Notebook Review: Panobook

Notebook Review: Panobook

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:

News: Black Friday & Other Tidbits

Books:

Tom Hanks published a book of short stories called Uncommon Type which is getting some press for reasons beyond the fact that he is an Oscar-winning actor. Every story features a typewriter somewhere in the story. For me, this makes me curious how he manages to work his love of typewriters into his stories.

Pens:

The Pen Addict limited edition Retro51 Ice-o-metric edition ($38) is available. Its limited to 600 and they will go fast, if they aren’t gone already. The glow-in-the-dark bomb pop design was created by Michael Jacobs and released as an exclusive for Pen Addict fans.

Black Friday Sales:

  • Appelboom: Black Friday Sale page with discounts up to 50% off.
  • ArtSnacks: In the shop, use code OHMY25 for 25% off all orders in the Shop!* Sign up for yourself or gift an ArtSnacks subscription and receive 12% off your first month when you use code YAYSNACKS12. (Coupons good through November 30, 2017 at Midnight, some restrictions may apply.)
  • Fresh Stock Japan: Take an extra 15% off the unique Japanese stationery products from Fresh Stock Japan. Use the coupon code “EBF2017” at checkout to take advantage of this Black Friday offer.
  • Goldspot Pens: Goldspot Pens are doing tiered free gifts, giveaways, and “clickbusters” for Black Friday. Get all the details on their special Black Friday page.
  • Goulet Pens: Find all of the Black Friday deals from Goulet Pens on this special sales page.
  • Jenni Bick: Get 20% off shopwide and free shipping on orders over $150 all weekend.
  • JetPens: JetPens has a special sale page with 10% off a selection of best-sellers and customer favorites. Special offer prices valid while supplies last, or until Wednesday, November 29, 2017 at Midnight Pacific Time.
  • Pen Chalet: Pen Chalet has a special Coupon to save 15% Off ALL items by entering the coupon code BLACK15 in your shopping cart and applies to any item, even specially discounted items. There are also giveaways to enter. All the great prizes will be given away on Cyber Monday, November 27th.
  • Pencils.com: Blackwing Friday is being celebrated at Pencils.com. Get free stickers with any order, free Blackwing 602s with any order over $20 and free shirt with orders over $100. Free domestic shipping with orders over $25 all weekend.
  • Rad + Hungry: Get 15% off your order sitewide through Sunday, 11:59 PST by entering the code RadRAHStr at checkout.

Notebook Review: Rhodia Heritage Checkered Book Block

Notebook Review: Rhodia Heritage Checkered Book Block

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.

Podcast: The Pen Addict Annual Holiday Gift Guide

Oops, we did it again! For the FIFTH(!) year, the Pen Addict podcast has kindly allowed me to come along on the annual Holiday Gift Guide mayhem. This year, we racked up over 70 links (Thanks, Myke!) of gift-giving ideas for you and your loved ones. Hop on over to Relay.FM to listen to the whole episode, see the full show notes and make sure you’ve got all your favorites on your wish list this season! I always have a blast on the show and they did bleep me when I said “washi tape!”

How did it all start? Way back in 2012, Brad and Myke did their first Gift Guide episode and I disagreed with some of their recommendations so I wrote a rebuttal. Brad emailed me and said, “Next year, put your money where your mouth is…” And the rest is history.

What’s on your holiday wish list? Did we answer your question on the show? Do you wish that Brad and Myke let me come on the show more often? Leave a note in the comments!

Link Love: Furry Assistants

I can’t resist sharing another photo of our newest furry assistant, Lucy. She was helping in the studio the other day. Its hard to get her to stand still long enough to get a photo.

Pens:

Ink:

Pencils:

Notebooks and Paper:

Other Interesting Things:

Art & Art Supplies:

Ink Review: Papier Plume Bayou Nightfall

Ink Review: Papier Plume Bayou Nightfall

Papier Plume Bayou Nightfall ($8 per bottle) is another fountain pen ink from the New Orleans Collection inspired by the surroundings of the shop where the inks are made. Papier Plume is the only pen shop I know of in the US that makes its own inks which makes it an extraordinarily special shop.

The inks come in glass bottles topped with a fleur de lis wax seal and a handmade label.

It’s a marshy blue color that’s hard to describe. It’s not a blue black or a blue grey. Bayou Nightfall is a smoky blue grey color with a slight tinge of green. It definitely reminds me of a foggy boggy night.

There are a few other inks that are similar… but different. That always seems to be the case. Franklin Christoph Midnight Emerald is close, being another Southern brand, they get the Atlantic side version maybe? Midnight Emerald is a bit more bluish. Meisterstück Blue Hour and De Atramentis Plum are more bluish as well. Diamine Twilight is darker overall and Gris de Payne is more grey than green.

So, Bayou Nightfall definitely taps uncharted waters (pun intended). I think its a bit drier ink than some others which may appeal to some folks more than others. As a lefty, I tend to prefer a slightly drier ink. If you use a lot of Kaweco pens though, they tend to hard start so you may want to keep some scratch paper handy, a dry ink and a hard starting pen  might lead to some moments of frustration. The ink shades but doesn’t have any noticeable sheen and is incredibly, reasonably priced so it might totally be worth trying.


Tools:

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

Giveaway Winners: NockCo Seed A6 Cases

Giveaway Winners: NockCo Seed A6 Cases

Thanks to my handy, dandy random number generator I have two lucky winners in the NockCo A6 Seed Case giveaway:

Congrats to Mike and Cara! They both picked the steel color case though so many of you chose the iris.

I am pretty sure an A5 is on the horizon so Mike’s dream will be a reality but I don’t think it will be in waxed canvas… yet. But you never know.

And our pal Alexander Kramer has kindly tabulated some of the comment results: