About

My name’s Callum, and I'm a full-time graphic designer and a part-time maker.

Over the years, I’ve tried my hand at loads of different creative hobbies, always tinkering and trying to make or learn something new. From simple sketches and scribbles to designing fonts, binding books, pouring candles, baking bread, casting concrete or blending perfumes. You name it, I’ve probably tried it.

During COVID, I noticed just how powerful making could be. For focus, for mental health, for simply feeling present. Everywhere I looked, people were picking up new hobbies or learning new crafts. With the world on pause, we were rediscovering the joy of creating again. But once lockdown lifted, life slowly slipped back to the way it was.

Over time, more and more of my days were spent staring at screens. From the medium screen at work, to the big screen at home, to scrolling aimlessly on the small screen in my pocket until I fell asleep. I’d wake up thinking of all the things I'd get done in the day, but by the evening I had little to show for it.

I needed to get away from it all, so I went out in search for a new notebook. Something that would let me step away from the devices, free me from distractions and give me a place to hold my ideas and learnings without the pull of notifications.

Nothing on the market really felt quite right, so I decided to make my own.

That decision pulled me back to something I’d always been drawn to: the school exercise book. Over the years, I’ve collected vintage copies with their sewn bindings and unusual sizes. They're dog-eared, scribbled in and full of crossed-out sums or half-finished essays. Humble. Utilitarian. Personal. Each one feels like a snapshot of a moment in someone’s learning.

I wondered what it would look like to take that same spirit (approachable, unpretentious, designed for use) and remake it with the craft and quality I wanted to see in a notebook.

In 2024, I started. I ordered paper stocks, tested sizes, filled notebooks and carried them everywhere to see how they held up. I obsessed over the details. How a page takes ink, how a spine survives weeks of use, how the cover feels after being handled day after day.

By early 2025, I had my first prototypes. They weren’t perfect, but they felt different. Substantial enough to keep, approachable enough to use every day.

PREST is built on the belief that we're all makers. That making isn't a nice-to-have or something reserved for “creative types”. It's essential to us as humans. It’s how we process the world, explore ideas and move things forward.

The tools we use shape the way we work. A notebook shouldn’t sit untouched on a shelf because it feels too perfect to use. It should inspire you to start, keep you motivated and adapt to your varied passions, projects and ideas. It should be ready whenever you are.

That’s why PREST reimagines the school exercise book. Practical and familiar, yet elevated with the craft and care to keep you inspired. Approachable enough to start, durable enough to last, and simple enough to never get in your way.

For anyone who’s ever felt stuck behind a screen, PREST is there to offer you a way back into making. It’s there for the first sketch, the messy notes or the late-night ideas that might turn into something more.

We're not about perfection here. Every notebook is made to be carried, battered, scribbled in and treasured. The more you use it, the more it becomes yours. A record of the process, not just the polished outcome.

By design, PREST is for the people who want to do. Through thoughtfully designed stationery, we want to help you start, continue and finish projects you care about. Whether that’s journaling before bed, baking on the weekend or brewing your morning coffee with intention.

PREST isn’t really about stationery. It’s about making, sharing and inspiring creativity. It’s about protecting the space to make. For you, for me, and for the next generation.

Creativity and making shouldn't be a luxury. But too many schools, especially in disadvantaged communities, have seen funding for creative subjects stripped away. That’s why we're committing 50p from every book sold will be donated to bring creativity back into those classrooms, so the next generation of makers can start their own journey. Supporting the next generation of makers feels like a natural extension of PREST’s purpose.

If PREST can help one person close an app and start making instead, or help one child discover the joy of creativity in school, then it’s already doing what it was made to do.

If this story has resonated with you at all, I'd love for you to be part of the journey. Sign up to the PREST newsletter and join the Maker Movement.

Now, let's get making.

Callum Dawes,
Founder