What’s on Their Desk – Chad Doane: Founder of Doane Paper

Chad Doane – Founder of Doane Paper

Lots of you have probably seen my reviews of Doane Paper, or at least heard of Doane Paper before, so today in our “What’s on Their Desk Series” we will take a look at the desk of Doane Paper founder, Chad Doane.  First though, I wanted to share a quick bit of background on Chad and Doane Paper.  Believe it or not, Chad does not make a living from his paper and notebook empire alone, his primary way of making a living is as a marketing executive for a company in the sports medicine products industry.  Chad launched his line of paper in 2005, 3 years after first dreaming up the concept while he was sitting in a work meeting and watching people in different functional areas use different types of paper.  He noticed that the designers in the room were all using graph paper, while the marketing folks were all using regular ruled paper.  Chad quickly realized that there might be a market in a notepad that combined both types of paper, and the idea of “grid+lines” was born.  With that brief background, lets dig in and take a look at the products that Chad identified as his favorites, and that he relies on to help keep Doane Paper innovative and productive.

A look at Chad Doane’s Desk and his Favorite Office Supplies

1.  Doane Paper Flap Jotter – I’m a chronic list maker. Monday morning I whip out my trusty Flap Jotter and list the weekly Doane Paper tasks that need to be done and make it my goal to put a line through each one of those tasks by the end of the week. I love the Flap Jotter because it fits nicely into any pocket and I can rotate the cover a full 360 degrees to get it completely out of the way. I also have a couple Flap Jotters stationed on the side of the magazine box near my living room sofa. I’m a bit of a night owl. When the wife and kids are tucked in I’ll go sit on the sofa and zone out to David Letterman. It’s that time during the day that I dream up the next DP product idea or what Doane Paper will look like 5 years from now and a Flap Jotter records all of that. Large pieces of paper or large notebooks really intimidate my creative process, the Flap Jotter is my spiral bound bar room napkin.

2. Sharpie Ultra Fine Marker (Black Only) – Yes I know the ink bleeds through paper but I could care less. For at least the past 10 years my writing tool of choice has been the Sharpie Ultra Fine Tipped Marker. I’ve never been a huge fan of ball-points always disliked how the inks seems to skip on the paper. I love how the flow of ink is super consistent with the Ultra Fine Marker. You know exactly what you’re getting when you pop the lid on a new marker. The ink seems to last forever, they’re built to last and very affordable. I usually have at least two Sharpie ultra fine point markers within arms length at all times throughout the day.

3.  FISKARS 18” Stainless Steel Ruler – Every desk has a security blanket and mine is my Fiskars 18” Stainless Steel Ruler. If one of the kids borrows my 18” FISKARS and forgets to place it back on my desk there’s big trouble in River City. I use the ruler at least once a day, always measuring a product or a shipping box. The ruler was given to me by my mom the week before we cranked up the online store in October of ‘08. Everyone told us we were completely insane starting  up a “premium stationery” online store as the country went head first into the worst economy since the Depression but thanks to our loyal customers we’ve done alright. With every passing day that ruler means more and more to me, it’s not only a physical measuring tool but has now become a Doane Paper measuring tool.

Note: The link to the FISKARS Ruler is actually for a 12″ version, I was unable to find an online retailer that I have heard of before that carried the 18″ version.

Much like Doane Paper, Chad’s desk is highly functional, and gets right down to the basics needed to perform almost any job.  It was a pleasure to have Chad participate in the “What’s on Their Desk Series“, and it was great to have some insight into a product and company that I personally think makes a fantastic product that is backed up with great customer service.  If you want to keep up with Doane Paper, you can check out the Doane Paper FaceBook page, @DoanePaper on Twitter, or just hit the Doane Paper Website to see all of their great notebooks, pads, and journals.