An update about Dodo Pad.

THERE IS NOTHING, CERTAIN BUT THE UNCERTAIN

INTO THE SUNSET OR TOWARDS A BRIGHT NEW DAY?

It's Valentine's Day and we're showing you the love that you've shown us - some of you for many, many years - and even more so since we announced our probable demise just before Christmas. Thank you...

If you just want to scroll down and go straight to what's on offer, there's an EXTRA 15% off everything we've have left in our stockroom - that's on top of any discounts already shown on the website. Many products arealready discounted by at least 10 - 50%, so grab some Lord Dodo memorabilia while you can and save up to 65%!

Spend as little or as much you wish and use code 20PR. Many items are down to the last few. Spend more than £30.00 (excl. p&p) for a SURPRISE FREE GIFT worth at least £5.00!

Dodo Towers and our current website will close at the end of March or very soon after that.

Our future still has a big question mark hanging over it. Since Christmas, we've been in discussion with buyers, one of whom we really thought would decide to go ahead. To us, it looked like the perfect marriage. But sadly, in the end, corporate caution won over entrepreneurial conviction.

The one thing that is certain is that we're having a big stock room clearout as, whatever happens, a new owner may not wish to take on many of the products currently available. And if there is no new owner then we'd like to sell what we can before we close.

So share the love! Little love heart headphone audio splitters for sharing music (or videos on an iPad or tablet) with a standard 3.5mm jack with two ports. Available in two more designs - but hurry, only 5 left!

Our exclusive pen in purple for your purple prose. With a gold engraved Dodo Pad logo and a non-slip finger grip. Only 30 left.

Click on the boxes below to see what's on offer.

Use code 20PR for an extra 15% off on everything. All orders over 

£30.00 will receive a special free gift worth at least £5.00

PAPER PACKS 

A6 Square Ruled 250 Sheets, A5 Dot Grid 250 Sheets, A6 Square Ruled 250 sheets. 

Shop Now!

The Small Print: USE COUPON CODE 20PR for an extra 15% off all published website prices. *If you spend £30.00 or more, we will add a special free gift worth at least £5.00 to your order. Please enter 20PR in the coupon code box below the shopping cart summary. This offer applies to orders shipped to a single address (UK, EU or anywhere in the world). If your order is destined for an address outside the EU, the product prices in your shopping cart summary (once you have entered a delivery address) will appear net of UK 20% VAT tax. Dates/times quoted in this offer are based on GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). Please note: These offers are valid for items in stock during the offer period. All other terms are unchanged. Our aim is to dispatch your goods within 1 working day of receipt of order but we cannot be held liable for our suppliers failing to deliver to us in good time or our delivery services (Royal Mail, overseas postal services or courier) failing to meet their delivery obligations.

Thank you to Rebecca at Dodo Pad for all the help and support she has given Philofaxy over the last 10 years or more, let us all hope there is a happy ending to the story of DodoPad.

Brand Stretch - How to save a Dodo - PlannerCon Europe - Rebecca

Thank you to Rebecca from DodoPad for sharing her talk from PlannerCon Europe with us. 

Another video for your viewing pleasure! In case you missed my talk 'Brand Stretch - How to save a Dodo' at PCE - here it is with audio - recorded in my office so the sound isn't perfect...and this was the first time I have ever done anything like this! It lasts just under 30 mins so make a cup of tea or coffee of whatever takes your fancy :) and settle down and my apologies for its imperfections...

Thanks to Steve Morton for his help turning it into a video and to my laptop for not totally crashing with the volume of MB!!


Next time we have PlannerCon Europe, I'm hoping we can avoid clashes between talks and product launches! 
Further Information:  Website: https://www.dodopad.com Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/DodoPad/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/dodopad.dodecorated/ PlannerCon Europe: http://plannercon.eu/

Dodo Pad paper now available for your planner.

You might recall a few weeks ago we featured a post asking for thoughts on DodoPad making packs of paper available. Well on behalf of Rebecca at Dodo Pad, thank you to everyone who responded to the post either in the comments or by email to Rebecca at Dodo Pad.

After some hard work the packs of paper are now available on the Dodo Pad website for purchase. Rebecca kindly sent me some samples of the paper to try out and share the results with you.

Whilst I've done some paper tests in the past I sat down and thought about this one a bit more than the previous ones. I wanted to present the results in a fair and balanced way as possible.

