In the Shop: Midori MD Cotton and Other Fountain Pen Friendly Papers

April 19, 2022

Japanese stationery company Midori makes so many different types of paper that it’s easy to lose track of them, especially some of the harder-to-find papers that don’t get as much attention. Case in point - Midori MD paper is quite popular on its own, and is used in everything from the classic Midori MD notebooks to the standard Traveler’s Notebook refills, but the MD Cotton paper tends to be sadly neglected.

Graphite Pencils on Midori MD Cotton — The slightly textured cotton paper is also excellent for pencils, especially darker graphites!

Why Midori MD Cotton? For starters, the paper has more of a white tone, as opposed to the standard cream MD, which some enjoy because they feel white paper shows off ink better. Personally, I love the A4 writing pad because you can tear off the sheets and use them in a typewriter. Cotton paper is strong and holds up well, with little bleed-through on most of my machines.

B-Sides and Rarities Letter Pad — The Traveler’s Company “Letter Pad” features Midori’s lined “letter-style” ruling on the front, and grid on the reverse.

The T.G.S. Curated Shop carries Midori MD Cotton paper in several formats, including the standard A4 and A5 writing pads, the “F” sized notebooks, and the Traveler’s Company “Letter Pads” from the B-Sides and Rarities collection. At one point, Midori made MD Cotton notebooks in standard A5, B6, etc., and I’m hoping they eventually bring them back! For more information on Midori Paper, and a wide range of other fountain pen friendly papers stocked in our shop (and elsewhere, with our friends), check out this post on fountain pen friendly paper recommendations.

The T.G.S. Curated Shop is an authorized retailer of Midori and all other brands we stock.

Midori MD Cotton Paper is one of my favorite all-purpose options, including for letter writing.

Shop Update: Paper for Letter Writing

March 22, 2022

Even though I failed to get my act together in time to participate in NaNoWriMo last month, I’ve tried to do better with my letter writing, especially now that I have access to a ready stream of paper that’s more appropriate for casual letter writing. I’ve never been one for dedicated “stationery sets,” other than correspondence cards that people have sent me over the years, preferring to rely on standard writing pads that offer more writing space. (Hey, when I do write letters, they tend to be longer.) If you’ve ever received a letter from me, you’ll know that I prefer three types of paper: Clairefontaine Triomphe, Midori MD Cotton, and standard 52gsm Tomoe River paper (which is currently hard to source due to manufacturing changes). What do I like about these specific papers? They’re all “standard” enough to be both readily available and reasonably priced, while still maintaining that classic “vintage stock” feel that’s nicer than a standard legal pad, for both the writer and the recipient.

We’re happy to carry most of these papers in the shop, along with a few other quirky options.

Clairefontaine Triomphe

Available in both blank and lined formats, I would call Clairefontaine Triomphe my workhorse letter-writing paper of choice, since it’s both readily available, inexpensive, and ink-friendly. I love that it’s sold in bound writing pads, so you can use it for general writing and notetaking as well as correspondence. Available now in both A4 and A5 sizes, starting at only $5 USD.

Midori MD Writing Pads (MD Cotton and MD Standard)

If you favor more absorbent paper than Clairefontaine, or if you sometimes enjoy using pencils to write your letters, Midori MD Writing Pads are an excellent option. The unlined MD Cotton Paper has the best overall feel of any writing paper out there (in my opinion) and my only regret is that they don’t make it with a ruling. At the end of the day, I’ve simply adapted to using unlined paper. As I’ve mentioned before Midori MD pads are excellent for letter writing, and they can pull double-duty as a desk pad since they are bound on two sides and can be turned into a landscape orientation to fit beneath a keyboard. Available in both A4 and A5 sizes, starting at $10 for MD Cotton and $12 for standard Midori MD.

Life Noble Note and Bank Paper

While Japanese Stationery Company “Life” sits outside the stationery mainstream, receiving less attention than peers like Midori, many people find their paper equally as good and it’s developed a cult following. Their “Noble Note” 100-sheet writing pads come in blank, lined, and grid rulings. Personally, I find Life’s standard paper to behave closest to standard Midori MD, though perhaps with a bit more texture? If you favor toothier, more absorbent paper, check out their heavier, vintage-style Bank Paper. Available in A4 size, starting at $26 for a 100-sheet pad of Noble Note, and $28 for a 100-sheet pad of Bank Paper.

WMS & Co. ColorPads

Though color-coated paper is extremely hit or miss with fountain pens, I’ve had a lot of fun lately sending notes on the ColorPads from WMS & Co, mainly using ballpoint pen and pencil. (Colored Pencil looks exceptionally good on the grey paper.) I have one of the “Large Square” ColorPads on my desk at work, which I use for both taking notes and sending professional correspondence (thank-yous, cover notes, etc.). The best part is that all of the WMS & Co desk pads contain a minimum of 185 sheets of paper, so they’ll basically last forever. Available from $25.

WMS & Co makes writing pads in a variety of shapes and sizes. I’ve been using the large square ones (center) for work cover notes and casual correspondence.

