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Austin, Texas-based URBS Studio is joining us for July’s Designer Desktop with a background that’s cool-tempered but energizing. Through her interdisciplinary design studio, Alyson Beaton explores the urban culture that surrounds her. The details and detritus observed all contribute to the whole of the studio’s work: grids, grit, signs, symbols, rhythm, scribbles, weeds, chaos, order, and more. URBS translates these visual tales of urban renewal and environmental sustainability through spaces, textile collections, children’s products, and more. The man-made environments that are part of our everyday lives are constantly evolving in different ways, and most of it’s nothing you or I have control over. But we’ll never tire of seeing creativity rise from the most unexpected of places.
For this month’s Desktop, Beaton shares her Glimmer design inspired by “The glimmer of light that reflects off the glassy buildings when the sun hits just right.” The trippy design is paired with the quote, “While you are looking, you might as well listen, linger, and think about what you see,” from Jane Jacobs.
Download yours with the links below!
Town Square Text
Whichway Cover
Metropolis
Flaneur Cushion
Facade
Glimmer
Alyson Beaton, URBS Studio
DESKTOP: 1024×768 \\\ 1280×1024 \\\ 1680×1050 \\\ 1900×1200 \\\ 2560×1440
MOBILE: iPhone XS \\\ iPhone XS Max \\\ iPad Pro
Learn more about URBS Studio here and follow along on IG here.
View and download past Designer Desktops here.
A two-day conference to be held at Queen Mary, University of London, 21-22 February 2024
Keynote by Professor Raewyn Connell
Deadline for abstracts: Monday 4 September 2023
Masculinity needs changing. As a manifestation of patriarchy, a predictor of violence, and a straight-jacket of identity, masculinity is widely identified as a culprit and symptom: problematic, traditional, ‘hyper’ and toxic. In response a loose network of feminists and allies, public health professionals, scholar-activists, social workers, civil society groups, international organisations and military and police forces have sought to reform masculinity for the better. Their efforts range from positive fatherhood campaigns to counter-terrorism measures, and from religious role models to queer theory. ‘Masculinity’ as a concept and configuration of practices is at the same time undergoing another round of crisis and change, split along axes of class, nation, racialisation, sexuality, gender identity and culture, torn between projects of restoration and abolition.
This two-day conference will gather academics, practitioners and activists to critically interrogate contemporary masculinity interventions in local, national and transnational layers. What new governance arrangements and sciences of public health are being formed? What power relations are at work, especially across shifting boundaries of global north and south? What is the role of specific political, economic and cultural institutions in propagating new varieties of good masculinity? How are these new masculine subjectivities being produced? And with what effects, whether generative, perilous or ambivalent? We hope that the conference will address these questions in relation to the production and/or policing of masculinity in its many variants, including (but not limited to) its traditional, trans, Black, ally, alt-right, postcolonial, hegemonic, survivor, migrant, postconflict, inclusive, violent, and toxic forms.
We invite contributions in three formats:
The conference will take place at Queen Mary, University of London on Wednesday 21 and Thursday 22 February 2024. We are able to support a small number of international participants with flights, accommodation and visa costs, and to provide accommodation and travel support for a larger number of UK participants. Applicants are asked to indicate if they require flight, accommodation and/or visa support (if from abroad) or travel and/or accommodation support (if within the UK). For UK participants, priority will be given to early career and precariously employed participants.
Please submit abstracts by Monday 4 September 2023 to Paul Kirby ([email protected]) and/or Chloé Lewis ([email protected]). Inquiries in advance are welcome.
This call is also available as a PDF document.
This conference is an event of the UKRI GCRF Gender, Justice and Security Hub (http://thegenderhub.com / https://twitter.com/TheGenderHub).
thepamphleteer
If you’ve already read my review of the Logical Swing notebook, this review of the Logical Air Swing will feel quite familiar. The notebooks are nearly identical, with one key exception. What could that be, you ask? Read on to find out. First Impressions This is very much a no-frills notebook. It doesn’t look very impressive and feels a little ... You may already know that I’m a big fan of the Logical Prime notebook. This notebook, the Logical Swing, is made by Nakabayashi, the same company who makes the Logical Prime. I’m excited to try it out and see if it’s a less-expensive alternative to the Logical Prime. First Impressions On first glance, this notebook seems to be intended for ... inkophile
Ayush notebooks have been on the fountain pen scene for just a few years now. I had heard great things about them, so when I knew that I was going to be seeing Kirk from Pen Realm, I ordered some for him to bring along to our meetup. While it doesn’t look like he currently has the same notebooks that ... Another pen show find is the Nakabayashi Logical Prime notebooks. These are softcover notebooks are stitch bound with a bookbinding tape over the stitches to reinforce.
