Font Stencil Project – Update

It’s been a few weeks since we launched the Bookworm and Book Noir fonts and debuted our new Stencil Cheat Sheets, so we thought we’d better give you an update on the project!

Trialling something new!

If you missed our book launches you might not have seen that we added an additional resource in with the font stencils: The Stencil Cheat Sheet!

The idea behind the Cheat Sheets is that they will provide an easy reference for your font stencils. By storing them alongside your stencil collection in our storage folders, you can create a catalogue of fonts to choose from when setting up your spreads!

We wanted to trial the concept with our newest stencils and gain your feedback prior to rolling out across the range.

The Cheat Sheets are printed onto 200gsm A5 card and hole punched for easy storage. They include a full alphabet of the featured font on the front cover, with the reverse containing a guide to the “holes”, some info about the font, and tips how to use it.

Your feedback to the soft launch

After dipping our toes in the water with these two new fonts we asked for feedback from the community and the overwhelming majority loved the new Cheat Sheets!

We were then hit with a wave of requests for us to roll these out across the whole range so that the guides could be placed into your storage folders along with your stencils to build up a comprehensive collection of fonts!

Planning the project roll out

After the soft launch with Bookworm and Book Noir fonts, we had a number of questions to answer:

• Will they be included with every stencil?

Although the majority of people were keen to receive the Cheat Sheet, there was a significant number who would prefer to not have them. We want to avoid unnecessary waste (and cost), and so do not want to include an item with every stencil if it isn’t going to be used.

• Should they be a digital or physical item?

The alternative to including a physical Cheat Sheet was to provide a digital download copy with each order, however this would be problematic for those without a printer.

• Will there be an additional charge?

This project is hugely time intensive and obviously includes a cost when considering the printed item. There is also the time it takes to hole punch and pack the sheets to consider.

• How can we make the hole punching more uniform?

Currently our stencils are manufactured “unpunched”, with the hole punching being added on a per order basis. The nature of a hand punch means that there are variations in the exact position of the holes.

It is possible to add the hole punch to the design, however we do have a small number of customers who order their stencils punched for storage in a discbound system which would no longer be possible.

• How will they be packaged?

For the soft launch we packed each stencil individually, while this looked fab it creates a huge amount of unnecessary packaging waste, even when using the eco cello bags. This also adds an additional cost that would need to be taken into account.

• How can we provide access to the cheat sheets for past purchases?

Existing customers expressed a desire to be able to purchase Cheat Sheets for stencils already in their collection. This would mean a separate listing would need to be created within the shop. Again, we need to consider if this would be for a digital or physical item.

The plan

• Each permanent shop Font Stencil will have it’s own Cheat Sheet. (Currently, this does not include fonts from subscription boxes).
• At the point of purchase you will have the option to include a digital copy (+£0.00) or physical copy (+£0.60).
• All of the the stencil designs will be updated to include a 6-hole punch as part of the manufacturing process, meaning that the hole punch will be uniform.
• There will still be the option to have your stencil “punched for disc bound” and these will be made to order. You will need to leave a note when ordering in order to request this. We will no longer be offering “unpunched” as an option.
• There will be no additional packaging used, all stencils and Cheat Sheets will be packed in our paper bags (or storage bags) as usual.
• Each individual Cheat Sheet will also have its own individual listing where you will be able to purchase them separately to the actual stencil. Again, you will have the option of a digital copy (+£0.00) or physical copy (+£0.60).
• All stencils will have new standardised graphics depicting the new hole punched stencil, along with the options for punching and Cheat Sheets.

As you can appreciate, all of the above is going to take some time. As much as we would love to get this all done a dusted in a single launch, it just isn’t going to be possible.

Instead we have planned 4 phases, beginning with the BuJo Basics launch in June where we will drop cheat sheets for our first 10 and most recent 10 stencil designs.

The phases:

Below is the planned launch dates of the cheat sheets for each of our existing fonts. This may be subject to change but is currently the plan we are working towards!

Phase 1: June Launch

Phase 2: July Launch

Phase 3: August Launch

Phase 4: September Launch

What’s next?

It’s been a huge undertaking which involved design, manufacture, and website reorganisation! You will see Phase 1 go live this month as part of our BuJo Basics launch and we can’t wait to start seeing the Cheat Sheets leaving HQ to land on your doorsteps!