New Product: Say Nice Things Notebooks and Journals

January 18, 2017

As much as I love pens, I have long had a soft spot for good notebooks, especially where a lot of thought has plainly gone into design and manufacturing. The past two years have seen the release of some great new products, and these books from a UK-based company called Say Nice Things are no exception.

The "Cadence" Notebook from Say Nice Things.

Andy from Say Nice Things sent me two hardcover books, a "Curtis" A5 Journal, and a "Cadence" A5 Notebook, and I'm impressed with both. The covers are made from what the company calls a "soft Peltouch" material (it feels like vinyl) with a screenprint pattern. The "Curtis" features a dark glossy polka dot pattern with a blue highlight in the bottom left-hand corner, while the "Cadence" features a bicycle pattern with a white highlight. The covers feel very durable, lay flat, and close snugly with a tight elastic band.

The "Curtis" A5 Journal from Say Nice Things.

The layout of these notebooks makes them somewhat unique. The journal is a larger book, with 192 pages of 90gsm paper, split into six 32-page sections with an index and tabs for easy navigation. Four of the sections contain lined paper, one contains a combination of blank and graph pages for "sketching and colouring," and the last contains an undated 12-month calendar "for forward planning."

The notebook is noticeably slimmer, reminiscent of a Quo Vadis Habana, with 128 pages of the same 90gsm paper, but broken into three "sections" of 95 lined pages, 16 plain pages, and 17 reticle grid pages. I like that Say Nice Things has included different sections within their notebooks: the concept reminds me of the five-subject notebooks that I used to use in school, updated for today's popular bound hardback format. These are very attractive, understated notebooks, and I can see myself easily using both in a professional setting.

I'm impressed with the paper quality, though there was some disparity between how the white paper in the Cadence notebook and the gray paper in the Curtis journal handled fountain pen ink. I tested the paper in the Cadence with every fountain pen I have inked up at the moment - including a very wet Visconti Homo Sapiens Dark Ages - and did not experience any bleed-through or feathering. It's absorbent paper - not glossy - but it handled the fine and medium nibs I threw at it extremely well. On the other hand, the Curtis's gray paper did ok with fine nibs, but I can definitely see how you might experience show-through and some bleed-through with very wet broad (or even medium) fountain pen nibs. Other types of pens and pencils should be fine. Overall, I would say that the paper quality on both notebooks is very good, and I could easily use both on a daily basis.

Where to Buy

You can order from Say Nice Things directly via their website. The company just launched a month or so ago, but they already have a wide range of notebooks and journals for sale, including some colorful options. They are competitively priced, with the 128-page A5 notebook coming in at £12.50 ($15.40 US), and the larger 192-page journal priced at £25 ($30.81 US).

Disclaimer: Say Nice Things sent me these notebooks free of charge for review purposes.

Hobonichi Planner: Thoughts After One Year

January 4, 2017

Back in May, I offered my initial thoughts after spending five months with the Hobonichi Planner. For those of you unfamiliar with the Hobonichi, a quick recap; it's a bound notebook with dated pages that's sold and marketed as a planner, and many people use it for that purpose. Unlike most "planners," however, the Hobonichi uses the amazing fountain-pen friendly Tomoe River paper, and its pages aren't set up in such a way that precludes you from using the book as something other than a planner, such as a journal, commonplace book, life log, etc.

When I ordered my first Hobonichi in December 2015, I intended to use it as a journal, and for the most part that's what I've done, using it to jot down quotes, thoughts, accomplishments, significant events in my life - you get the idea. Using the Hobonichi's "single-page-per-day" format for journaling is a lot less intimidating than starting a journal in a blank book. It doesn't look "out of place" to fill up only a quarter of a page, and there were many uneventful days where I couldn't muster more than a few lines. I even allowed myself to miss some days entirely, though it didn't happen very often. When I did miss a day or left a page mostly blank, sometimes I'd come back and use the empty space (on that awesome paper) to jot down thoughts on a potential blog post, test an ink, etc.

So What's New?

