The Well-Appointed Desk

I have been using Montblanc Lucky Orange in my Franklin Christoph Pocket 45 since the beginning of April. Since it’s an eyedropper filler with a fine italic nib, it could possibly take me a whole year to use up all the ink but I will likely enjoy using it the whole time. I haven’t been a buyer of Montblanc limited edition inks until this year. I missed out on a few of the limited edition colors last year and I ended up kicking myself about it so this year I decided to just buy them. The Lucky Orange was only $19 for the ~~35ml~~ 30ml bottle. Maybe I have blinders about the pricing now but with Oster inks at $19 for 50ml bottles in plastic, I feel less bad about spending $19 for pretty Montblanc bottles even if they have less ink in them.

Since getting the Pocket 45, it’s only had two inks in it. First, was the F-C Brown 732 which made me refer to the pen as the “pudding pen” because it looked like vanilla pudding on the outside with chocolate pudding on the inside. Now, with the Lucky Orange ink, it reminds me of a Creamsicle, which is a name that might stick. Next up? Maybe a warm red and it can be Strawberries and Cream?

But back to the ink color which was why you’ve read this far, right? Lucky Orange is a nice crisp orange ink. It writes beautifully and definitely chases away a grey day which was perfect for the cloudy spring we had here in K.C. It is a completely legible color, even in a fine nib. I confess that after all of Myke’s waxing poetic of his love of orange ink, it had not been a color I had given much thought to using. Lucky Orange has definitely given me pause to reconsider. I consider it my gateway orange.

I do have several other orange inks in my collection but I can’t say that I’ve ever done more than swatched or maybe dipped a pen with them. Maybe I just needed the right pen to make orange a color I could use regularly. I don’t think I’d want to put orange ink in an orange pen. That would be a little too much orange for me. Other people, for whom orange may be their favorite color might feel differently. Alternately, orange in a green pen seems a terrible idea. But in a neutral colored pen, orange gets to be the star and I think that’s a great plan.

Lucky Orange is a bit brighter and poppier than Fuyu-gaki which is a bit more reddish-orange. However, if you already have a bottle of Sailor Apricot or Kin-Mokusei, you may not need a bottle of Lucky Orange. That said, doesn’t everyone need a little luck in their life?

TOOLS

Paper: Rhodia Uni-Blank No. 18 with 7mm guide sheet
Pens: Empire vintage traveling dip nib holder with Zebra G titanium nib ($33.50 per 10-pack), Franklin Christoph Pocket 45 Prototype in Ivory Swirl with a 18K gold fine italic nib
Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Cards
Brush: Silver Black Velvet #6 Round 300S,
Escoda Prado #2 Synthetic Travel Brush ($16.50)
Ink: Montblanc Lucky Orange (~~35ml~~ 30ml bottle for $19)

DISCLAIMER: Some items used in this review were sent to me free of charge by JetPens. I bought the ink from Anderson Pens with my own money though they are a sponsor of this blog. Please see the About page for more details.

In feature, From the Archives, Paper Review

Notebook Review: Field Notes Byline

AnaJuly 17, 2017July 9, 2017Leave a comment

Review by Laura Cameron

Sometimes, we discover there are great items that have been around for quite some time that we never got around to reviewing. This is one of them.

I am a consummate list maker. You name it: groceries, to do, vacation packing, craft projects; I’ve got a list for them all. Half the time I write items on the list just for the sheer joy of being able to cross them off later (it’s sad but true).

So when I saw the Field Notes Byline, I thought it was pretty much a notebook made for me.

Byline is Field Notes 31^st Edition which came out about a year ago for Summer 2016. Byline was born out of customer requests for a reporter notebook. It consists of a grey cover, printed on the inside with all sorts of useful information including a legend of common proofreading marks, and some specs and guidelines for the intrepid reporter. Byline has 70 pages of college-ruled paper, and an inside pocket. The whole notebook is 3 ¾” x 8”.

When I received a Byline (compliments of “the Desk”) I immediately tested out my favorite pens and inks. As you can see, the Byline is perfect for lists and might even work for a smaller bullet journal system.