Disclaimer: The T.G.S. Curated Shop is an authorized retailer of all brands shown here. The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and the T.G.S. Patreon Program.

Desk Pads, Revisited

March 1, 2022

The desk pad is probably my most-used stationery item that’s not a pen. Whether it’s having a pad of paper readily available to jot notes or for actual drafting, a landscape-style writing pad is one thing that I can’t live without, and this has remained consistent over the years. Note that here I’m drawing a distinction between a legal-style writing pad and a true desk pad, which in my opinion should be designed to lie horizontally across a desk (or beneath a keyboard) for maximum accessibility and utility during the workday.

The Baron Fig Mastermind still sees a lot of use. (Though this is not my current desk setup.)

The good news is that the number of desk pads on the market has exploded in recent years. Baron Fig kicked off this trend a few years ago with the release of their “Mastermind” Desk Pad, which remains a favorite. But what other options are out there? I’ve expanded my own paper usage and have been doing some exploring as I’ve stocked the T.G.S. shop.

Midori MD Paper Pad. Available in both A4 and A5 sizes, Midori binds their writing pads on two edges, which reduces both the likelihood of the pages tearing before you’re finished with them, and “curling” of the paper, which can sometimes happen if you’ve been working all day with your wrists resting on your desk pad.
Midori MD Cotton Paper Pad. Midori’s white cotton paper is slightly absorbent and offers a softer writing experience. The MD Cotton pad is also available in both A4 and A5, in the same double-bound format as the standard MD pad.
Landscape Notebooks with Perforated Pages. There are many companies who make landscape-style spiral notebooks, but in order for the notebook to function as a desk pad, it needs perforated pages. An excellent option is the Maruman Mnemosyne Notebook in the grid/graph ruling.
Levenger “Freeleaf” Oasis Desk Pad. When I want to mind-map on paper, or need a (much) larger canvas to sketch out ideas, I break out my Levenger Oasis Pad, a birthday gift from many years ago. I have a leather pad backer that holds the refills and pulls double duty as either a lap desk or a blotter.

These are only a few of the many options available, and of course you can always turn a blank or dot-grid writing pad sideways and create your own “landscape-style” desk pad if you’re in a pinch. That said, I tend to rely on dedicated, purpose-built desk pads for most of my own daily work.

WMS & Co. Desk Pad Dated Keyboard — WMS & Co’s keyboard-sized desk planner - key if you want to jot notes organized by day, or if you want “planner-style” structure without an actual planner. (Just tear off and toss the sheet when you’re done with it.)

New Desk Pad Discoveries from WMS & Co.

As I’ve worked to expand my own retail offerings, I’ve added some new desk pads to the store. I’ve been following WMS & Co’s paper lineup for the past year, and what’s caught my eye is their series of absolutely massive desk pads, which contain anywhere from 180-225 sheets of paper and come in a variety of shapes and sizes. The white pads use a very heavy paper stock, and work well with most pen and ink combinations I have tried so far. There is also a set of what WMS & Co refers to as “ColorPads,” featuring grey, blush, and yellow paper, which are a lot of fun to write on and look great on a desk. (As you might expect with color-slicked paper, your success with fountain pen ink is going to vary wildly, but colored paper is an excellent medium for using your colored pencils, white gel pens, and markers.)

WMS & Co. also makes smaller, 74-page “Planner Pads” in both “desk” and “keyboard” size. I’ve been using the keyboard-size planer for the past week, and it’s worked extremely well for me. The paper is the same heavy stock as in the larger WMS & Co. desk pads, and the planner pads are thick enough to lie flat.

Notebook Review: The Theme System Journal

February 26, 2022

In these early morning hours, I’m struck by the thought that I should most likely be writing in my journal instead of online writing about journaling, but thus are the perils of stationery blogging! I will say that it’s much easier to build a morning or evening journaling routine , especially at first, when you have a quality personal journal with some, but not too much, structure. That’s where the Cortex Theme System Journal shines.

Built around concepts discussed in the “Yearly Themes” episodes of the Cortex podcast, the Theme System Journal offers “a simple framework for daily journaling”, allowing you to adapt it to your personal themes and how you choose to track your own individual needs and goals. While I won’t go into the intricacies of the “Theme System” in great depth, it’s built around the concept of planning for and organizing your year around broader “themes” instead of more traditional “goals” or “resolutions”. That’s not to say that you can’t have specific goals or resolutions within the context of each “theme,” but the idea is that themes are more adaptable as the year goes on, allowing you to adjust and stay on track even if a particular goal or resolution doesn’t work out. it’s an approach I’ve taken over the past couple of years, as reflected in my "Intentions for 2022” series of posts that I published around New Year’s Day. To learn more about the Theme System, check out the Theme System website or give the Cortex Podcast a listen. But you don’t need to do an intensive study of “the system” to find the journal useful as a stand-alone product. Its layout is fairly intuitive and I could see use cases beyond personal and professional development journaling.

