Today we’d like to introduce you to Joshua Moore.
Hi Joshua, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I was frustrated as an artist that my sketchbooks either didn’t lay flat, didn’t have hard covers, let marker and ink bleed, and most of all didn’t let me remove pages and replace them. A three ring binder was close but limiting and bulky. It didn’t provide a hard enough work surface and didn’t stay closed. It also opened flat but wouldn’t let you fold the cover all the way around. Lastly, they got badly creased or damaged after a few weeks in my bag.
I decided to try and make my own with every feature that I couldn’t find in other books and after a few months of trying, I had my first prototype. It almost immediately was sold to a coworker. I made another and it went to a friend I met online. I made myself one more, and started to make a few sensing there may be other people who wanted the same things I did.
At my first fandom convention, I brought 25 books to sell in artist alley. I sold all the books in the first day. With the artist feedback, and my own testing, I kept refining. After a couple of years, I had what I feel is the best version of my books and the most useful blank book on the market. I’d probably call this ver. 5.0.
I’ve focused on sustainable reuse, with much of my process being on hand powered machinery. I source FSC certified paper, local, small business, and USA made supplies, and work with libraries in the area to rescue and repurpose books bound for the waste stream. My main books are refillable so that the book covers, grommets, and binding can be reused endlessly.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
My books are a little quirky with a lot of features that aren’t obvious at a glance so it tends to take a face to face interaction to really explain my stuff to people. As the years have gone on, word of mouth and retail pop-ups have helped but it still comes down to being able to interface directly. That being said, I love talking to people and seeing the light go on when it solves problems they’ve experienced or inspires a new idea or technique.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Neko Heavy Industries / Sketchbook Central?
Neko Heavy Industries is the name of my design studio. This is where I dabble in layout and design, create the sketchbooks & journals, print, and do all of my other creative work.
Sketchbook Central is my retail site that sells my books along with art and writing supplies.
We’re known for the refillable blank books, making blank pocket notebooks out of Pokemon cards and old Blockbuster signage, and have a few events every year where people look forward to the art and writing supplies that we import from Japan and Germany.
I’m proud that we can help give new life to things that were headed to obsolescence and that we never skimp on quality. We don’t cut corners. If the right way costs more and takes longer, that’s the way we go. All of our products are warrantied because we want people to be confident in what they buy and happy with it for the rest of their life.
We make useful things for other creatives and are proud of what we do.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I feel like I push the stuff more than I push the “me” so I’d think a lot of stuff could be surprising.
When I was 4 or 5 I ran head first into the front window frame of a retail store because I believed 100% that I could pass through it if I committed. I knocked myself clean out and fractured my skull. Because of that, I can’t be sure if I made it or not.
I make stuff for everyone from beginners to professionals (and you might be surprised to know who has purchased one of my books).
Pricing:
- Refillable books $20-$45 usually
- Trading Card books $4
- Blockbuster books $15
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Nekoheavyindustries.com
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/nekoheavyindustries
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/nekoheavyindustries
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-moore-408469106/
- Twitter: https://x.com/nekoheavy
- Other: https://linktr.ee/nekoheavy