There are a variety of interior paper options (Point, Graph, 7mm Lined and 6mm Lined) and the notebooks can be found around the internet in a variety of sizes. Yoseka Stationery stocks the Logical Prime notebooks in A5 size ($6 each).
The more unusual B5 size (6.9″ x 9.8″ or 176 x 250mm) was picked up from a vendor at a pen show. Which show? Maybe the California Pen Show. Which vendor? Taccia but they don’t list these notebooks on their web site.
According to the Nakabayashi Global web site, the Logical Prime notebooks are only available in A5 and B5 sizes though in the US market, you are more likely to find an A5 notebook than the larger B5.
All the internal rulings are in a fine dark green line. At the top or each page is a space for writing a title or description and date.
What’s really interesting about these notebooks is the unusual ruling options (I didn’t get one of the standard grid notebooks because after seeing the Point and Lined, the graph was just ho-hum). The Ruled options, both 6mm and 7mm actually feature two additional light dotted lines between each solid rule creating guides for much smaller increments. There are also dotted vertical lines at the same interval as the ruling so the paper can be used as graph if you want or need it to do so. The multiple horizontal lines would be great if you want to practice your handwriting or calligraphy.
At the top and bottom of the page are dots and tick marks indicating the center of the page, 1/3, 1/4 and so on. If you were wanting to grid something out on a page, these marks will help you maintain consistency from page to page. If you were to use these notebooks for bullet journaling, this would help to divide the page for week-on-two-pages, making a monthly overview calendar, etc.
The paper is a soft cream ivory color, not bright white.
There is not a huge difference, obviously, between the 6mm and 7mm lined paper but I know folks have clear preferences. When I was testing the paper, I thought I preferred the 7mm lined because I had a little more space but I was really jumping between the margins in a weird way so I think the 6mm is a bit better for my tiny handwriting.
Then there was the Point style which has dots spaced really far apart. On the back cover it says “12x15pt” which I think is 12mm dot grid (approx 9/16″) or thereabouts. That’s some pretty big grid!
I feel like a grid of this scale is a good compromise for someone who might want blank but needs a little guidance.
Did I mention that this paper shows sheen? Probably should have mentioned that sooner. So, good quality paper, unusual ruling options, and its affordable? You should probably stock up now. I don’t think you’ll regret it.
The post Notebook Review: Nakabayashi Logical Prime B5 Notebooks appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.
This is just a quick note that I have a new paper out in the Journal of Moral Philosophy entitled, "(When) Are Authors Culpable for Causing Harm?". The abstract:
To what extent are authors morally culpable for harms caused by their published work? Can authors be culpable even if their ideas are misused, perhaps because they failed to take precautions to prevent harmful misinterpretations? Might authors be culpable even if they do take precautions—if, for example, they publish ideas that others can be reasonably expected to put to harmful uses, precautions notwithstanding? Although complete answers to these questions depend upon controversial views about the right to free speech, this paper argues that five notions from philosophy of law and legal practice—liability, burden of proof, legal causation, mens rea, and reasoning by precedent—can be adapted to provide an attractive moral framework for determining whether an author’s work causes harm, whether and how culpable the author is for causing such harm, steps authors may take to immunize themselves from culpability, and how to responsibly develop new rules for publishing ethics.
I’m turning 40 in a few months and trying not to think too much of it, but I am getting my bearings a bit.
Yesterday Elisa Gabbert tweeted, “I think I liked magazines more as a kid because the writing was by people older and wiser than me, with different generational interests. Now it’s just, like, writing by my friends, or people who could be? I’m supposed to pay for this? Lol”
I had a good laugh at this. It made me think that a good move at this age might be to start reading the NYTimes for Kids (which I already do) or Teen Vogue or AARP.
This would be the publication equivalent to Kevin Kelly’s advice, “When you are young, have friends who are older; when you are old, have friends who are younger.”
I do feel kind of lucky right now, to be in the middle: I have my kids and their friends for youth spies and for an elder perspective, I ride bikes twice a week with a 75-year-old who is still mad that Dylan went electric.
Everything changes, always, but I’m enjoying this age at the moment.
