How Many Filofaxes Do You Own?

We have asked this question before, but it was about 2 years ago, it will be interesting to see how things have changed in that time!

As you will see I've expanded the number of categories this time, so we can get a slightly more accurate picture... 

Here is the graph from last time.

Free For All Tuesday No 38

We are inching closer to the end of October, but what ever you want to ask questions about Filofax.... this is the place to ask them.

Share Your Filofax Memories - Update

This October, Filofax and Philofaxy would like to invite you to share your favourite Filofax memory. Whether it’s a tale about your first Filofax, the story of your first visit to the Filofax store or even a moment when a Filofax played an important part in your life, we want to hear from you!

You will be able submit your cherished Filofax memories by 26th October at 23:59(UK time) to philofaxy at gmail dot com This can be beautifully handwritten, typed or even drawn onto the special Filofax diary page template which you can download from the link below.

Interested in sharing your Filofax memories? Here’s how to take part:

1. Download the Filofax diary page template from this link PPT format PDF Format
2. Write, draw or type your 300-500 word memory onto the Filofax diary page template
3. Send your memory back by 26th October at 23:59(UK time) to philofaxy at gmail dot com
4. Filofax have kindly offered further organisers for this activity, so the first 6 to enter will receive a lovely personal organiser.

So do not delay let us have your entries by Wednesday.....

Making Your Own Organiser

Have you ever woken up in the morning and thought 'I wish I could make my own organiser'? After my post the other day about page sizes. Wouldn't it be great to make your own organiser for what ever size paper you wanted.

At first I thought the main problem would be finding a ring mechanism, people wouldn't want to wreck one of their existing Filofax organisers just to get a set of rings,  with the possible exception of an Apex!

So I did a few searches on the Interwebs and discovered a few suppliers:

• Bensons - US company selling a variety of ring mechanisms
• Loose Leaf UK - UK company
• Prefs UK - UK Company

Then I turned to the leather part of the organiser. Now I'm no craft expert my self, but I'm sure there are plenty of local firms in your part of the world that might be able to make a suitable organiser in leather if you gave them a suitable design or 'example' idea.

Again a quick look on the web I found this small UK company making various leather goods of good quality and size to an organiser.

• Edwards Leather Craft

But I also found this useful guide for buying leather one another website

• Tandy Leather Factory
• Le Prevo Leathers 

They also have a range of tools and thread etc. So you could finish your organiser in what ever colour you wanted.

So it might be feasible to make or have made an organiser to your own design. But before the legal people at Filofax start sharpening their pencils... I don't think they need to worry about us going in to competition with them with an aptly named Philofaxy Organiser... just yet!

Web Finds - 22nd October 2011

I hope you enjoy these posts on Saturdays and this week is no exception. So grab a drink of your choice and sit down enjoy:

• Won the Filofax Battle - Imysworld
• Time Management for university with 3 Filofaxes! Part 1 - The Life of The Perpetual Student
• Semilolon A5 - Filofax Fixation
• Inbox Zero Using Gmail - Anita Lim
• Show me your stationery: Filofax Topaz - Molly and the Princess 
• Maudie Made (me some inserts) - Living with Lisa 
• Printables Giveaway - Life's a Journal 
• Whats in your Filofax - Girl from Mars  
• Finchley Vintage Rose - The story so far - Imysworld
• Rejigging the personal Malden - Filofax Fixation
• DiY tabs with pockets - Living with Lisa
• Filofax + Collage = Happy - Julie Gibbons 
• 'My Osterley' revisits a Wonderland of Imaginary Characters, Beautiful Art & Nameless Fashion! - Anita Darling
• Your Filofax blog post could be listed here next time... email us if we missed you this time around

Now before you shut-down your computer and get on with your tasks for the weekend... read about our Filofax Memories Competition and download the entry files and get writing your entry this weekend..... 

Enjoy

Free For All Friday No. 153

Happy Friday everyone!  Got any big weekend plans? If you haven't already, spend some time this weekend submitting your entry to our Filofax Competition!  Don't miss your chance to win a new Filofax!

Halloween is coming soon, autumn is in full swing for those of you in the Northern Hemisphere. And shockingly, Christmas is barely two months away!

How are you using your Filofax to plan the last two, ultra-busy months of this year?

And as always on Fridays, feel free to discuss anything Filofax-related. :)

Size matters...

Anyone who knows me well enough, will know that I love playing around with spreadsheets to look at things from a different point of view, to see things from a different angle and may be to discover something new I hadn't realised before....

So yes you guessed it, I couldn't resist plugging some numbers in to Excel the other day in connection to Filofax organisers, to see if there was something I had over looked or may be explain why some sizes are more popular than others.

So I decided to use the page area of the different sizes to see how they compare to each other between the different sizes.

Size	H x W (mm)	Area (sq mm)
A4	297 x 210	62370
A5	210 x 148	31185
Personal	171 x 95	16245
Pocket	120 x 81	9720
Mini	105 x 67	7035

Then looking at the page size in terms of percentage of each other and say 'converting' from one size to another size. In the table below, lets say you are using a Personal size and you are going to A5. You start on the top Personal and go down to A5 on the left hand side. This indicates that A5 is 192% in page area relative to Personal size (nearly double the page area)

			Current Size
Future Size		A4	A5	Personal	Pocket	Mini
	A4	100%	200%	384%	642%	887%
	A5	50%	100%	192%	321%	443%
	Personal	26%	52%	100%	167%	231%
	Pocket	16%	31%	60%	100%	138%
	Mini	11%	23%	43%	72%	100%

Another example, this time Personal to Pocket, your page size would be 60% of your current page size.

This got me thinking... if people are tending to cycle between A5 and Personal size. The sort of thing we hear is people like the extra space that A5 gives them, but they don't like the additional bulk of an A5 organiser.

Seeing the figures above it doesn't come as any surprise really as to why the A5 has such an advantage over the Personal size, but people are swapping too much between sizes.

There's almost a case for another size between A5 and Personal, one say that in the same ratio as an A5 page 1:1.4142.  This ratio is the same as the square root of 2, or the inverse of Sine 45 degrees, so there is some magic about the ratio of the height versus the width of the European paper sizes.

So I picked a page area roughly between the two sizes about 23000 sq mm, in that ratio you get a page size of 180x127mm or put another way, slightly taller than personal, but about a third wider compared to Personal size or 41% bigger than personal size. This page would look something like this in blue:

So I compromised slightly and made it the same height as Personal (171mm) in the same ratio as A5 that gives a page width of 121 mm and a page area of 20691 sq mm Or 27% bigger than personal size.

This is what it would look like and how it compares to Personal and A5 size.  An organiser in this size would need to be wider, but it would be the same height as a Personal size... think of it as Personal + 

  

I doubt if we would ever see organisers available in that size, but it might prove to be a more popular size if it ever did go in to production.