Fahmi Alby
by Aika Mentari · July 11, 2025
When a Journal Is No Longer a Journal but an Emblem
Look closely at this photograph from Fahmi Alby (@fahmialby). You are not looking at two notebooks. You are looking at two sides of a story. One is a vessel, the other an emblem. One to be used, the other to be fought for.
Behind, a tan leather journal, classic and functional. With firm hand stitching and a tested design, it is ready to be a reliable working companion for every day. It is tough. It is honest. But it is not the main character.
The main character is the object in front of it. That small dark brown journal. The one carrying a symbol.
A Badge, Not Merely an Ornament
Look at that gold metal emblem. It is not an ornament. It is a badge. A promise. A mark of affiliation, or perhaps a declaration of a personal mission. We do not know what the symbol of a bird inside a broken circle means to Fahmi, and that does not matter.
What matters is the act of putting it there. Nobody puts an emblem on their journal casually. This is a commitment. It is a way of saying, “Every word I write here, every idea born here, sits under the shelter of this symbol.”
You Bring the Fire, We Build the Hearth
This is the kind of project we like most. A project where we do not only make a product but become part of a vision. Fahmi did not come to buy a book. They came carrying a symbol that meant something, and asked us to give it a worthy home.
Our task was to make sure that home—that leather cover—was sturdy enough, had enough character, and was quiet enough to let the symbol speak loudest. The result is an artefact. An object with gravity, one that draws the eye and invites a question. Strange, is it not, how a small book can feel so important?
One book is for writing things down. This one is for giving them meaning.
This is evidence that our canvas is not only the paper inside the book. Our canvas is the leather on the cover. The place where your identity, your mission and the emblem you are proud of can be set permanently.
Do you have a symbol you want to carry every day? A logo, a badge, a vision? Let us find the best way to preserve it.