Thursday Drops: Breaking Down The Desk Pad, By Category

May 25, 2023

In yesterday’s post, I looked at what might be the current pinnacle of the “Desk Pad” product category: the Cortex Brand Sidekick Notepad. While the Sidekick makes for an exceptional work tool, as I mentioned yesterday, it’s a specialized piece of stationery designed to serve a specific role in your workflow, and therefore may not work for everyone, especially if you use paper in large quantities. The T.G.S. Curated Shop stocks an array of landscape desk pads and landscape-style notebooks intended to meet a more diverse range of needs.

WMS & Co. Landscape Calendar Pads — WMS & Co. Calendar Pads, in Full and Keyboard size.

Category 1: Landscape-Style Planners and Calendar Pads

From spiral bound notebooks that can be used as a traditional planner to tear-off desk pads that sit beneath a keyboard, undated calendar products are flexible tools you can use to organize your workweek appointments, or collect your notes and to-dos day-by-day. For a portable solution akin to the Sidekick (i.e., a durable product you can carry between meetings and locations), consider the Write Notepads Weekly Planner, which features a week-on-two pages layout in a landscape format. Other flexible options include the WMS & Co. Planner Desk Pads, which are tear-off writing pads that come in two different sizes (Full and Keyboard), both featuring a weekly calendar layout.

Write Notepads Landscape-Style Notebook — The Write Notepads Landscape Ruled Notebook in Pistachio

Category 2: Landscape-Style Spiral Notebooks

Some people prefer a sturdy spiral notebook that keeps their notes in one place and allows for archival retention, whether as a matter of personal preference or a work requirement. The Write Notepads Landscape Notebook has long been one of our top selling products, and features a unique lined ruling that runs horizontally. (Pro tip: If you want a Landscape Notebook with dot grid ruling, all you have to do is turn the standard Write Notepads Dot Grid spiral notebook sideways - there’s no header, just a blank page, so they work in either landscape or standard “mode”.) Similarly, Maruman’s Mnemosyne line of spiral notebooks features a landscape layout for certain rulings, including their grid and blank notebooks.

Soft Midori MD Cotton Paper is not only fountain pen friendly, but excellent for pencils.

Category 3: Blank Writing Pads

We carry a wide array of blank desk and writing pads, all of which work well with a range of writing instruments, including fountain pens. Favorites include the Midori MD and Midori MD Cotton pads, which are glue-bound on two sides for added durability and are designed to be used as either landscape-style pads beneath a keyboard or as a standard notepad with a vertical orientation. In addition to their Planner Desk Pads discussed above, WMS & Co. makes a selection of blank desk pads for standard notetaking, including versions in different shapes and colors.

Do you have a favorite brand of desk pad that you think we should carry? We’re always looking to bring in new lines and products, so please let us know!

Just a reminder that through Monday, May 29 at 11:59pm CT, we are running a Memorial Day Weekend Sale! Take 10% off all shop orders using the code “SUMMER23” at checkout. Some exclusions (i.e., TWSBI) apply.

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.

Review: Baron Fig Mastermind and Nomad

May 6, 2017

Of all the seemingly never-ending stream of products coming out of Baron Fig these days, the ones that have me the most excited might be the ones that have received the least fanfare. A week or so back, Baron Fig announced the launch of the "Mastermind" desk pad and the "Nomad" sticky notes. Both fill a gaping hole in my stationery arsenal.

The Mastermind

I'm always on the lookout for a good desk pad. I've experimented with various formats, from the cheapest of At-A-Glance t ear-off blotter calendars, to Levenger Oasis Pads, to the Rhodia No. 38. The blotter calendar holds a special place in my heart, since it's what I used on my desk from high school through college, and I loved that at the end of the month you would have a collage of various notes, lists, telephone numbers, doodles, scratches, you-name-it for the past 30 days. Sometimes, of course, you'd forget to tear off the page for two or three months, and then you'd really have some exceptionally interesting works of art.

The point was that I never actually used it as a calendar. Rather, it was a giant scratchpad that I had at my disposal while I worked on whatever it was I was doing at my desk. Of course, as I grew older and started using rollerballs, fountain pens, and other wet writers, the blotter calendar grew less useful and I stopped using desk pads entirely. I still break out the Levenger Oasis from time to time for brainstorming sessions, but it's an awkward size for me: too small to use as a true desk blotter, but too large to have sitting to the side while you work on a keyboard or with another notebook open in front of you. It's more of a lap-based tool to use while you're in an armchair or on the couch.

The Baron Fig Mastermind "in writing mode." The pad is a great size for my desk. The paper seems to be standard Baron Fig paper stock, which I find fountain pen friendly enough for my day-to-day needs, and especially enjoyable to use with pencils.&n… — The Baron Fig Mastermind "in writing mode." The pad is a great size for my desk. The paper seems to be standard Baron Fig paper stock, which I find fountain pen friendly enough for my day-to-day needs, and especially enjoyable to use with pencils.

This is where the Mastermind excels. Baron Fig's desk pad is big enough pad (8" x 12") to make it useful for sketching out ideas on a larger canvas, but it's still small enough to be unobtrusive. Some might prefer the slightly larger, 80-sheet Rhodia No. 38 pad, but I prefer the Baron Fig paper because it's some of the most pencil-friendly paper out there. For brainstorming and sketching out ideas, I enjoy using a pencil. That said, if you're looking for a pad of paper with sturdy backing and a fold-over cover that you can take with you and use as a sort of lap desk, the larger Rhodia pad might be more your thing.

The Nomad

I recall there being a debate on the Pen Addict Podcast a few episodes back about the best fountain-pen friendly sticky note. I'm not a sticky-note or Post-it connoisseur, but I do use them frequently. Honestly, it doesn't really bother me whether or not a sticky note is particularly high-quality, much less "fountain pen friendly," though often a super-cheap generic sticky note will feather uncontrollably with anything other than a pencil or a ballpoint pen. Fortunately, my office stocks the Post-It Super Sticky, which generally works well enough for my needs.

Since I know people will ask for it: a writing sample with fountain pens on the Nomad sticky note. The TWSBI 580 with Diamine ink in a medium nib didn't feather all that much but bled through. The H-F Sailor nib with Sailor ink worked the best. &nbs… — Since I know people will ask for it: a writing sample with fountain pens on the Nomad sticky note. The TWSBI 580 with Diamine ink in a medium nib didn't feather all that much but bled through. The H-F Sailor nib with Sailor ink worked the best.

So what's the niche for the Baron Fig Nomad? For me, I just like having a dot-grid sticky note, and the slightly-textured paper is nice to write on, even if it's a bit thin. The paper seems like a lighter-weight version of the standard Baron Fig paper. For the true paper geeks out there, the Nomad actually resists feathering fairly well, though wet fountain pens will definitely bleed-through. (Again, I don't really care whether a sticky note suffers from "bleed through," since I've never used the back of one in my life, but if this is something that concerns you I'd recommend that you stick to EF and EEF nibs, or very dry inks.)

Takeaways/Where to Buy

While these are definitely "YMMV" products, depending on how you work and what you're specific needs are, I'm grateful to Baron Fig for putting these out there, especially the Mastermind. I picked up two packs: one for home and one for work. The Mastermind runs $15 for a pack of two pads at 35 sheets each. which is roughly comparable to the 80-sheet Rhodia No. 38. The Nomad runs $8 for a three-pack of 70-sheet pads, which is more expensive than your standard post-it but still fair. You can buy both directly from Baron Fig.

Disclaimer: I purchased all of the products featured in this review with my own funds for my own use. This post does contain affiliate links.