Thought of this one after witnessing a grown man have a tantrum in public. There but for the grace…
A week or so ago Ana let me know she was sending me a new keyboard desk pad to try out. You may remember my fondness for desk pads, and my previous reviews of my Ruff House planners and the Original Crown Mill keyboard pad. Despite technology, I love having a place to write down my daily to do list, notes from meetings, etc. So when Ana sent me the Cortex Sidekick Notepad ($39), I was eager to test it out.
The Sidekick Notepad is designed by the one and only Myke Hurley, cohost of the Pen Addict Podcast. According to Cotton Bureau, “Sidekick Notepad is designed to sit comfortably with you and your keyboard. It’s ready and waiting for whatever you‘re working on. Capture all your tasks, action items, notes, and thoughts.”
Let’s get down to it. The Sidekick Notepad is listed as approximately 12″ wide by 7″ tall. (I measured the paper itself as 11.75″ x 6.25″ (30cm x 16cm). The Notepad has a sturdy cardboard backing and a cover made of a paper called “Extract” that is made from recycled coffee cups in London. It has scored edges so it can be folded over the back of the notepad while in use.
Inside are 60 sheets of Munken Lynx paper in a natural white color. There is a box for the Date at the top of the notepad and 2/3 of the pad has a dot grid where you can take notes, doodle, draw diagrams or the like. On the right 1/3 of the notepad is list where you can add and check off items.
I put the paper through its paces with fountain pens, fountain pen ink, brush pens, gel pens, fine liners and of course, Sharpies. The Sharpies always fail the test, but everything else didn’t show through, bleed or feather. Even the ink swab (which I did with cotton swabs) didn’t bleed through. You can see some distortion where the liquid was, but I wouldn’t expect a desk pad to be waterproof anyway (even though it might end up seeing some coffee).
Each sheet is perforated on the top meaning when you’re done, tear it off and start again on a fresh page.
I wanted to take a brief moment to compare the pad to a few others that I have tried.
Functionally speaking, the Sidekick Notepad is more or less the same size as my Ruff House planners. The format is different (the Ruff House planners have weekly undated planning pages) whereas the Sidekick is a bit more freeform. However, they are roughly the same size and weight, which I know does work for me.
The Original Crown Hill keyboard pad is more what I think of as something to keep right under my keyboard and handy for notes. It is much wider and thinner – it measure a whopping 16.5″ x 3.5″ (42cm x 9cm) and is a more convenient alternative if what you want is a notebook right under your keyboard.
The Sidekick won’t fulfill quite the same function as my daily planner, but I do think that it will be a useful addition to keep next to my computer, along with my planner, but better for notes in meetings, random thoughts, etc. With 60 pages, it’s likely to last for a while, though I suppose that depends on how active my days are and how many notes I really take.
I do like the paper – it is nice and smooth, and will handle any pen that I grab at my desk (I rarely use Sharpies so that’s not really a concern) and I think I’ll enjoy using it. The only question I have in my mind is whether I would continue to buy a notebook I just use for jotting down notes at $40. I should say, I don’t think it’s overpriced since it uses premium paper, recycled materials and is imported to the US from London. But if I were to use a page a day, a Sidekick would last me only 2 months so I’d have to decide if I’m enough of a devotee to keep going back for more. Let’s see how I feel after a few months and I’ll report back!
The post Notebook Review: Cortex Sidekick Notepad appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.
Wiley's Jay Flynn discusses the impact that paper mills had on Hindawi's publishing program and how all stakeholders must collaborate to address behaviors that undermine research integrity.
The post Guest Post — Addressing Paper Mills and a Way Forward for Journal Security appeared first on The Scholarly Kitchen.
Another sample that I picked up at the California Pen Show from the Plotter/Traveler’s table was a Plotter Plain 003 Card Size Refill Memo Pad ($4.50 each). This tiny little glue bound pad with wraparound paper cover is just 2.1″ × 3.6″ (55mm X 91mm) which is just a tiny bit wider than a standard US business card (usually 2″ x 3.5″). Each sheet is punched with 3 holes to fit into your Plotter cover (or similar style ring binder).
Each Refill Memo Pad contains 80 sheets of DP paper, “DP paper” is an abbreviation for “Designphil Pocketbook paper”. The note on the Plotter USA web site says this paper is specially designed but isn’t specific as to whom it is specially designed. Is it just for the Plotter product line? Is it paper made especially to be used across all the DesignPhil products? Regardless, the paper is a cream color with a nice tooth.
