Internet sensation Field Notes probably need no introduction. Seen here with another agrarian rooted stationery supply – the bullet pencil – the notebooks are quirky, fun, and useful.

What they don’t tell you is that these alternate versions like “Just Below Zero” don’t just have different colour covers – they have different colour rulings!

To all those celebrating, have a great Christmas!

A collection of twenty rolls of masking tape from mt masking tape of Japan.

The tape itself is an amazing gift that delights.

The ability to reinvent an everyday item so that it can bring smiles, laughter, and enjoyment, is humbling.

I asked Leuchtturm about this, and the ruling differences represent different generations of the product, not regional variations. The light rules are the new format, and are being introduced first in Canada and the US.

My thanks to Leuchtturm for their assistance.

Talk about long accordion folds of paper! The Moleskine Project Planner is essentially a long zig-zag folded piece of paper inside the familiar Moleskine exterior – black cover, elastic band, pocket inside the back cover.

I would say it is very unusual, presenting a linear unbroken view of the calendar year.

There are some problems, and I’m not sure how to make best use of it. Each day’s numeral has eleven rectangles below it – each of which is 6mm (horizontal) by 10mm (vertical). This isn’t enough space to write anything – maybe just a single character or a check mark. Presumably you would need a pre-existing colour or notation scheme to chart or record something.

The reverse side does have an alternate calendar view with a 3.5mm ruled line that could take very small writing.

The reverse also has various “helpful” items such as international holidays. There is an error in the Canadian listing, which undermines my confidence in the other presented information.

Even if it is called a “project planner”, I can see the format being quite good for tracking personal information such as a budget or diet.

It has also made me think about this paper format – I’m wondering about where one could buy accordion folded thick paper. Moleskine’s Japanese Album is another product that I’ve always thought of as a sketchbook, and now realize could be quite useful for project planning.

The product is just somehow pleasantly clever.

Here are two Leuchtturm notebooks. One sourced in Canada, one in France.

Leuchtturm (meaning “lighthouse”) is a German philately and numismatic supply company founded in 1917. Among their offerings are specialty supplies for collectors – a particular item I find very intriguing is an album for collecting the metal capsules that crown Champagne corks! Who knew? And who retains that sort of collecting determination after downing a bottle of Champagne?

These are pocket sized notebooks with hard covers. They have an elastic enclosure band, a page marker ribbon, and a pocket inside the back cover.

They also have a feature that I love – numbered pages and a blank index section! This is a great solution to the problem of finding what one has written down. Plus, the numbers look like they belong, using the same font and ink colour as the rest of the text. There are laboratory and accounting notebooks with this feature, but many that I’ve seen appear as if they were stamped via a separate and unrelated printing process.

So congratulations, Leuchtturm. Page numbering is one of those little things which makes all the difference. For me, it’s a great benefit because I do write down things that I want to quickly retrieve later.

Here’s what I’m puzzling about. My two notebooks have a number of differences:

- Both are 90×150mm, but the Canadian one has 185 pages, while the French one has 187 pages. The interiors are physically the same, but the arrangement of blank pages around the index varies.

- The French version is stamped Leuchtturm 1917 Agenda, while the Canadian version is simply “Leuchtturm 1917″.

- The last eight pages of the Canadian version are detachable (starting at page 171), while 32 pages of the French version are detachable (starting at page 125).

- The French version came with 60 sticky notes on a card that fits nicely in the back pocket. The card’s back side has a ruler, and some unit conversion tables – a nice touch.

- The page lining imprint is remarkably different. Though the same pattern, The Canadian version is subtle and faint, while the French version is strong and bold. It’s hard to say if it’s just a difference between print runs.

In either variant, they are nice notebooks. Leuchtturm has other sizes, as well as a lattice or dotted grid format that I’ll show another day. I’ve been using a Graf von Faber-Castell pencil in the Canadian version for a few days, and have encountered no problems.

[Update: December 2, 2009]
I asked Leuchtturm about this, and the ruling differences represent different generations of the product, not regional variations. The light rules are the new format, and are being introduced first in Canada and the US.

My thanks to Leuchtturm for their assistance.

From Kiki James we have the Tuscan Wrap Journal. It is a leather bound journal available in several colours, in three sizes, with lined or blank paper. The beautiful example shown here is the chocolate bridle finish, in medium with lined paper.

Kiki Jones is a relatively new online retailer based in London. Their domain name was registered in 2005, so that provides a hint at their longevity. They state that they do welcome customers at their headquarters. Kudos to them for providing walking and public transit directions!

The first thing one notices is the box. At a time when generic plastic shrink-wrap has almost become a retail standard, the journal’s presentation is outstanding. The journal itself arrived tissue-paper wrapped, resting on a tissue cushion on the box bottom.

The journal itself has a wonderful smooth luxurious leather finish, and can be closed by double-wrapping a leather tie:

The back reveals a discreet embossing. “Handmade in England” is another welcome departure from today’s norms.

The journal is 21.6cm x 15.2cm, and the rules on the thick, creamy, paper are grey, approximately 6.5mm apart.

The outside is as smooth and rich as it appears, while the inside is rough with the journal firmly inset.

Just one of a number of leather writing journals from Kiki James, I am very impressed with the offering. My thanks to Kiki James for providing the item for this review.

