The Well-Appointed Desk

The Weskin Bookblock (£15) is a classic A5 notebook with bookcloth cover, gilt edges and lined paper.

The end papers are an interesting geometric design printed in dark grey on ivory paper. The coordinating bellyband is perforated and can be repurposed into a bookmark.

The notebook covers are semi-flexible and feature two grosgrain ribbon bookmarks. Unfortunately, the ribbons are unfinished and cut straight across on the end so they were fraying when they arrived. They need to be sealed on the ends or cut on the bias to keep from fraying. Some white glue, Fray Check or cutting them at a 45º should stop the fraying.

The line ruling inside have a margin around the edge for a clean look that I don’t mind and the ruling is dark grey but the lines are very fine so its not too obtrusive. The line spacing is 7mm.

The Weskin Bookblock uses 90gsm paper in an ivory color. Rollerball, felt tip, ballpoint, gel and pencil performed fine but fountain pen ink feathered quite noticeably.

In the close-up photo above EF fountain pen nibs clearly bled out at least one or more nib size. They became noticeably blotchy.

From the back of the paper, you can see where the ink clearly leaked through as well. The Weskin 90gsm paper is definitely not designed for fountain pens. It looks like Bookblock has introduced several other notebooks with 110gsm paper with a combination of blank, dot grid and lined paper as well as coloring-in pages and fun, illustrated covers which may offer better results with fountain pens.

I think the new Bookblock Editions series with 110gsm paper and assorted dot grid, lined and blank pages may be a better option. While the sophisticated gold edging is nice, I’d rather that the company put the energy into better paper than gilded edges.

---

DISCLAIMER: This item was sent to me free of charge by Bookblock for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

The Panobook from Studio Neat ($20) started its life as a Kickstarter project which quickly exceeded its needed funding goal. Studio Neat had previously launched several products on Kickstarter including several iPhone related items and, as a result, have something of a following in the tech community. So launching a notebook, albeit a notebook specifically designed to fit above or below or near your computer, tablet or keyboard, is a bit of a departure for their audience in some ways. But in others, in makes perfect sense. Tech geeks, designers, coders and other folks who spend their days in front of a computer occasionally need to write things down. The Panobook is designed to fit alongside your sleek laptop or tablet.

Each Panobook comes in a slip case and has a double o-ring binding. The box that the Panobook ships in is also printed with a great writing instrument design.

The slipcase is white card stock and features the same 5mm dot grid as the paper on the interior. On the spine edges of slipcase are areas to label the contents of your Panobook should you plan to archive them. On the opposite spine of the slipcase is the brand information, neatly typeset.

The book itself is covered in a softtouch, dark grey-black, leatherette with rounded corners. The back of the book is debossed with the brand logo, divided across a graphic of an opened Panobook. Very clever.

The first page of the Panobook is a sheet of pastel green cardstock with the brand logo on the front and assorted data for using the book on the back as well as rulers, a place for contact information and the paper specification and a type size reference guide set in Helvetica which really serves no purpose other than it looks designer-y.

The green page also explains the light marks on the dot grid that can be used to divide the pages into smaller sections for certain common types of layouts. The already panoramic layout can be subdivided quickly into three long rectangles for UI design or turn the notebook vertical for storyboarding. There are guides at the halfway point on the pages to easily divide them horizontally or vertically.

The interior paper, what is most important to readers of this blog, is Finch Fine Soft White Ultra Smooth 70# Text with 5mm dot grid.

In my writing tests, I found the paper smooth and easy to use. Rollerball, gel, felt tip and ballpoint all worked very well. Fountain pens with fine point worked pretty well but the 5mm grid really encouraged a finer tool. There was a little bleeding or feathering with some inks so there’s definitely some issues with the paper for fountain pen inks. The proposed purpose, size and format lends itself to a writing tool that can be left uncapped. So a fountain pen is probably not the best tool for the Panobook anyway.

There was only a little show through, even with the fountain pen ink, so it is possible to use fountain pens with the Panobook. I didn’t feel like I needed to limit the tools I could use with this notebook but I’m definitely more inclined to use my large collection of non-fountain pens with the Panobook.

Overall, the Panobook is a more storable, keepable desk notebook similar to the Baron Fig Mastermind. The size is a little different but both do a similar job. Where the Mastermind feels more like an upscale deskpad, the Panobook feels more like an upscale, upsized Field Note’s Front Page/Byline. Where a Front Page/Byline feels like a notebook that might be more portable, the Mastermind and the the PAnobook both feel like notebooks/pads that would definitely remain on a desk for roughing out ideas and planning projects.

See what other reviewers had to say about the Panobook:

• Video: Studio Neat Panobook (via Leadfast)
• Studio Neat Panobook Notebook (via Pen Addict)

I finally purchased a Rhodia Heritage Book Block in the Checkered cover with grid paper ($16.95). It is a composition sized notebook (7.5×9.75″) with 80 sheets. The Book Block is particularly appealing for the exposed stitching and the Rhodia/Clairefontaine 90gsm paper.

Besides the stitching, the Heritage editions include a table of contents, numbered pages and a space at the top of each page for title or page description.

I particularly like that the Heritage editions use orange ink for the lines and grid instead of purple or dark grey. I find it far less obtrusive. The lines for the table of contents are far too widely spaced compared to the gird spacing though. It feels practically juvenile.

Writing samples show that the famous 90gsm paper performs as expected. It is ivory color rather than a bright white so ink colors might shift slightly but it will be a bit easier on the eyes for longer writing which this composition-sized notebook lends itself to.

From the back, there is no bleed through and very little show through in the writing sample. There is a reason why Rhodia papers are fountain pen users’ favorites.

The Heritage Collection will be a favorite too. It doesn’t feel as precious or pricey as a webnotebook or Habana and is a little bit larger in size so it may be a notebook to consider. The softcover might also make it more appealing for some.

I purchased my Rhodia Heritage Book Block from The Pen Place in Kansas City but  it is available at many of your favorite online shops as well as is the smaller sewn spine edition (MSRP $10) with 32 sheets in each book.