Bob, the printmaker and paper genius, said “it has a lovely eggshell finish. Though some might call it an antique finish.” Thanks, paper genius for the detailed info. The DP Paper is 60gsm so it is thin and lightweight but maintains the properties we love about Japanese paper. It’s fountain pen friendly and shows sheen beautifully.
From the back of the sheet, there is no show though or bleedthrough. The paper held up beautifully. And due to their small size, these little sheets would be perfect for lists, to-dos and other notes. I think I might carry this tiny little pad in my pocket at pen shows for pen testing and notes. Often folks will ask for the name of an ink or other item we don’t have at the show so it would be nice to write it down on a sheet of paper smell enough to fit in their pocket or into their journal later.
Just for scale, I put the test sheet next to a Col-o-ring. The Plotter card size is a bit wider and a bit shorter than a Col-o-ring but it will give you a sense of scale.
DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by Plotter USA for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
The post Notebook Review: Plotter 03 Plain Card Size appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.
The Trigg Gratitude Journal (£13.99) is a guided gratitude journal from the makers of the Trigg Life Mapper planner system. This A5 matte faux-leather hardcover journal features prompts, quotes and a variety of page layouts that create a place where you can pause and reflect. The notebook starts with some direction about how and when to use a gratitude journal.
The goal of this gratitude journal is to help find happiness in your life and improve personal resilience when things get tough.
Throughout the notebook, there are inspiring quotes, mandalas that you can color, and an assortment of guided prompts to explore positive aspects, people and things in your life.
I am a cynic and a bit of a salty b*tch so looking for the bright side, being grateful and staying positive always feels a bit forced for me. I am 100% the person the Grievance Journal was made for. But I totally understand why and how the Trigg Gratitude Journal can be helpful.
I am also the person who needs guided prompts to get me to even think about “10 things I like about myself” and, trust me, filling this page in would be a painful and emotionally wrought activity. I know. Therapy.
There were a few “notes’ pages in the back of the notebook that I used for pen testing.
While the structure and concept behind this planner is it’s raison d’etre , I am sure you’re asking, “How’s the paper?”
The paper is a bright white compared to the Trigg Life Mapper which features a softer ivory paper. I am pretty sure its the same paper stock though as I had similar results with some bleedthrough from fountain pens and a little showthrough with darker or broader brush pens, though it was pretty minor.
The paper had a “dry” feeling. I know that seems like a strange way to describe paper but it did feel like it wanted to absorb inks though the overall result was not terrible. No pen feathered. The mystery ink in my ProColor seems to bleed on most papers so I wasn’t overly surprised. There was a bit of show through with the Pilot Custom 912 with the FA nib but that is a flex nib and dumps a lot of ink on the paper.
Overall, I found gel pens, rollerball and felt tip pens performed well on the paper. The brush pens also did really well and fountain pen ink did okay, YMMV.
If you are looking for a notebook to help focus on gratitude, the amount of content in the Trigg Gratitude Journal is excellent providing a range of activities. I have to admit, I want to spend an hour coloring a couple of the mandala designs in the journal. I feel like this is a notebook where the content provided outweighs the potential fountain pen-incompatibility. If you need to get your gratitude on, grab those seldom used gel pens, markers, colored pencils and such and dive in. Sometimes, content is more important than the fountain pen-friendliness.
DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by Think Trigg for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
The post Notebook Review: Trigg Gratitude Journal appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.
While at the California Pen Show, I was able to score a few samples from the Traveler’s/Plotter table. Not that I needed any Traveler’s Notebook samples. I’ve been a loyal fan of Traveler’s for …. hmmmm… over a decade now! But it was a delight to revisit some of the classic refills. Because Traveler’s is part of the Midori product family, much of the paper included in the refills is Midori but I often forget that. This particular sample, a “Refill for a Short Trip” in Passport Size. This insert only include 32 pages compared to the regular Passport inserts that feature 64 pages but features the same high quality Midori MD paper in the cream color.
The Midori MD Cream paper has a slight tooth to it making it good for all around use and it stands up to pretty much any pen you can throw at it. I had no issues with feathering, even with my Pilot Custom 912 with the FA nib.
It’s a thinner paper so there is some show through but no bleed through at all. I have a soft spot for the Midori MD Cotton and Midori MD Light, so much so that I had forgotten how good the standard Midori MD paper was. Honestly, I don’t think there’s much more I can say about Midori MD paper that hasn’t been said already but its nice to take another look at the classics. They are classics for a reason. Thanks for the sample, Traveler’s Company, and for reminding me that I love this paper!
DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by Traveler’s Company USA for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
The post Notebook Review: Traveler’s Short Trip Passport Size appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.
I grabbed a copy of the Paperblanks Midi Planner ($6.88 on sale, $22.95 USD/$24.95CAD at full price) recently when I was ordering even more of the heavyweight paper Midi notebooks which have become my go-to notebook these days. I wanted to give the thinner 80gsm paper Paperblanks make another chance and the sale price made it hard to resist. The design is called the Floralia and it is so riveting. The matte black cover features a beautiful print of flowers and some shimmer and sparkle accents on the flowers. As the light catches the art on the cover, the flowers look like they are popping off the cover.
The cover is a soft flexi with two ribbon bookmarks (sealed so they don’t fray!) and the Midi size is B6-ish at 4.75″ x 6.75″. B6 is 4.9 x 6.9 in (12.5 x 17.6 cm) so the Midi-sized notebooks will fit into any B6-sized notebook cover (another bonus for me since my daily carry notebook cover is B6).
Before the monthly calendars is a two-page year-at-a-glance spread with 2022 and 2023 and a key for the symbols used through the planner which include the first day of spring, first day of autumn, the moon phases and when daylight savings starts/ends (though it was not accurate to the US. Paperblanks is a Canadian company).
I bought the “horizontal no closure” version of the planner, which is essentially a standard week-on-two-pages design with a month-on-a-page in the front. The edition I got was an 18-month version that started in July 2022. The 80gsm paper means the book is not overly bulky and the 18-month model would be great for anyone who is in academia or who might be looking for a planner switch-up mid-year. The paper is acid-free, sustainable forest paper.
In the back of the planner are:
The paper is a creamy ivory color and has a slight tooth to it. In my usability test, I wasn’t expecting the paper to be fountain pen friendly because its so lightweight but I often grab whatever pen is handy to write in my planner so I want paper to be at least tolerant of fountain pens. There was a bit of showthrough on the reverse of the page but its not terrible and I think the ink I have been using is particularly wet and inclined to bleed.
I have started adding some daily events and notes. I know not everyone loves lines in the notebooks but for some reason, I don’t mind the lines in the Paperblanks planners. There is a slightly wider line between each day making a clean delineation between all the lines.
When you look at the reverse of the weekly page, the olive ink had some show through but the purple ink (I am pretty sure that’s Monteverde Birthday Cake in a Sailor ProGear with a H-MF nib) did not show through at all.
I used the notes pages to do some pen testing. I really like when planners work well with a lot of different kinds of pens because I just never know when I need to jot down an event. I might have been sketching and had a pencil in hand or I just grab a gel pen out of the cup on my table. The Paperblanks 80gsm paper really isn’t terrible. There is minor show through but very little bleed through. For a thin non-Japanese paper, its beyond acceptable. I would compare it to Leuchtturm 1917 for being a good all-around paper. If you are inclined to use super broad, juicy fountain pens, these 80gsm notebooks from Paperblanks might not be for you.
But if you, like me, has a rainbow of felt tip, gel, rollerball, pencils AND fountain pens, these planners might be a good option. And at the clearance prices, it could be worth giving them a try.
I realize that I am a bit biased about Paperblanks but I think they don’t get a lot of props from the pen community and the books are really good quality. No, they are not Hobonichi, Tomoe River or Midori MD paper but they are better than so many other options at reasonable prices (even when they are not on sale).
DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this review were provided free of charge for the purpose of review. Some items were purchased with funds from our amazing Patrons. You can help support this blog by joining our Patreon. Please see the About page for more details.
The post Planner Review: Paperblanks Planner appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.
Courtesy of Thomas Demand and MACK.
The Review has long been a fan of Thomas Demand’s work; our Spring 2015 issue featured a portfolio of his paper sculptures of cherry blossoms. His series The Dailies recreates quotidian objects and images: a coffee cup, a tray of cigarette butts. Only tiny flaws (pencil markings, tape) reveal them as constructions; otherwise his compositions are stripped of everything but their form. But paper isn’t just a blank canvas; it also carries meaning, even if these associations are subtle: it’s the medium of office workers, receipts, menus, greeting cards, origami, newspapers—and, of course, of The Paris Review. To accompany a selection of images from The Dailies, we talked to Demand about paper, literature, and the home.
INTERVIEWER
What does paper mean in your work?
