Is this week’s theme markers and highlighters? Maybe so. I teased that a bit with my Mildliner reference in Episode 8 of On The Paper Trail (released yesterday!). We have 40+ different colors of Zebra’s signature dual-tip highlighters, to complement the ultra-precise Pilot Kiri-Na and a recent shipment of Pilot Frixion highlighters that are a collaboration with Craft Design Technology.

Platinum Preppy Black Edition Limited in multiple sizes

Speaking of, we’ve received a full restock of Craft Design Technology products, including old favorites as well as new arrivals. All CDT multi pens are once again available, as well as the Frixion highlighters and the new NJK Pencil Sharpeners. Last but not least, the Platinum Preppy “Black Edition” is here!

See these and more in-person! Come visit us in our Nashville store this weekend from 1-6pm Thursday and Friday, and from 10am-6pm on Saturday.

Zebra Mildliners (40+ Colors!). We now carry Zebra’s popular “Mildliner” highlighters in 40+ different colors. Mildliners are known for their soft color palette and dual tips, with both a traditional “chisel-tip” highlighter and a finer marker for fine highlighting and annotations.
Uni EMOTT .4mm Fineliners Sets. The “EMOTT” fineliners are designed to deliver consistent line widths and to minimize wear and breakage on the top. Available in dozens of colors, we’ve chosen 12 different five-marker sets, which come with a small stand that allows you to keep them at the ready on your desk or even when you travel.
Platinum Preppy Black Edition. This limited/special edition Platinum Preppy release was a bit of a sleeper. Platinum has released its popular Preppy fountain pen in black. Each nib size has a different color writing on the barrel.
Craft Design Technology x NJK Long-Point Pencil Sharpener. CDT partnered with one of my favorite stationery companies, NJK, to create a custom version of their classic long-point pencil sharpener.
Craft Design Technology x Camel Wood Pencil Set. Need something to sharpen with your new CDT/NJK sharpener? Camel pencils feature the integrated eraser that sits flush with the barrel, and their graphite features an excellent combination of darkness and point retention.
Craft Design Technology x Pilot Frixion Highlighters. Over the years, Pilot has added multiple product categories to its Frixion line, including highlighters. The three markers that CDT has chosen here (yellow, blue and grey) are quite visible, and are available either individually or as a set of three.
Craft Design Technology x Pilot Frixion3 Multi Pen. We get regular requests for a Frixion multi pen, so guess what? The CDT Frixion3 is back. This is a sharp looking pen with its dark green barrel, a CDT signature.
Craft Design Technology A5 and A6 Memo Pads. While the mint green is (obviously) the most popular, there’s always a cream-colored paper option for you purists. These notepads feature a very small grid, but not quite as fine as Kleid.
Craft Design Technology Memo Roll Sticky Notes. Count me a fan of these sticky notes that come in a roll format and which you can cut down to the exact size you need. They’re also movable at least a few times, meaning that they can be peeled up and moved around as necessary.
Updated Correspondence Cards and Letter Sets. We’ve refreshed our stock of notecards and letter sets to include new Belle & Union icons, Graphilo letter pads, and more!

I think I’ve permanently given up on notebook minimalism. While I have a core set of 3-4 notebooks that I use on a daily basis and take with me pretty much anywhere I go, I also have a “healthy” stockpile of special-purpose notebooks that I pull out periodically - some more often than others - to help me with various tasks and to hold information relating to specific projects that don’t require daily attention.

Laconic Tokyo Mandala Layout — The “Mandala 9x9” layout. You start with a central goal or idea, with eight key inputs, which you can then break out into their own box.

One such notebook is what I’ll refer to as my “brainstorming” notebook, which I use when I want to work through ideas for a project, piece of writing, or simply to hash out a problem I’ve been dealing with, personal or professional. I’ve used many different notebooks for brainstorming over the years, with different rulings ranging from blank to dot grid to meeting, but what about something more structured?

Concentric Circle Think Layout — The “Concentric” Layout from the Laconic Think Refill. I’ve honestly not figured out how I want to use this one yet.

I discovered the Laconic Style system at NY Now back in January. To me, the beauty of this particular notebook system is the combination of a formal structure and customization. Laconic has blank notebooks, standard diary/planner refills in daily, weekly, and monthly formats, as well as special purpose notebooks that you can use to build out your system. Two specific refills that I’ve recently used from this latter category include “Think” and “Spreadsheet” layouts that I’ve not previously seen elsewhere. The “Think” refill features four different templates (16 pages for each pattern): a “Mandala Chart 9x9”, a “Coordinate Axis” layout (for your classic “SWAT” analysis), a “Concentric Chart,” and a “4 Panels” Memo (consistent with what you might use to plan slides or storyboards). While I’m not an expert on how to use these various layouts other than having some experience with the 4-panel storyboard, the common theme seems to be that the different designs allow you to visually link your ideas together as you go. I’ve long been a flow-charts and mind-maps on blank paper type of guy, but lately a bit of structure has been helpful to mix things up.

Laconic Style Storyboard Layout — The 4-Panel/Storyboard Layout from the Think Notebook

The second refill I’ve been using is the “Spreadsheet” refill. It’s exactly as described: a notebook full of spreadsheet cells that serve multiple purposes: to organize notes on my personal pen collection, such as where I purchased each piece, price paid, etc.; as a content calendar (which is something I’ve tried very hard to stick to, with limited success even though it would make my life infinitely easier); and as a ledger for running down monthly finances and tracking invoices.

The start of my “Spreadsheet” Pen Journal!

Takeaways and Where to Buy

I’ve enjoyed using the Laconic notebooks (as well as the add-on accessories like the bookmarks), and have mainly been using them with Pilot Frixion gel pens in the .4mm and .5mm tip sizes. While I would compare the Laconic paper to something like that featured in the Kokuyo Jibun Techo Planner (i.e., it works perfectly well with low-maintenance fountain pen inks in a fine or extra-fine nib), these erasable gel pens lend themselves quite well to writing in planners and charts, given that you may want to (1) write very small in the way that a micro-tipped gel pen can do; and (2) erase and change information that you may be “logging.” You can purchase the .5mm Frixion pens at most big box (or even grocery) stores, and there are plenty of online retailers, including Jetpens or Amazon, that sell the .4mm needle-tip versions. The ink has come a long way in terms of legibility, and I’ve found the pens to work as advertised.

SWAT Chart with Erasable Pen — The “Coordinate” Layout from the “Think” Journal with the Pilot Frixion. The ruling is pretty small on these notebooks, so for filling out charts, etc. I’ve used either a super-extra-fine fountain pen with Pilot Blue-Black ink (which holds a fine line quite well) or the Pilot Frixion gel pen.

As mentioned above, the notebooks shown here are from Laconic Tokyo, one of the brands we carry directly in our shop. While I’ve been carrying these two inserts around in the Laconic Style cover, I’m thinking of building out a larger brainstorming notebook using a higher-capacity option. The A5-sized refills are compatible with most A5 covers, including the Midori MD covers, and multiple-notebook covers and cases such as the Lochby Field Journal and Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter.

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