Honestly, my first year with the Hobonichi was an experiment, and now that I know I that I like the Hobonichi format and have a use for this product, I've spent some more time thinking about how I'd like to use the book differently to maximize both my enjoyment and the utility. A few ideas that I plan to try out:

A planner for certain things. I'm going to continue to use the Hobonichi as a journal (or as much of a "journal" as I keep), but I also want to try to use it as more of a planner for certain specific things, such as the blog/website. (I tried this for a bit last year and liked it, but fell off the wagon about halfway through.) Another great feature of the Hobonichi is that it's basically three planners in one. The day-per-page section makes up the bulk of the pages, but the front of the book also contains a traditional month-on-two-pages section and a column-style layout with four months on two pages. The latter looks like it would be perfect for a blog editorial calendar. (See pictures of the various layouts below.)
More specificity. I also want to be a bit more active in writing things down. I spent some time over the holidays reading back through last year's entries, and was pleasantly surprised at how much fun it was to recall small details that I had completely forgotten about: the name of a restaurant where we had dinner on vacation, something hysterically funny my daughter said, little things, seemingly insignificant at the time, that would otherwise be lost if I hadn't taken 30 seconds to jot them down.
Lists. I like making comprehensive lists but I'm really bad at maintaining them over the long-term. It's been a goal of mine for a while to keep good running lists of books I've read and want to read, music I want to listen to, pens I've tried, various "wish lists," etc. The problem is that I start them in several different places and don't update them. At least some of these are going into the Hobonichi, which has 12 blank dot-grid pages at the back.

The common thread running through all of these "goals" is that most of them require that I carry the Hobonichi with me, if not all the time, certainly more than last year when it lived on my desk at home. Good thing it's extremely portable! I also invested in a canvas and plastic cover, so there's less concern about this small journal getting smashed up in a bag.

Where to Buy the Hobonichi Planner

If you're interested in getting the Hobonichi Planner into your hands as quickly as possible, Amazon is your best bet due to the Prime shipping eligibility. The official Hobonichi Covers are a bit hard to come by, so you may have to order them directly from Japan, but you can find third-party versions on Amazon, including some from Galen Leather (whose products I've reviewed before). Jetpens also stocks both the Hobonichi and the cover but they are currently out of stock.

At some point I'd like to try Hobonichi products other than the A6 planner. There is a larger A5 size Hobonichi "Cousin," as well as a smaller "Hobonichi Weeks" version that is slim enough to slip into a jacket pocket. If you like the A6 size and layout but want a slimmer book, the original Techo is also sold in two volumes, called the "Hobonichi Avec."

A final note: The naming conventions of the various Hobonichi products can be somewhat confusing at first. The "Hobonichi Planner," which is what I own and what is pictured above, is the English-language version of the "Hobonichi Techo," the original A6 planner from Japan. To my knowledge, the Hobonichi Planner is the only English-language Hobonichi - all others are in Japanese - but that doesn't stop many non-Japanese speakers from using the Japanese versions. YMMV depending on how you want to use the book, so be warned before you order anything other than the English-language planner.

Disclaimer: I purchased the product featured in this review with my own funds, for my own use. This post contains affiliate links.

Field Notes Lunacy Limited Edition Pocket Notebooks

December 10, 2016

It's been a long time since I've offered my impressions of a Field Notes Colors edition. I skipped several editions because they didn't speak to me enough (Workshop Companion, Sweet Tooth, and Snowblind), but started picking the notebooks up again with Byline and pulled the trigger on a subscription once I saw Lunacy. I'm glad I did, because so far I'm 2/2, with Lunacy and the current Black Ice edition both justifying the purchase. So here goes for Lunacy:

First Impressions

The first thing I want to say about these notebooks is that I absolutely love the cover. The material is a heavy textured stock ("Neenah Classic Crest 'Epic Black Stipple' 100#C") which almost feels like plastic. It's somewhat reminiscent of the covers on the Drink Local edition, only textured. I've not made it to "staple day" yet, but other than some slight wear on the edges, the cover on this notebook still looks almost new despite heavy pocket carry over the past two weeks.

Field Notes subscribers received two four-packs of the Lunacy edition, adding to the value of your subscription. The all-black notebook is subscriber-exclusive. More of my thoughts on this below. — Field Notes subscribers received two *four*-packs of the Lunacy edition, adding to the value of your subscription. The all-black notebook is subscriber-exclusive. More of my thoughts on this below.

I initially worried that the glossy "moon" peeking through the die-cut covers would be a bit much and make the notebook too "busy" looking for professional use (i.e., in meetings for my stodgy office job, where silly things like "individualism" and "creativity" are frowned upon). Having these notebooks in hand, I'm not too worried. The end result is much more understated than you'd first expect, probably because the rest of the notebook is blacked out, from the embossed "Field Notes" logo and moon on the front and back covers, to the black staples, to the gray reticle-grid paper. That said, I probably will use the all-black subscriber-exclusive notebooks first, then the crescent moon notebooks, then the quarter moon, and finally the full moon, mainly because I worry the cutouts will snag on things in my pocket and my bag and end up not lasting as long as they should.

