The general design of a Filofax organiser has not really changed that much over the many decades they have been made.
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| A Norman and Hill organiser from the 1950's |
Occasionally though they will throw something very different in to the mix, sometimes these are limited in numbers or they only appear for one year or so.
In 2013 they brought out The Journey Travel Companion, it is a slimline personal size organiser, but with large zipped pockets on the outside of the cover.
Looking back through the catalogue collection, in the year 2000, Filofax released a pocket size organiser simply called the 2021 which looks like this:
From the catalogue description they used quite a variety of materials as well.
That same year they also tried to resurrect a kind of duplex design with the Filofax Westminster. That was two organisers, an A5 Zip and a Slimline or a Personal Zip and Slimline that slotted together.
I was surprised that the left hand pen loop is still usable and the combination still closes and zips up without any struggles, as long as you didn't 'stuff' too many pages on to the 30mm rings of the A5.
Will we see anything different in design from Filofax in the future? Will they step out of their comfort zone and offer something radical and new? I really don't know is the honest answer.
They still bring out new designs, but these seem limited to a different design of floral cover or similar, the basic organiser is still there as the foundation to these products. May be a slightly different pocket layout but nothing that earth shatteringly different.
What would you like to see offered?
My biggest ask would be to prioritise the quality and durability of the materials used. They used to be much better until around 1990 in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteThat 1950s model you show has obviously stood the test of time.
A cynical view would be that producing items that wear out quicker is more profitable overall. (“Planned planner obsolescence”).
I have one of those Westminster slimlines - interesting that it seems it might have originally been a bundle with another zipped binder. Sadly it has deteriorated badly from only modest use - nothing like the older 3CL models which last forever.
Agree with gmax about quality and durability.
ReplyDeleteWould like to see the leather ring protector as standard on all planners.
Would like to see less of these trendy-for-5-minutes styles/patterns. While that seems to be what is profitable, I'm not looking to buy a pastel ring bound planner every couple of months or one for each facet of my life. I want rings that snap like a crocodile, leather that looks beautiful as it wears and a range of colors such as racing green, true sunny yellow, and more reds.
I think I have something like the first one. It was my MIL's and my husband remembers it sitting by their house phone when he was a child in England.
ReplyDeleteThe 2021 looks interesting. But a pocket has always been too small for me. I've grown up/ matured on a personal, but I really want to use a A5 for household planning
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, while the 1950s model shown may have been quite mainstream in its time, I’ve only ever seen one the same offered for sale in well over a decade, so pretty unusual itself nowadays.
ReplyDeleteThe egg-shaped 2021 model has fascinated me ever since I saw it in your catalog archive. To me it seems completely impractical and not even very ergonomic, so I can’t imagine it was a very successful product. But I saw one for sale on Mercari.Jp for a large amount of money, so I guess they are at least considered a rare collectible!
ReplyDeleteI’d like to see one with a pocket big enough for earbuds. And D-shaped rings (which allegedly hold more paper).
ReplyDelete