As we all know what pen you use and what paper you use can often bring about some compromises as to what pen you can use with what paper you have in your organiser. We are always on the constant hunt for paper that will take fountain pen ink or gel ink without feathering or bleeding through.

So for this test I set out with a selection of pens, which are predominately fountain pens with medium or fine width nibs. My hand writing is not the best for broad width nibs.... or just bad in general! Yes I know! I included a couple of gel pens which I use on a daily basis and a standard Bic ballpoint as a 'control' standard.

I scanned in each sheet using a flat bed scanner and without manipulating the images in any way at all joined the front and reverse sides so you can see the front and reverse in one image.

The scanner of course uses a bright light source to perform the scan, of course on white paper this will show up writing on the reverse side depending on the rate of ink absorption and paper thickness etc. But as each paper sample was scanned in the exactly the same way the results should give you a reasonable assessment of each paper sample.

To give you a better idea of how well the Dodo Pad paper performs I conducted the same set of tests on Filofax white paper (approximately 70 gsm), Filofax Cotton Cream paper (80gsm) And Rhodia lined pad paper (80gsm) as well of course as the Dodo Pad paper (100gsm)

So here are the results starting with Filofax white paper:

Filofax White (60-70gsm)

Filofax Cotton Cream (80gsm)

Rhodia Pad (80 gsm) 

Dodo Pad (100gsm)

The results are not too surprising. The Filofax White thin paper can not take any form of wet ink without bleeding through, it is almost like blotting paper!

Filofax Cotton Cream is slightly better. But paper weight isn't obviously the only factor for the performance of paper with regards to wet inks. Compare the Filofax Cotton Cream with the Rhodia Pad paper, it is the same paper weight yet the Rhodia pad shows no bleed through at all. On the Rhodia paper there is a faint shadow of the writing of all pens, but in every day use I doubt if this would bother most users.

And finally a clear winner in this test the Dodo Pad paper, no bleed through and no shadow at all.

The Dodo Pad paper as you can see is square ruled on one side with a discrete logo in the lower right hand corner and plain on the reverse side.

The paper is white with a feint 5mm grid printed in black on one side at a 10% tint so you will notice it there but it's not too intrusive.
It comes at present in three sizes, Personal, A6 and A5 sizes. It is available in packs of 25 sheets or at a discount if you order it in packs of 50 sheets.

So how much does this wonderful paper from Dodo Pad cost?  A pack of 25 sheets of personal size or A6 size will cost £3.75 per pack or £4.50 for 25 sheets of A5 paper.

If you buy two packs at the same time you save 10% on the overall product cost.

Dodo Pad have also given buyers a special offer on their delivery charges.

Their standard UK postal/processing charge is £3.50. They realise that this is quite high if you just want to try the paper out, so they will reduce the UK delivery cost for up to three packs of paper or a shopping cart value of £10.50 (whichever is the greater) by 50% to £1.75. Enter 16PPR at checkout This code will work until 31st March 2017.

You can find the whole range of organiser compatible products including diary inserts on the Dodo Pad website. 

Thank you to Rebecca for supplying the paper samples. I'm sure this new line is going to sell well. 

DodoPad considering launching a new range of paper.

I'm sure you are familiar with the range of Dodopad calendars and diary inserts. They are available in a variety of sizes as mid-year and full year formats. They are printed on excellent quality paper.

In discussion with Rebecca at Dodopad last week, she mentioned that she was considering making a range of packs of paper available on their on-line store for organisers in the following sizes:

• A5
• Personal/Medium/Standard
• A6/Senior
• Pocket

The packs would most probably be available in multiples of 25 sheets of paper, one side would feature a feint square pattern with a small logo in the lower right hand corner, with the reverse side being left plain.  The paper is 100gsm paper so it will also be fountain pen friendly too. They will be punched for the respective organisers too. 

They already produce similar packs for their own folders as shown below:

At this point, Rebecca would like to know how many of you would be interested in purchasing these packs of paper and in what sizes. Please drop her a quick email (info ['at'] dodopad.com), or drop a message on their website.

Thank you Rebecca, it will be good to have another source for these popular paper sizes ready cut and punched. 

Guest post: Seven years on…and full circle - Rebecca

I’ve had the pleasure and honour of taking care of the Dodo Pad brand since 1996. It’s been like watching a child grow and is both rewarding (most of the time) and frustrating (some of the time)…but overall, I love it!

