Our Story.

• 

  Inspired by bindery artisans.

  Taking our cues from bindery artisans, we began the process of crafting the most beautiful handmade case we could make. Starting with our Minneapolis carpenter turned CNC router team, whose engineering perfection combined with our team's knowledge of the gadgets, we produced a solid wood frame design.

• 

  Holds with perfect tension.

  The frames are cut from a single sheet of Baltic birch and are designed to hold the newest devices in perfect tension while allowing for all the functions to be accessible.

• 

  Beautiful satin finish.

  Brian draws from his many years as an artistic home finisher and has his local team apply two coats of eco-friendly, low VOC water based urethane to each frame. The result is a uniquely beautiful satin finish that wears as well as it looks.

• 

  Genuine hand-stitched leather.

  When choosing which materials will cover our cases, our team is constantly looking for the best bindery materials. These include genuine hand-stitched leather, Spanish bonded leather, and various quality bookbindery cloths.

• 

  Traditional methods.

  At our St. Paul bindery, the cover and cloth are hand applied to their new book board backing and then pressed through bindery rollers for final adhesion. This technique is in true form of traditional bookbindery methods. Each wood frame is then hand applied to the cover and gets its classic PQ bookmark.

• 

  Time-tested methodology.

  As in the days of old, these finished books are then stacked many feet high and pressed under weight to ensure proper adhesion. Each of our book cases then receives our patented bumper material and a final visual inspection before shipping to our awaiting customers.

When you find yourself with a handful of seeds, careful cultivation will turn it to acres of bounty.

One of the favorite reads on the family bookshelf is Robinson Crusoe, the great adventure of a man lost at sea and then compelled to survive on the remnants of his ship and the provision of the island. At one dire point, desperate for provision, Crusoe discovers a handful of unspoiled seed among the reclaimed wreckage. He carefully husbands his find into a small crop, which he in turn harvests and resows. Within a handful of seasons, he's cultivated his seed into rolling fields of produce capable of feeding many.

This in essence is the Pad & Quill story. In the midst of a shipwrecked economy, having abandoned a floundering startup, we found ourselves on a proverbial island with a handful of seeds. When Brian called to say we ought to catch a ride on Apple's rising tide, I said "What???" and adjusted the earpiece on my rotary phone. Because, in terms of Mr. and Mrs. PQ, one was born a century too early and one a century too late. But we met here, in the decades of transition where technology is rapidly consuming tradition and the artisan craftsmanship of the working class is being plasticized and shipped overseas. Make no mistake, we love technology; Mr. PQ has queued up many a time, sleeping bag in hand, to grab the first gadget to roll off the assembly line. But like me, he also loves his art and in Pad & Quill we believe we have found the perfect marriage of local artistic tradition and spectacular new technology.

- Mrs. PQ