Paper Quality

Lunacy is one of the most fountain-pen friendly Field Notes editions I have used. Honestly, the paper may handle fountain pen ink better than any other edition I've tried. (Take that with a grain of salt - I like my Field Notes, but I'm not an addict to the point where I can say I own or have tried them all.)

Two fountain pen inks tested on the Lunacy paper. The Bookbinder's Everglades Rat Snake (the orange) did really well, with the Montblanc Burgundy feathering a little in a very wet nib. There was absolutely no show-through or bleed-through with eithe… — Two fountain pen inks tested on the Lunacy paper. The Bookbinder's Everglades Rat Snake (the orange) did really well, with the Montblanc Burgundy feathering a little in a very wet nib. There was absolutely no show-through or bleed-through with either ink.

Even though this paper handles the ink well, for some reason I still don't find this paper particularly pleasant for fountain pens. While there's minimal feathering and absolutely no bleeding, I've experienced a scratchy "draggy" sensation when writing on this paper with fountain pens, likely caused by the fibers. I suspect using a more lubricated ink might help, but lately I've been perfectly content to use my Baron Fig Squire and Steel and Flint pens for most of my pocket notebook writing, both kitted out with the Schmidt Easyflow 9000 refill.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

The only way you can get the all-black notebook pictured here is by starting a Field Notes Colors subscription beginning with Lunacy. Lunacy subscriptions seem to still be available as of the time of writing, but I imagine they may close out soon since Black Ice has been released. Act quick!

If you're interested in picking up a regular Lunacy three-pack, Pen Chalet has them in stock, and you can use the current HOLIDAY discount code to snag them at 10% off the $12.95 sticker price. (It's also a good opportunity to pick up the Black Ice edition!)

Thoughts on the Field Notes Colors Subscription Service

Since I offered my thoughts on the Baron Fig subscription service(s) last week, I thought I'd take a moment to discuss my impressions of the Field Notes Colors subscription. To my knowledge, Field Notes was the first pocket notebook company to offer a subscription service, and they continue to surprise everybody with the sheer breadth of their creativity and ingenuity in developing and executing new ideas. Most of their limited editions have earned rave reviews, some were a little out-there and off the beaten track (Sweet Tooth, anyone?), but I haven't spoken with many people who consider their Field Notes subscription a "bad investment." Why? Because by any measure it represents good value for someone who is a fan of Field Notes products and/or uses a lot of pocket notebooks.

When you subscribe to Field Notes Colors, your first package contains not only two packs of the latest Field Notes Colors limited edition (currently the awesome-looking "Black Ice"), but you also receive two packs of the classic Kraft paper original Field Notes, and some "extras" like Field Notes pencils or pens. Going forward, you receive two three-packs of each new Field Notes Colors release, along with more "extras", some of which are subscriber exclusives (like buttons, etc.). This year, subscribers also received a special surprise in the form of a personalized reprint of the first two Field Notes Colors editions: Butcher Orange and Butcher Blue. Since Field Notes has used this "special shipment" as a selling point to attract new subscribers, I expect they will do something similar in the future.

The cost of a subscription is $97, shipping included. By purchasing all of items listed above separately (not including subscriber-exclusive "extras"), the cost would easily exceed $115. If you like Field Notes, and buy all of the special editions anyway, it makes financial sense to subscribe. That said, you do bear the risk that you'll get one or more editions you aren't crazy about. If that happens to me, I plan to do what I do every year to clear out my stationery overstock: Christmas gifts and stocking stuffers for the rest of my family!

Disclaimer: I paid for my Field Notes subscription with my own money, for my own enjoyment, and have not been compensated for this review. This post contains affiliate links.

Baron Fig: The Black Box and Thoughts on Stationery Subscription Services (Spoiler Warning!)

December 3, 2016

You may have heard that Baron Fig recently announced a massive number of new quarterly subscriptions: one for each of their main product lines, including the Confidant hardcover notebook, the Vanguard softcover notebook, the Squire pen, and the Archer pencil. The idea behind stationery subscription services is pretty simple: subscribers will be among the first to receive limited edition versions of the Company's products that are issued on a quarterly basis. Once you subscribe, you don't need to take any further action in order for the latest and greatest to show up at your door.

