Our Reality Check

We established Off-Line because we believe our best doesn't come from the cloud. It starts in the real world, with really great people by your side.

So we've created a collection of knock-out notebooks. Simple tools for the real world that we are using to take care of each other and the world around us.

But how did we get here? 

Jenna and I were lucky enough to visit family in USA over Christmas 2019. As the new year rolled into 2020 snow was falling outside our window in Montana, while back home our country was ablaze. Jet lag kept me wired to the news reports tumbling in as smoke filled Melbourne's streets. It was a cold winter’s morning at 2am that I decided to undertake a project that had a meaningful impact on the things I cared most about: the people we love and the world they inhabit.

Christmas in Montana 2019

Halfway there 

The year prior had proven difficult to say the least. In a few short months I had gone from 'not quite understanding depression and anxiety' to finding myself in the ER, with the doctor telling me that I wasn't having a heart attack, and maybe I should go and talk to my GP. While it felt like I was being dragged along the ocean floor we managed to have a somewhat successful year—overcoming significant challenges in the business, throwing a successful fundraiser for the ALNF and digging myself out of a dark place—all of which were accomplished with the support of an amazing partner, family, industry peers, colleagues and friends. Not to mention a few good books, and more than a few good conversations.

ALNF Fundraiser Exhibition 'Twenty-Six'

We didn't know at the time, but the fires were not the final punctuation on a difficult year but only the halfway point in something much grander.

A Little Help

After a couple of months of relative normality, everything was tipped upside down once again. Covid-19 locked up our world. We went inside for the good part of a year for the good of each other. We spent too much time online, and savoured every escape from our radius. I was thankful that 2019 had given us the tools to deal with the stresses of 2020, but I know not everyone was so lucky.

We pitched our idea—a range of notebooks that are more than sustainable, notebooks that give back to friends, family and local suppliers. Almost everyone we talked to has gotten behind us to support our idea.

Covid-19 affirmed everything we believed: that looking after yourself and looking after the world around you is intrinsically linked.

We believe there is room for a locally made range of stationery that does better.

That's why we're starting here. 

Thanks for joining us on this journey. 

Simon & Jenna