We have finally released a new Col-o-ring product: the Col-o-ring Oversize ($15). This is our first fully bound notebook/sketchbook product. As always, this book came from the combined genius (and combined drunken logic) of Skylab Letterpress and The Well-Appointed Desk. We thought, “How could we make the best ink testing book even better?”
“OVERSIZE it!” And, of course, endless thanks to Stephen (our favorite Montblanc collector and auction caller) for the name.
We made the notebook 4”x 5.5” (A6-ish) with die cut rounded corners. It’s filled with 40 pages of the same great paper that you love from the Col-o-ring and Col-o-dex products (100lb/160gsm European paper from a 400-year-old mill), spiral bound with a durable, plastic spiral. The covers are made with the same thick chipboard and letterpress printed with our logo in black on the over and printing details on the back.
We have been testing the books with watercolor, brush pens, all sorts of inks (not just fountain pens!), pencils (colored and graphite) and so much more. The paper is thick enough to handle light washes of watercolor and show great color definition. Inks and brush pens look fantastic and, of course, no feathering or bleeding.
The two photos above are the front and back of the paper using a brush pen for lettering. The ink is Robert Oster Deep Purple and the pen is a Platinum Maki-E brush pen.
Colored pencils show lots of texture as a result of the tooth in the paper which I really like.
For the moment, the Oversize will be a limited edition. These books were especially made to test the waters with a new format. We hope folks like them and we are curious to get feedback about them.
DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this post were provided free of charge for the purpose of review (except for the ones we made). Please see the About page for more details.