I found that the paper did ok with fountain pen ink; there is definitely some show through and a bit of bleeding on the opposite side of the page, but the ink doesn’t feather on the page. I tested out a variety of pens and inks and was happy with most of them. If I really wanted to use the notebook to maximum efficiency, I might stick with ballpoints, rollerballs and pencils but, given the format, I don’t mind only getting to use one side of the page. I think it would bother me more if it was in a traditional notebook format, and I constantly had to stare at the back of pages.

Overall, I really enjoyed getting to test this one. Sadly, it looks like it is sold out now and I don’t know if they’ll ever reprint it but, with 70 pages, I suspect that this notebook will bring me many happy lists.

(Ed. Note: The Front Page Reporter’s Notebook is the open edition of the Byline and is essentially the same notebook with cosmetic changes. The cover is the same 120lb card stock paper, but in a lighter shade of gray. The writing paper is the same Cougar 70lb text weight, but bright white college-ruled with light gray lines. The wire binding is black rather than silver. A 2-pack is available for $12.95.)

Laura is a tech editor, podcaster, knitter, spinner and recent pen addict. You can learn more about her knitting and tea adventures on her website, The Corner of Knit & Tea and can find her on Instagram as Fluffykira.

In Book Review

Books for the Desk Set: Type & Lettering 2

AnaJuly 16, 2017July 15, 20172 Comments

Handmade Type Workshop by Charlotte Rivers
Tips, tools & techniques for creating custom typography

The book is divided into character creatin and font creation and then further divided into analog and digital creation with specific examples of how illustrators created their designs. With profiles and actual tutorials, I found this book far more useful than many of the hand lettering books on the market today. While not all the stylings might appeal to you, it certainly lifts the magicians curtain on how many styles are created.

Luckily, the information in the back about Fontographer and FontLab is short since its very dated since both of these font development programs are arcane and no longer industry standard. The rest of the book is very interesting and useful.

Rian Hughes Says Get Lettering
If you are at all familiar with comic books, then you may already be familiar with the name Rian Hughes. He’s done the logo headers for many DC and Vertigo titles for years. If not, fret not. He’s a British type designer who is not as widely known in the US some of our homegrown heroes like Jessica Hische, Mary Kate McDevitt or the gang at House Industries. But he’s got the same great eye for pop culture, vintage signage and hand lettering.

His Get Lettering workbook is a little bit House Industries and a little bit Martina Flor (see below). It’s a playground for all sorts of lettering styles from mosaic tiles to graffiti, from monograms to superheroes. Well worth a peruse.

The Golden Secrets of Lettering: Letter Design from First Sketch to Final Artwork by Martina Flor
The Golden Secrets of Lettering is one of the most beautiful, amazing books about lettering I have ever owned. And no sooner did I get it and gaze at every single page lovingly, that I took it to work to share with my co-workers who I knew would most appreciate it. My cubemate admitted to already owning a copy but another pal asked to borrow it briefly. I have not seen it since. So, cautionary tale. This book is that good. That if you show it to other people, they might not return it.

The chapter titles are handwritten in pencil which are stunning and the introduction is brilliant and funny and, really, who ever really reads the introduction to a book.

So, go buy yourself a copy and maybe an extra copy to loan out because you won’t get it back. This book is that good.

New Modernist Type by Steven Heller & Gail Anderson
I picked up New Modernist Type on a whim. The cover has white, blue and metallic silver lettering with the words “New” and “type” built out of triangles. I always think Steven Heller’s books are going to be high-brow, academic tomes that make me roll my eyes but this book ended up being a coffee table book of lovely design, mostly made up of sans serif (largely Helvetica-based which does cause me to roll my eyes a bit) designs. It’s grouped by three major categories: Old Modern, Playful Modern and Meta Modern and then sub-divided into smaller categories within each. With 269 pages of content, I found much of it intriguing and inspiring.

The use of color, pattern, and composition in design is shown to great effect in some of these simple designs. They are vivid, communicative and striking. The books includes packaging, signage, wayfinding, posters, business cards, book covers, page layouts, advertisements, fonts and more.

If modern type and design is of interest to you, then this is definitely an eye candy book for you. If you want more explanation about the appeal and the reasoning behind the resurgence, there is not a great deal of editorial in the book, just two pages of introduction and on the acknowledgements pages. Its indicated that this is the third book in a series starting with New Vintage Type, New Ornamental Type and New Modernist Type being the last (or is the latest, I suppose we’ll have to wait and see?).