Back in early 2009 we had an idea that sprang from my longtime personal love of Filofax and the fact that I couldn’t any longer reconcile my Dodo Pad loyalties and still use my beloved (if a little battered) bright red Deskfax. I’d attended countless Dodo Pad and retailer meetings where I would get out my Deskfax and open the diary to… a Filofax week-to-two-pages insert. Well I’d sort of got used to it – after all I’d been using the identical diary for 20 years since my life in the heady days of London advertising and a career path complete with power suits and shoulder pads!

OK, so you can't quite 
see the shoulder pads 
- but they were there!

So one day a colleague suggested that it really was time to review my Filofax loyalty in the light of more than 12 years at the helm of the Dodo Pad. And she was right. What about a Dodo Pad diary for Filofax? Much more ‘fun’ than a Filofax (diary) and every bit as practical with room to plan and makes notes adjacent to a weekly schedule based on a five column grid. But, said I, Deskfax is no longer in production.  Well, said she, it is time you got a new Filofax anyway and she showed me her  rather smart A5 zipped Malvern (I think…) and suggested that she and I could be the first to road test it!

There followed a meeting with Filofax themselves at the New York Stationery Show to suggest a collaboration whereby we would do the production and Filofax would market it to their customer base, whilst we cross-marketed Filofax back to our customers as an alternative format and sold Filofax organisers as a reseller. But they were not only not interested (tiny little Dodo Pad did not figure on the grand scale of Filofax’s aspirations in those days) but, believing the Dodo Pad to be only relevant for family use (not so), told us a Filofax Family Diary Pack was already in production. And so it came and as far as I know went (save for a few still on sale in the States I believe).

Now, the Dodo Pad diary has been going strong for almost 50 years and next year is our Golden Jubilee! We’ve grown from a single desk diary, the original 1966 edition, first produced in 1965,

The very first Dodo Pad desk diary

to a wide range of formats including pocket, wall and 2 hole loose-leaf, identical in size to the desk diary, that fits the DodoPAX system. I bet you can’t imagine how we came up with that Name!

2014/15 Acad-Pad mid year range

2015 Dodo Pad calendar year range

But you can’t just launch a new format on a whim. The diary business is expensive for us as every year we create almost entirely new artwork, and to ‘fit’ that artwork to Filofax formats requires quite a bit of reworking at ‘repro’ stage – after the master design/artwork has been created and before we send it off to print.

So we did some small scale research and found there was definite interest – a lot of people just found the Filofax diary inserts, to use their language, boring. And most users of Filofax organisers are, in my limited experience, rather creative – and anything but boring!

And so the 2010 Dodo Pad for A5 Filofax appeared (produced at breakneck speed to catch the main print run) for the very first time, on a limited print run, and we completely sold out by Christmas – which was precisely what we had hoped for! Both Steve and Laurie helped with blog publicity on Philofaxy in those first months - for which I am forever grateful as it introduced us to the amazing Philofaxy community that just grows and grows...

The very first Filofax compatible Dodo Pad

On the strength of the first A5 calendar year Dodo Pad, the following year we also produced an A5 Acad-Pad (our  mid-year version of the Dodo Pad diary) that runs from August to the following September. That too sold out.

There followed a Personal size (refined after its first year to provide bigger grid squares – again with the generous help of some of the Philofaxy community) and more recently we developed an A4/USA Letter size – which fits an A4 Filofax perfectly but has the added benefit of also fitting any 2, 3 or 4 ring binder – the UNIVERSAL size – for wherever you are in the world.

The 2015 Dodo Pad and 2014/15 Acad-Pad Filofax compatible range today

So, why the ‘full circle’ in the title of this post? Well earlier this year we were contacted by a customer who is still using her DeskFax and was ‘dodesperate’ for a Dodo Pad to fit it. Well guess what? It turns out that he Deskfax size is almost identical to our desk diary size (how did I miss that!???) …so ever the resourceful, we found a strong 9 hole punch  for sale and can now offer a bespoke service to ‘Deskfaxify’ a Dodo Pad, Acad-Pad or even our Dodo Address Book. So now I’m torn for 2015 – A5 or DeskFax? What would you do?

Deskfaxification service!

We’ve had many requests for a Pocket version but have to decline as the reduction of our master artwork is just too tiny to be practical so we can now boast a full house in Personal, A5 and A4…and if you buy a new organiser from us, you get the diary insert completely free!

Our website now hosts a complete section for Filofax compatible formats and our newest Acad-Pad which starts in mid-August (2014/15) is already down to the last few in A5 (so be quick if you want one!).