THOMAS DEMAND
Paper is a formidable, malleable material that everyone touches on a daily basis. We all share this experience—we know its haptic and aesthetic possibilities more than perhaps anything else. We mostly use paper for temporary purposes—napkins, newspaper, coffee cups, the Amazon box, and so on. We make notes on it and throw it away, wrap our gifts in it and rip it to receive them. I find that important to consider, if I look at the more commonplace iconography in my work, like in The Dailies. I’m also interested in paper’s relations to information, model-making, and geometry.
INTERVIEWER
Paper has been disappearing from the real spaces you photograph for quite some time, being replaced by screens, stickers of QR codes, audio recordings. Do you have a sentimental attachment to paper?
DEMAND
I don’t think it has disappeared, actually—think of any sustainable recycled packaging effort, like Amazon’s. The production of paper has increased monumentally. But it might become a more valued material, which is good. People used to drink the worst piss called “coffee”—now it’s a drink prepared by baristas with butterflies in the milk topping. Am I sentimental about the old bitter filter coffee? No. Note, however, that that coffee was made through a paper filter, to be consumed in paper cups. As far as we know, the paper cup was first made by Chinese craftsmen around two thousand years ago. In all its forms, paper has accompanied our civilizations, enabling us not only to drink but to write, to remember. I don’t see this as a metaphorical value but as one which enables the production of other values.
INTERVIEWER
If The Dailies were the work of a particular writer, who would it be?
DEMAND
When it comes to The Dailies, I think of writers who don’t use an overarching narrative—Walter Benjamin, Alexander Kluge, Hans Blumenberg, Botho Strauss.
INTERVIEWER
What do your home and your workspace look like? Do you make frequent “Home Improvements”?
DEMAND
I need to wake up in an environment that is as empty as possible, and I like to live in a sparsely furnished place. I am not afraid of an empty room. I also try to part from things I haven’t needed nor missed for two or three years (apart from art, which mostly is from friends). However, I enjoy when the work spills over the tables I work from and the leftovers of my makings are scattered around the actual piece. But I need to return to a clean space to approach my next work. I hardly ever work on more than one project at once.
Courtesy of Thomas Demand and MACK.
Courtesy of Thomas Demand and MACK.
Courtesy of Thomas Demand and MACK.
Courtesy of Thomas Demand and MACK.
Thomas Demand is a German photographer and sculptor who lives in Los Angeles. His new, expanded edition of The Dailies is out now from MACK.
I’m pretty sure if I were to have to pick one notebook size forever more, it would like be A5. It really is just the right size – not too big, not too small. How very Goldilocks of me!
However, I find that I can never quite make up my mind what kind of purse I want to carry. Sometimes I want a behemoth bag that’s big enough to hold a smaller purse, a knitting project, and 12 other things that I can’t seem to live without. And then other times I want a small purse to just grab and go. Either way, I need a notebook and pen, right?
Last time I was browsing Yoseka, I spied the Kleid Kraft Work Memo notebook in A6 size ($7.50). I’m currently on a small bag kick, and I thought this might be the perfect notebook for on the go. It’s small, lightweight, has an elastic loop for closure at the corner, is a spiral so it lays flat – could it be the perfect notebook?
This notebook is A6 size, meaning it measures in at 4 1/8″ x 5 7/8″ and is approximate 1/2″ thick. (10.5 cm x 15 cm, under 1 cm thick). The cover is made of sturdy cardstock, with a tight spiral. Inside are 70 pages of kraft paper with 2mm grid. The only other “frill” is the elastic strap to keep it closed at the corner.
I have to say, I like this size and I like the paper, but it’s probably not really designed for fountain pen ink. The grid is printed on the page in a way that doesn’t get covered by the fountain pen in, meaning it shows through which is a bit distracting.
Worse, I’m a lefty and I rest my hand on the page. Just that slight bit of moisture from my hand changed the texture of the paper a bit, and the ink was more prone to feathering and bleeding through there.
I did test it with my gels, fine liners and ball points though and the paper seemed to perform quite well with those.
So this may not be the perfect notebook if you’re a die hard fountain pen lover, but if you’re good throwing a ballpoint or gel pen in your purse, then this still might be a great notebook for jotting important things down when you’re out and about. And I do love that elastic loop at the corner for keeping the notebook closed and the edges tidy when I throw it in my bag.
DISCLAIMER: I purchased this notebook with my own funds for the purposes of this review. Please see the About page for more details.
The post Notebook Review: Kleid Kraft Work Memo A6 appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.
FreshRSS 