The Black Box Is a Big Winner, for Me

So far, Baron Fig has announced two limited edition notebooks that subscribers will receive. The first was the Work/Play II, a reboot of last year's acclaimed Work/Play Confidant. More on that below. The second is the Black Box, a run of limited edition Vanguard notebooks that I absolutely love, and that I'm going to talk about first.

The theme of the Black Box is "Mysteries." Each Black Box contains three softcover Vanguard notebooks (the medium-sized, A5-ish "Flagship" size) featuring Baron Fig's excellent dot grid paper and a black cover with different "mystery-themed" illustrations in unique colors. The three mysteries are (by my best guess) The Bermuda Triangle (yellow), Bigfoot/Sasquatch (Green), and UFOs (Red). As a fan of The X-Files, Supernatural, Stranger Things, insert-scifi/horror series here, these are a huge win for me.

I've reviewed Baron Fig notebooks before, so I don't see a need to talk at length about the paper quality, etc. here. In short, Baron Fig paper is very good, and will hold up to most pens, though you may see bleeding and feathering with especially wet or broad fountain pens. I really enjoy writing on Baron Fig paper with pencils, and I think it's among the best pencil-friendly paper available. What I would like to talk a bit about, however, is the flak that Baron Fig has taken during the initial rollout of their subscription services, some of which I think is unfair and fails to take into account the nature of Baron Fig's products and who their end users are.

For some reason I really love those stylized trees.

My Thoughts on Baron Fig's Subscription Strategy

It surprised everyone that a company would take the unprecedented step of announcing a quarterly limited-edition subscription service for ALL FOUR of their major product lines. It's an ambitious move fraught with a lot of risk. Baron Fig is a small shop, and it will take a lot of work for their team to maintain the existing business while attempting to develop fresh ideas for four different limited editions on a quarterly basis. That's 16 special editions a year across all of the product lines. Companies like Field Notes, Write Notepads, and Palomino-Blackwing do four.

One thing I'd love to see Baron Fig do is include some great extras with their subscriptions - like these "Manifesto" stickers they sent me with my Black Box.

Before Baron Fig had even announced any new editions, chatter started on blogs, Twitter, forums and podcasts saying that "there was no way" Baron Fig could come up with "inspired" or "unique" ideas for each one of these limited editions. Predictably, when Baron Fig announced the Work/Play II as the first limited edition Confidant, it was criticized as just "a reissue" of a past L.E. (despite the fact that the past Work/Play was highly acclaimed and sold out in days, leaving many - myself included - disappointed and empty-handed). Even the Black Box has been minimized as "just a new cover on a pre-existing notebook." IMHO, the critiques of the Work/Play II have some validity, but the snipes at the Black Box are unfair. (The first year's worth of Field Notes Colors were essentially standard graph-paper notebooks with different color covers and rulings. It took Field Notes a while to get to where they are now). Additionally, I think both overlook why many people would subscribe to Baron Fig products in the first place.

It's easier for a company like Field Notes and Write Notepads to take risks with crazy designs on smaller items like 48-page pocket notebooks. Even if you get an "out there" edition with your Field Notes subscription, like Sweet Tooth or Expedition, you can still find some use for them, whether it be as substitutes for post-it notes (Sweet Tooth) or a garage/car notebook (Expedition). This is harder to do with a larger notebook or a journal. Personally, if I'm subscribing to a service that sends me four large 100+ page notebooks a year, I want a bit more predictability. That's not saying that I'm paying in advance for four reissues - I want to see some creativity - but I also want to be sure that I will receive four Confidants or larger Vanguards that I can reliably use. Baron Fig's following is also smaller than that of Field Notes, and I'd venture to say that a larger percentage of them tend to be professionals who use their notebooks daily for work. I'm not above carrying and using some absolutely insane notebooks, but if I were to subscribe to a service, I'd want some comfort that the notebooks I was going to receive wouldn't stray too far from what I've come to expect from my daily-driver Baron Fig books.

From this perspective, I like what I've seen so far from Baron Fig, and would gladly pay a subscription price to receive products like the Black Box and Work/Play II. With respect to the Work/Play II, it may not have been the best launch strategy to lead with a reissue, but the original Work/Play was such a huge hit and sold out so quickly that I see it as a perfectly legit business decision to kick things off by giving your hardcore fans - those most likely to subscribe - what they've been asking for.