Forward planning - my 2015 A5 diary insert is already in place in my Raspberry Chameleon :)

The 2015 Dodo Pad is available now and if you would like to try a 2014 version to see how you like it we still have a few left in each format available at half price. If you would like to buy a 2015 edition we will send you the current year completely free at the same time (available by calling the office on 0345 053 1166 or +44 1872 575363 or email us as soon as you have placed your order with your order number and a request for the current edition).

We also give away free, one of our compatible diaries with every new Filofax organiser we sell – We’ve Finsburys, Dominos and Originals in all three size formats (personal, A5 and A4) as available.

Click the pic to see the full range of Filofax organisers we can offer with our own diary refills!

I hope this may have inspired you to try a Dodo Pad for your next diary insert but whatever you do – enjoy your Filofax as much as I do mine ☺

Felix the Filoflex - Guest Post - Holly

This 'Filoflex’ is inspired by Tim's creation of 2012 (Part 1 and Part 2  here). Mine is rather more 'cut once, measure after' and 'not really meant to be a wine glass coaster'. It is just as well I am not very precious with things. Prior to photos and explanation of the set up, a run down of how the Filoflex, affectionately known as ‘Felix' came to be;

After the post-Funfax wilderness years involving notebooks of all types and  'diaries' scribbled on the back of pay slips, I acquired a pocket Songbird, which suited my organising needs until Personal became more my thing. Then the rings got in the way and I took too many notes and people gave me too many bits of A4 paper to look after. It was all going a bit wrong for me planning-wise in a year (2012) that was already proving to be chaotic and emotionally draining.

Personal life aside, at the time, I was both training in retail management and trying to complete my Masters degree in conservation and restoration with part time self employed in same. I carried note books for both, but I would sometimes find myself dropping out of one 'life' and into another sometimes without warning - a shift needing covering here, a meeting in my capacity as branch and area representative or an impromptu trip to the library or laboratory there.

I bought a Flex on a whim in early 2013, imagining a Flex would allow me to use the paper size I wanted without the cumbersome A5 Filofax rings and bulk in my bag, but I soon missed having more places to stow away loose bits of paper securely and also my beloved Dodo Pad. I also didn’t have the cash to spend on an A5 Filofax to try for size. This is where Tim's post inspired me. A few ebay auctions and trips to shops followed, and much procrastination led to this:

Unlike Tim I didn’t have a decent binder mechanism to hand. I ordered an A5 15mm 2-ring binder from Snopake. I hacked it out from the plastic with brute force and the biggest pair of scissors I could find. I measured the holes, deciding to use haberdashery eyelets to secure it into the Flex.

I used Hemline eyelets, with a 7mm external diameter, 4mm internal. The provided punch was useless, so I just used a hammer to secure them to the binder - I didn’t really measure where to put the mechanism in the Flex, I just roughly lined it up to the centre.

Very quickly into using Felix, two issues became apparent. Firstly - I couldn’t bare the fact it didn’t close, my bag is messy enough without a half open Filofax getting on my nerves. I’ll get to the second later. To remedy the closing problem I tried threading a pen between two pen loops, as others have done, but it was no good owing to the sheer amount of stuff I cram in there.

Inspired by my old Domino, I simply looped two pieces of black elastic and threaded them through the holes created by the eyelets. As you can see - the result isn’t exactly neat, but later photos will show that with my inserts, the knots are not visible most of the time. Personally it doesn’t bother me, and they will be easy to replace if they get slack or start to fray (which you can see if already happening!)

Onto the inside of Felix - I use Moleskine cahiers as my notebooks, with my ‘Conservation’ notebook kept at the front and my retail notebook and Flex jotter pad at the back (no prizes for guessing where I work, the evidence is littered in this Filoflex!). As a side note, the front ‘card’ pockets store various cards, knick knacks and my passport. First in the binder section is my ‘dashboard’ of sticky notes.

My dividers and the secure top pocket are both Martha Stewart for Avery - I love the colours of the dividers, matching the sticky notes and tabs I use regularly.

In the above photos are where the second issue with Felix becomes apparent - standard A5 non-paper inserts such as dividers and pockets are too wide (you can see the clear pocket interferes with the line-up of the divider tabs) and the hole placements on everything are generally wrong.

I had to cut down and re-punch all the Martha Stewart dividers and I have to re-punch all my Dodo Pad pages and blank Filofax paper. At home I keep a single hole punch and approximate hole placement but for the go, I just use a pen or a scalpel! The Dodo Pad is a non-negotiable part of my organisation (even if this week currently looks quiet! It will soon change) and one of the main reasons I ended up creating my Filoflex, so I don’t mind the re-punching.

