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November 28, 2009

Moleskine Project Planner

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.

Moleskine Project Planner

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.

Moleskine Project Planner

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

Moleskine Project Planner

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.

Moleskine Project Planner

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.

Moleskine Project Planner

November 21, 2009December 2, 2009

Leuchtturm 1917 notebooks

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

Leuchtturm 1917 notebooks

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?

Leuchtturm 1917 notebooks

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.

Leuchtturm 1917 notebooks

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 90x150mm, 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”.

Leuchtturm 1917 notebooks

– 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.

Leuchtturm 1917 notebooks

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.

November 15, 2009

Kiki James Tuscan Wrap Journal

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.