To date, Baron Fig has put a lot of thought into their products. Everything I've reviewed from them has been high quality and - importantly for me - highly practical and usable in my daily life. I'm perfectly willing to give them the benefit of the doubt until they have had, at a minimum, a year or so under their belt with the subscriptions before trying to declare whether it's been a success or not. Enough on this from me. Enjoy your weekending and Holiday decorating!

Disclaimer: Baron Fig sent me the Black Box notebooks featured in this review at no charge. I was not otherwise compensated for this review, and the views expressed here are just like, my opinion, man. If you disagree with me on anything, I'm sure you'll let me know. :)

Notebook Review: MOO Hardcover Notebook

November 30, 2016

While many excellent notebooks pass through my hands on a regular basis, you can only use so many, forcing you to make some hard choices if, like me, you have a never-ending (and ever-growing) stockpile/backlog. That said, I think that the new MOO Notebook is going to make the decision on what I'm using next pretty easy.

The Moo Notebook ships in a slipcase, which will look outstanding on your shelf once you're finished filling your notebook.

MOO is a stationery company perhaps best known for their high-end business cards and other business stationery. They recently released their first notebook, and were kind enough to offer me one for review. How do I like it? Well, I've already purchased two more (along with a swanky leather business card holder).

MOO is known for their packaging, and a lot of thought and attention obviously goes into it.

First things first: this is a classy-looking hardcover notebook, starting with the packaging. The notebook that I received came packed in a black gift box, and included a matching slipcover and pencil. The notebook itself is hardbound in charcoal/gray cloth, with lime green highlights on the inside cover to make things interesting. The notebook also came with an embossed MOO pencil! If you're looking for a gift for a notebook lover this holiday season, look no further - the Moo Notebook will impress. NOTE: (Please see my update at the bottom of this post about retail packaging compared with what I received, which is apparently a promotional bundle.)

A few samples of additional MOO stationery ship with the notebook.

The MOO pencil included with my notebook, labeled "Go Forth and Write." A nice touch!

So what about the paper? It's fairly heavy Munken-Kristall (Swedish) ruled paper that is suitable for most pens. None of the pens that I tested bled through, including fine and medium nib fountain pens, though I suspect that if you took a super wet stub or broad nib to this paper you might have a different experience. For the vast majority of people, however, this paper will do just fine. I personally would prefer a narrower ruling (or even graph or dot grid), but I can - and will - use this paper without an issue.

The MOO Notebook features 160 ruled pages of Swedish Munken-Kristall paper. I saw no bleed-through or show-through with any of the various pens and inks that I tested.

A couple design features make the MOO notebook unique from anything else I've seen on the market. The first is the binding. MOO uses a coptic-style binding, with a cover that separates from the spine in order to allow the notebook to lay flat more easily. The second is the inclusion of a seam of blank light green paper in the middle of the notebook that you can use as sketch paper, or even as a divider to break the notebook into different sections.

The MOO Notebook's unique binding and center seam

I worry that recently I've sounded like a bit of a broken record, giving high marks to most of the notebooks I've reviewed. After thinking on it, however, it's because much of what is coming onto the market these days is just that good. I love the fact that the majority of new notebooks that I've had the opportunity to try have been fountain pen-friendly. It finally seems that notebook manufacturers are starting to "get" what stationery enthusiasts are looking for, and realize the extent of the demand out there for nice-looking books with good paper.

Price Point and Where to Buy

You can buy these notebooks directly from MOO online, and you all are lucky! Until December 5, 2016, you can get the MOO notebook for $13.99 (!!??!), which is 30% off the already reasonable retail price of $19.99. I did a double take when I saw that one, then promptly ordered two more. Most of MOO's other goods are on sale as well. It's probably safe to say that you won't find a better quality notebook at the $13.99 price point, provided you like the aesthetics.

Even at the regular price point, given the overall quality of this product, $19.99 is a steal. When I first opened the box and saw the notebook, I would have pegged this as a $30 product, easily. Kudos to MOO for putting this out there at an accessible price. The MOO Hardcover Notebook should do well, and I look forward to seeing whether or not MOO introduces graph or dot-grid versions in the future.

Update

I heard from the folks at MOO, who let me know that the Black Box and Pencil are special promotional packaging for the notebook's launch. Notebooks purchased from the MOO website will include just the hardcover notebook and the slipcover. My apologies for any confusion, but at the MOO Notebook's attractive price point, the packaging issue doesn't change my opinion that this is still an excellent deal and would make a nice holiday gift!

Disclaimer: I received this product from MOO free of charge for review purposes, though I have since purchased additional books using my own funds. I was not otherwise compensated for this review.