that looks simple whilst being anything but.
In 2024 we were extremely proud to be recognised at the International Society of Typographic Designers, among an impressive line-up of world class designers.
Beautifully-made by expert local makers
As with all our Notebooks and Diaries, we use a very specialist binding technique that combines thread-sewn sections and cold glue which is allowed to air dry. This makes for a binding that is wonderfully floppy (so your Diary falls open effortlessly flat on your desk), and also very strong so you can use it day after day as a great companion for all your planning.
We work with local expert makers who share our perfectionism and ambition to create beautiful things that will be a joy to use.
Sustainably and locally-sourced
We only ever use sustainable FSC-certified papers (this means there is a verified chain of custody from raw material to our bindery, and that for every tree felled another three are planted).
Where possible we always source our materials from the UK (and work with suppliers who are based in the UK). However if the materials or suppliers we need to deliver our exceptionally high levels of quality are not available in the UK, then we will look to the best of the best within the EU. This means sourcing some of our paper from Sweden (we used to source all of our white papers from the UK, until the two mills we supported sadly went into administration and there are currently no great quality fountain-pen-friendly papers made here, though we are working hard to change that). We also work with a bindery in Belgium whose skills are second to none.
The Diary pages are a 120gsm super-smooth fountain-pen-friendly paper, made sustainably in Sweden. We offer a choice of cover colours each year, these are mostly made in Cumbria UK and some come from a mill in Barcelona Spain.
What you need to know about our pre-orders
Why pre-order?
While we are busy working on a new batch or special edition, we offer the item for pre-order, so that you can be sure to reserve your copy and receive one as soon as they become available. As a token of our appreciation for your loyalty to the Fold, we offer you a special pre-order price (sometimes even an extra special Early-bird price as well for the uber-organised among you!). This helps us gauge demand, so that we neither under- nor over-produce, and so that we can continue to support our wonderful local suppliers in the UK and Europe.
Environmental benefits of pre-ordering
Pre-orders help us to reduce waste, because we’re able to accurately predict the number of copies we need to meet customer orders, and avoid over-producing (unlike mass produced diaries which are often heavily discounted at the end of the season, with unsold copies going to waste).
Pre-orders instead of sales
We prefer to do things this way round, because we get to reward our most loyal (and most organised) customers upfront, rather than the best prices being available in end-of-season sales. In fact, we try to avoid sales altogether, aside from our annual Seconds Sale, where we find a good home for any copies that have suffered minor bumps or flaws.
Timing & Delivery
When an item is offered for pre-order, you will find information on the product page about delivery timings. These are estimated to the best of our knowledge, in conversation with our printers and book-binders. Sometimes there are slight delays, and you will be kept updated with the most accurate timings at every stage.
Leather covers
Leather Covers hand-made in the UK and can be used again and again with a fresh notebook or diary refill, are made in collaboration with Doe Leather in Walsall.
Since 2017 we have been collaborating with Doe Leather to produce a very small batch of Leather Notebook & Diary Covers each year, designed to fit perfectly onto the Mark+Fold range of notebooks and diaries.
The leather notebook cover is made from bridle hide, which is the 'top tier' of leather grades. Durable and hard-wearing, this makes for a beautiful, long-lasting piece that will only improve with age.
The leather is vegetable-tanned — a slow, natural process which eliminates the common toxic chemicals used in the majority of tanneries worldwide. Both sides of the leather are finished with waxes and oils, in keeping with its traditional equestrian use which ensures the inside of a bridle is smooth against a horse’s face. With no artificial coating, the leather is allowed to age gracefully over time, developing a unique lustre or ‘patina’ and creating its own story in the process.
What our customers say
"Three things I need in a diary to sit alongside my notebook in my Lochby cover. (a) simplicity, no over-drawn images and complications, just functional & beautiful design. (b) It has to be as 'green' as possible. (c) opens flat and is absolutely compatible with multiple fountain pen inks. This works on all counts."
Dr.. Paul Fitzpatrick
"The most elegant. The leather is sublime. The smell of it, the sleek look, love everything about it."
Anastasia Raizi