It seems like erasers made of vinyl or other synthetic ingredients are the norm today. Here is a traditional rubber eraser that I was surprised to find.

It seems relatively dense, and with a lot of particulate matter exuding from a new eraser. It does a good job on a Lumograph 100:

The paper in the photos is loose leaf 17 x 22cm Clairfontaine Séyès, an unusual sighting in Canada.

Canteo, a brand of Biella of Switzerland, offers notebooks and office products.

They now have a retail presence in Canada, and I recently acquired one of their A4 sized notebooks.

It is an original. I’ll start from the inside in describing the notebook – I ordered a squared (graph paper/quadrille) version – and to my surprise, the squares are an unusual 4mm, rendered in grey ink, on a cream background.

The paper is very graphite friendly, and I’m quite impressed with the way handwriting and drawings appear.

The thread stitched notebook lies flat, and has a very sensible business appearance if that matters to you. It comes with a set of metal clips and a black-dyed pencil as pleasant extras.

The book has a corner elastic, and an internal ribbon. The cover is hard to describe – a sophisticated matte paper fabric.

Overall, I have the impression of a very nicely made notebook, and I’ve already enjoyed using it. Though it is approaching the upper end of what I’d generally like to pay for a mass produced notebook, it seems to offer an appropriate value and quality level. Some examples: The binding allows laying the notebook completely flat, and the paper and journal have their corners rounded with matching arcs. There are statements on the web saying Canteo products are made in Korea. I didn’t find any information about this on the product itself, though the references to Switzerland are many.

I have already ordered another!

By Nathalie Atkinson, Move over Moleskine is a richly illustrated leisurely look at the fine notebooks and writing implements that many of us enjoy.

What the online article doesn’t show are the photos and prominence that the print edition gives to the article.

The front page of the “Weekend Post” is covered with seven photos and the caption, “Never too cool for school”. Shown are a Roots saddle bag, Hermès Ulysses notebook, Field Notes notebooks and pencils, Erinzam notebooks, Rite-in-the-Rain notebook (with Ticonderoga pencil), Faber-Castell Textliners, and Whitelines notepads. I was certainly surprised and delighted by the prominence given to pencils.

The fourth page of the section has a near full page article, and shows some more photos of stationery items: A Kikkerland Endangered Species eraser, Globus pencil sharpener, Rhodia pad, Very Best mechanical pencil, and Reused News colour pencils. Pencils clearly rule!

The article is a tour of today’s stationery trends, guided by an interview with Russell Hemsworth of Papterie Nota Bene. I’ve never been to his store, but I’ve spoken with Russell on the phone and via email, and can personally vouch for his great service.

We get the scoop: Moleskine has officially jumped the shark, with Field Notes being the new hipster favorite. Longstanding brands like Canteo, Rite-in-the-Rain and Rhodia are also in high demand. And pencils, pencils, pencils!

Thanks to the Post for the article and congratulations to Russell.

This might be the world’s only Urban Gridded Notebook. By John Briscella, it was sold by a print-on-demand publisher. Though I doubt it, I might be the only person to have ever purchased a copy.

The notebook has city grids, and no text aside from a list of cities on the last page.

You can study urban planning, or realign major cities with your doodles, or just use it as a notebook.

The paper is like thick newsprint, so there is some see-through with dark ink or graphite, though a Lamy fountain pen with F nib didn’t feather for me.

It’s a great product. Do you own one?

The Behance Dot Grid Book is a coil-ringed notebook. It uses very thick paper (80 lb.), and is neither blank nor ruled – it has a “dot grid”.

Though very thick, the paper also seems pulpy and unfinished. I am wondering why this particular paper was chosen. Thicker paper being better was generally true with typewriters – but not necessarily with handheld writing and drawing implements.

The packaged notebook presents nicely (and for the price being asked for a 50 sheet coil-ring notebook, it has to) and includes an interesting brochure, “Make ideas happen.”

So why the dots? The band around the notebook states: “The geometric dot matrix on the front and back of each page serves as a subtle guide for your notations and sketches. The dot matrix pushes your ideas forward, beyond the confines of restrictive lines and boxes.” Really? It will push my ideas forward? More than a blank page? And no one finds dots constrictive?

Well, I’m mainly kidding. I think it’s great that they are exploring alternate “anchors” for paper writing. I recall seeing circular graph paper and all sorts of patterns in notebooks years ago, and am glad to have more choices.

After opening and contemplating this notebook in the backyard, I happened to glance at Mathematical Gems I by Ross Honsberger – part of the Dolciani Mathematical Expositions series. Chapter 11, “Circles, Squares, and Lattice Points”, tells us a great deal about the dots this notebook uses, which are formally called lattice points.

A very interesting problem is this: Can you draw a circle around just one dot? Trivial. How about two? Again pretty easy. Three? The problem just got a lot harder – but yes you can. So how about any arbitrary integer n? Amazingly, it is quickly proven that such a circle exists. And that’s just the beginning – Schinzel’s Theorem proves one can draw a circle with any given number of lattice points on the circle’s circumference – and Browkin’s Theorem proves that one can draw a square containing an arbitrary number of lattice points.

So if you want to play around and learn about some of these properties of lattice points, what better tool than the Behance Dot Grid Book?