Most of us document travels through photos and videos taken with our smartphones. But Spanish artist Jose Naranja is taking a different approach. He documents his travels by making colorful journals that he later shares on social media.
It all started when Naranja brought a pocket-size Moleskine notebook with him on one of his travels in 2005. He discovered that the notebook is perfect for capturing his thoughts, sketches, and even small souvenirs from the places he visited.
Since then, Moleskine notebooks have become a permanent fixture in his travel equipment. He would fill them with drawings, sketches, citations, descriptions, photographs, and stamps that described the destination he found himself at a particular moment.
In 2017, Naranja said goodbye to Moleskine notebooks and instead started making his own. This made his practice feel even more intimate.
“I used to fill notebooks, and now I also make them. I guess I’m a notebookmaker,” Naranja explains on his website. “Actually, it’s an amazing dedication that touches many different creative fields.”
Naranja’s colorful journals got him a significant following on social media, where his followers enjoy unpacking all of their details. The artist also turned some of his works into books, which are available for purchase on his official website.
