Made with love in the South West.
Why notebooks in a digital world?
If you’ve ever experienced the joy of channeling your thoughts through a favourite pen or pencil onto a fresh clean sheet of paper, you already know the answer.
If you haven’t, you might be interested to know that there are countless studies backing the idea that journaling supports both physical and mental health and wellbeing. That choosing the slower pace of handwriting over the frenetic rush of typing aids learning and understanding.
Wilder. is our way of encouraging more people to experience these benefits - and more - while supporting traditional British craftsmanship and celebrating exceptional quality.
Note to self: Don’t ever let Sarah cut my hair again. Ever!
Rupert’s story
“For me there is - anecdotally, but Sarah agrees entirely - a link between how pleasant I am to live with and whether or not I have written in my journal lately.”
Journaling at bedtime means a break from the screen before sleep and better thought processing overnight. Journaling in the morning - just being briefly present and mindful of what’s going on in my head - affects my productivity throughout the whole day.
When I am irritated or short-tempered, Sarah will invariably ask, “Have you not been using your journal lately?” As with so many things, she’s usually right. Irritating though it might be to hear it.
How Wilder. was born
In 2020, during the brief window in which we were allowed to travel, Sarah and I ventured from our home in the South West and travelled to Scotland. With the exception of the Satnav to keep our marriage from ending in map-induced flames, we stayed away from screens as we followed the North Coast 500 in our campervan.
Instead, we took notebooks. When we weren’t sitting by the fire or dragging one of the dogs out of a loch, we had a chance to write and think and talk, free from the endless pings of smartphone notifications. We hadn’t really planned a digital detox, it just happened. But in that place of quiet, an idea took hold.
Slow stationery for the soul
Inspired by the UK’s many artisans and skilled manufacturers, our reputation for great quality and our love of stationery, combining our interests and passions into a clearly defined, well thought-out range of products was an obvious step.
When we returned home, we researched the very best papers, testing dozens of samples and selecting the most buttery-smooth, nib-friendly one we could find. We debated colours endlessly, settling eventually on ink-inspired blue, graphite-inspired grey and nature-inspired green. We sought out a local, independent manufacturer and watched the first notebooks coming off the press.
And here we are. Living Wilder.
We hope you love our products. Most of all we hope you take more moments to step out of the day-to-day, to put pen or pencil to paper, and to discover what happens when you reconnect with yourself. Enjoy.
Follow our journey.
