ola was founded by Katy Goutefangea in the spring of 2013. In her time at art school and years working as a printmaker, Katy had accumulated shelves brimming with sketchbooks, but had yet to find the perfect tool.

She’d found notebooks which were beautiful but proved impractical, with poor quality pages and tightly glued bindings, mass market titles that prescribed what an owner should fill their pages with (“Hopes & Dreams or This Year’s Adventure”). For the most part she had opted for practical designs, but found these lacking in the craftsmanship that makes an object sing.

ola was founded to offer an alternative. To create a beautifully crafted tool that would inspire its user – with a beauty and tactility that lent itself to contemplation.