PSA: Sketchbook ID

 

I put these labels on all sketchbooks (and even notebooks) I take out of the house. I regret that they look so messy -- the digitally garbled text is just to obscure the phone numbers for this post. The line that has been Sharpied out, however, is my former email address, which I changed shortly after I got hundreds of these labels printed on sale. Poor timing.

Look at the sketchbooks you’re using right now: Is your contact information somewhere on the covers? If not, put it there – RIGHT NOW! (Go ahead – I’ll wait here.)

It is usually hearing yet another sad story of a sketcher losing their sketchbook that prompts me to trot out this PSA. Just in the past few weeks, I’ve heard two such stories. One book is still at large, but contact info is in place, so we’re all hoping that book eventually finds its way back home. Eleanor Doughty recently wrote of her ordeal of losing a sketchbook while traveling in Washington, DC – and she eventually got it back! But I’ve heard many other stories without happy endings – and usually it’s because the books had no contact info.

Lately I’ve been adding an additional label to my sketchbook covers: My emergency contact’s phone number. Here’s my logic:

I used to follow an old bit of advice I learned way back when smart phones were new. My emergency contact person could be found as ICE (“in case of emergency”) pinned to the top of my phone’s contacts listing. Apparently first responders know to look for the ICE designation. But it occurred to me that my phone is now secured, so a first responder wouldn’t be able to get to that information. I needed a different solution.

I asked myself, When am I most likely to be out alone when I might befall an emergency? The answer: When I’m out sketching. If my sketchbook is in my bag or nearby, maybe someone coming to my aid would think to look in it for contact info? I hope so.