In front of the business card holder and secure pocket, I keep a section of blank paper for things that fit into neither of my ‘lives’ - random notes or information I need to give away. I use the coloured Paperchase ruled paper, which is again re-punched to fit. Behind the secure pocket of knick knacks like stamps, elastic bands and passport photos is where I keep loose bits of paper I need, or at least ones I can punch. Ones that need to be intact without holes are tucked into a pocket of the Flex, or the flap pocket in the back of the Moleskines.

My 'Filoflex' is by no means neat, tidy or probably even vaguely professional, but it works for me, and I smile whenever I look at it. I use it daily and it really meets my needs, combining the flexibility of a traditional binder system with the principles of the Flex without having to work around enormous rings or deal with a brick in my bag.

I’m happy to try and answer any questions any have regarding my set up - Holly

Thank you Holly, I'm sure a few more people might follow your example.

Filofax Original with DodoPad Inserts

Would you like a Filofax Original, but with a Free DodoPad diary insert? Released this afternoon in Personal and A5 sizes.

• Filofax 'Original' Organiser (A5) & FREE Dodo Pad diary insert 
• Filofax 'Original' Organiser (Personal) & FREE Dodo Pad diary insert 

Use the links above to find out full details..

Dodo Pad - Universal A4/USA Letter Size Acad Pad Review

[Full Disclosure: Dodo Pad have sent Philofaxy this sample to review free of charge, we did not pay for it. However we have not let this 'free gift' influence our review of their product.]

You might already be familiar with the Dodo Pad inserts and diaries, Laurie has reviewed them several times before. I will try not to repeat what has already been said about them.

This however is a new format of the Dodo Pad diary which is now available in a new 'Universal Size'. It's almost A4/US Letter Size, but not quite... it is in fact US Letter height (11 inches) but European A4 width (21cm), sort of a best of both worlds I suppose.
So inside it's like any other Dodo Pad, just bigger...

Each right hand page is a week per page, with a grid of five columns and the left hand facing page has room for notes etc. with a quote and artistic design like this:

The grid stays the same throughout, but each week is different; with different cartoons/quotes in different colours - all printed on high quality paper.

Here's a sample of a week filled in:

There are of course several ways of using the five columns; for instance use it for a family diary and have each person in a different column, great for Mums and Dads with kids that need to be at different places at different times etc. Or it works just as well for one person who wants to fill the columns with different times of the days or make task lists.

This particular sample (Acad-Pad) is for the academic year so it runs from August 2012 to the end of August 2013. There will also be a conventional January 2013 to December 2013 Dodo Pad in this new ‘Universal’ size that Lord Dodo tells me will be available in June.

In addition to the weekly sheets there are year planners included with monthly pages for this year and the following year and a timetable page.

As much as this product is a serious planning tool to help you remember important things to do and record things you have achieved, there is a definite fun element running through the whole design. To do's, planning, appointments etc don't have to be boring.

One of the things you will also notice is all those holes! 7 of them to be precise. Now, there's a bit of a story behind why it has so many holes, and it goes something like this.....

One evening Lord Dodo called me up on Skype and after the usual initial pleasantries we got in to discussing the A4 Filofax…

LD: Do you have one?

SM: Yes of course!

LD: Do you think that a Dodo Pad would work in that size?

SM: I guess so, there is no reason why not, more space in each box etc. 

Then came the crunch statement...

LD: We want to sell it in the States....

SM: You know that Filofax don't sell the A4 Filofax in the USA…

Silence...

LD: OK, so they can use an ordinary 2 ring or 4 ring binders instead....

SM: They don't sell those either... in the US... only 3 ring binders... but the spacing is different

LD: Ah ok.... what is the spacing...??

At which point I declared myself the 'Filofax Hole Spacing Standards Expert' a rather boring skill set as you can imagine. But in the world of stationery if the holes in your paper don't match the spacing between your rings then you have an incompatibility issue....

Anyway the long and the short of it is, that this special Universal format has two sets of holes, 4 holes for 2/4 European Rings (including A4 Filofax) and 3 holes for the US 3 ring binders. The compromise on paper size ensures it will fit either binder.

Here are some pictures to show how it fits in either variety of binder.

If you want to discover more about Dodo Pad products then visit their website to see the full range of planners and other fun products.

Thank you again to Lord Dodo for letting us see this new product.