Blank pages change how a notebook is used. This large Moleskine, approximately A5 at 13 x 21 cm, carries 240 plain pages with no ruling at all, leaving the layout of every spread to the person holding the pen.

Everything else is the familiar construction: a hard cover in paper and cardboard with a PP finish, an inner pocket at the back, a ribbon marker and an elastic closure that holds the block shut in a bag. Without lines the pages take sketches, wireframes, diagrams, mind maps, handwriting at any angle and mixed layouts of text and drawing on the same spread. The available colours are black, blue, dark blue, lime and turquoise.

The blank format targets a specific audience, and that is its strength as a gift. Design and architecture studios, product and UX teams, engineering departments, agencies and innovation units all work visually, and a ruled notebook fights them. It is well suited to design thinking workshops and hackathons, creative agency client gifts, and university or academy programmes in design and engineering where each participant is given a notebook on day one.

A debossed logo on the cover keeps the finish restrained, which matters for an audience that cares about how objects look. MerchRepublic prepares the branding, produces the quantities a workshop series or campaign requires and ships to any EU destination, including direct delivery to a training venue.