Layout and Functionality

The notebook is broken down in to several different sections, including four “Theme” Pages where you can develop your Annual/Quarterly/Monthly themes; 90 daily journal pages, though these are undated so you can journal more or less frequently should you choose; 12 “Daily Theme Pages” that allow you to track specific tasks/habits/guideposts or anything else that you might like to follow on a daily basis; 13 pages for notes; and two pages for an index. The version that I currently have is from the first run, which does not have the blank pages for notes, just the theme, journal, and tracking pages with the index template inside the back cover.

I hope you understand that nearly all of my journaling themes are highly personal and/or work-specific, so I won’t show you actual pictures of the journal in use here, but I can tell you that I find the layout to be both intuitive and flexible, Again, you can check out the Theme System website for actual examples of “themes” and how one would incorporate them into the layout if one were strictly following the system.

What I will do is show you how I’ve chosen to use the daily journaling page, which consists of four unlabeled boxes. I use the first box for short gratitude journaling, or briefly noting things I’m thankful for or which made me happy that particular day. The second is for a quote that I found particularly interesting or inspiring, since I’m trying to read at least 30 minutes every day. The third is my “anything” box, where I typically recount a few of the day’s significant events and how they relate to my annual themes/intentions. Finally, the fourth is a short box where I try to summarize how I’m currently feeling about things in a single word or short phrase.

I’ve been using the Tracking Pages mostly for general habit tracking, as opposed to anything specifically theme-related.

I’m honestly not sure what I would use the index for, so it will probably remain blank. I tend to journal chronologically, though I assume that if I ever wanted to organize my journaling by highlighting those entries that touched on a certain subject, I could use these pages.

Specs and Build Quality

Whether you use it for Theme System-style journaling or not, this is a great notebook built around functionality, and was originally developed in collaboration with Studio Neat, makers of the Panobook and Totebook. Like the Totebook, the Theme System Journal has a similar soft cover featuring a debossed Cortex logo, a lay flat thread sewn binding, and Munken Lynx 100gsm paper that so far has handled every fountain pen and every ink I’ve used in this notebook. I’ve heard that others have managed to make this paper bleed and/or feather, but no matter how hard I’ve tried, I have never experienced any issues. For functional everyday journaling, this notebook is more than adequate.

Theme System Journal in Lochby Field Journal — As you can see here, the Theme System Journal is only slightly smaller than the Nanami Seven Seas Writer.

The Theme System Journal is what I call “A5-ish” size, meaning that it’s slightly smaller than a standard A5 but not so much that it won’t fit most A5 notebook covers. I have had success using my Theme System Journal in both an A5 Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter and a Lochby Field Journal (pictured here).

Takeaways and Where to Buy

Two months in, the Theme System Journal has taken hold and I can see this as a long-term replacement for the A6 Hobonichi Techo, which I used for years before I found myself wanting something with just a bit more structure and space to write. Do I journal every day? No, I have mornings where I’m just not inspired, but I would say I’ve stuck with it a solid 5/7 days through the first two months of the year.

You can purchase the Theme System Journal directly from Cortex Brand, with orders fulfilled via Cotton Bureau. The Theme System Journal costs $25 for a single notebook, but you can save $5 if you purchase a subscription, which will ensure you get a notebook each quarter. While there have been stock shortages of the Theme System Journal in the past, I understand that supply issues are now resolved.

I purchased the Theme Journal featured here with my own funds, for my own use. This post does not contain paid third-party affiliate links, and I was not otherwise compensated for this review. The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and T.G.S. Patreon Program, which offers access to online meetups, exclusive discounts and pre-orders, and more!

Fountain Pen Friendly Paper (Updated Resource)

February 18, 2022

As part of my recent site reorganization/maintenance, I’ve updated the “Hierarchies of Fountain Pen Friendly Paper” post to reflect not only reader suggestions from the comments, but my own discoveries in the year since I initially wrote the article. The comments section on this post is extensive, and contains many recommendations beyond what I’ve been able to verify and incorporate into the list, especially on the lower-end of the price spectrum. Be sure to give the comments a read, and feel free to leave your own feedback and recommendations!

You can check out other informational resources under the “Resources” and “Archives” tabs, including the comprehensive fountain pen review archive I’ve assembled over the years. Keep an eye on the site for more educational/informational content as the year goes on, as expanding this type of content will be one of my main goals for 2022!

Soumkine-Universal-Planner-Agenda-Mustard — Paris, France-based Soumkine is now available in the shop! Not only do we have the gorgeous Mustard notebook with the vintage styling, but the notebook also comes in a plain charcoal or rose-colored cover.

I’ve managed to add many of these brands to the shop, so you can purchase good paper directly, but where necessary I’ve linked to other trusted retailers and/or manufacturers who sell directly. None of these third-party links are paid affiliate links. If you would like to support T.G.S. even further, please consider checking out the T.G.S. Patreon Program, which offers access to online meetups, exclusive discounts and pre-orders, and more!