The PocketMod website lets you create tiny 8-page booklets that fold together from a single letter size sheet of paper. You can print one on your laser printer, fold it together, and carry it around, well, in your pocket.

The hardest part is deciphering the cryptic folding instructions.

It takes some time and patience to figure out. But once you master the technique, assembling these tiny books becomes quite addictive.

PocketMod sells its concept as a low-tech replacement for a Personal Data Assistant (PDA). Yet, somehow we don’t see many of our clients switching their time-management system to a folded sheet of paper.

Still, it is a fun project — and who knows? A PocketMod template might be an innovative solution for some client’s design problem. Plus we do admire an interesting folding dummy when we see one.

Want to build your own PocketMod?

The PocketMod website provides a flash-based application that invites you to design your own PocketMod using a variety of pre-designed calendars, to-do lists, SuDuko puzzles, etc.

If you’d like design your own unique PocketMod, there is a PDF to PocketMod converter that converts PDF documents into the PocketMod folding dummy. However this utility only runs in Microsoft Windows (or on a new Intel Mac with Windows installed).

For designers with no access to a Windows computer, we’ve created two simple folding dummies you can use as a template for your own creation. Open or place in any program that supports PDF.

PocketMod Template Numbered.pdf A simple PocketMod template with the pages numbered to help you create the appropriate layout.

PocketMod Template Blank.pdf The same PocketMod template with page numbers removed.

Tiny Troubleshooting Guide.

This looked like fun. So we decided to develop a couple tiny PocketMod-style booklets that might be useful for our Mac-based creative clients. Here is a link to our first PocketMod creation:

Tiny Guide #1: My Mac Won’t Start! A tiny troubleshooting guide for the designer faced with a blinking question mark or a grey screen. Print it out, fold it up, and keep it handy in case your computer acts up!

Tell us what you think. If we get some good feedback from this first experiment, we’ve got a couple more PocketMod ideas to share.