In Fashionable Friday

Fashionable Friday: Letter Writing Club

AnaJuly 15, 2017July 15, 20172 Comments

In preparation for tomorrow’s Letter Writing Club hosted by Wonder Fair at Decade Coffee Shop in Lawrence, Kansas, I thought I’d theme this week’s Fashionable Friday in the “postal way”. If you’ll be at the event, please say hello!

“Good Mail” Diamond Rubber Stamp $10 (via The Well-Appointed Desk Shop)
MT Patterns Washi Tape – Sharkskin Kaki (Persimmon) $3.50 per roll (via JetPens)
Air Mail Postcards (Set of 4) $4 (via Sapori.co)
The Typewriter: A Graphic History of the Beloved Machine Book $45CAD ($36USD) (via Uppercase Magazine)
G. Lalo Verge de France A5 Tablet in White $12.50 (via Anderson Pens)
TerraCycle Upcycled Messenger Bag $59 (via Timbuk2)
Caran d’Ache Idyllic Blue Ink (50ml Bottle) $32 (via Anderson Pens)
Total Eclipse of the Sun Forever Stamps Sheet of 16 $7.84 (via USPS.com or at your local Post Office)
Letter Writers Alliance Membership Starter Kit Gift Set $25 (via Letter Writers Alliance)
Taccia Spectrum Fountain Pen in Merlot Red $159 (via Federalist Pens)
Caran d’Ache 849 fountain pen in Sapphire Blue €55 (€45.45 Outside EU) (via Fontoplumo)
Fresh Stock Bundle Box $49 (via Fresh Stock Japan)
Waterman Perspective Omlum Fountain Pen, Medium Nib $94.50 (via Pen Chalet)
US Mailbag Dopp Kit by TerraCycle $19.95 (via USPS.com)

In Ink Review

Ink Review: Sailor Jentle Sakura Mori

AnaJuly 14, 2017July 9, 20173 Comments

Review by Laura Cameron

Several weeks ago Ana posted a photo of Sailor Jentle Four Seasons Inks and I quickly became smitten with the Sakura-Mori (Cherry Blossom). I thought it was a beautiful peachy-pinky color and I wanted it for my new Cross Botannica (more about that one in an upcoming post).

The bottle of Sakura-Mori arrived about a week ago and I couldn’t wait to play with it. I recently watched Azizah’s video (The Gourmet Pen) and I was eager to try out some of her techniques in sampling the ink.

First I created a color swatch using my Col-o-ring book. While the ink is very salmon-colored, I was interested to see just a bit of purple appear towards the top of the swatch, where I tried to make it the darkest.

When I moved on to creating some ink splotches, I was shocked to see that there were reds and purples, in addition to the pinks and oranges. I really enjoyed seeing other ways the ink appeared in applications other than a fine nib in writing, where it only appeared in the light pink color.

As I added text to the larger sample, I was really pleased with the way the ink performed. It wrote very smoothly, and flowed evenly onto the page. I do note that it is not very water resistant, and all attempts, even those left overnight, were pretty affected by water. This would, however, make a beautiful pale pink wash if that was something you wanted.

Paper: Maruman Mnemosyne N182A Inspiration Notebook A5 ($10.50)
Pen: Cross Botannica, Fine Nib ($150)
Swatch: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Cards ($10)
Ink: Sailor Jentle Sakura Mori ($15.50)

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

In news

News: Letters, Lettering & Knitters

AnaJuly 14, 2017July 14, 20171 Comment

ArtSnacks Lettering Snacks

One of the most successful Collection Boxes that ArtSnacks ever did was the Lettering Collection. It sold out. Twice. So ArtSnacks has officially announced its quarterly Lettering Snacks subscription service. Each box will contain five to six full-sized supplies and a tutorial from Kristina Werner. Plans start at $89 per quarter with free shipping in the US. Assume these boxes will contain brush pens, ink, brushes and other tools specific to lettering and calligraphy.

Mr. Boddington’s Write to the White House

Mr. Boddington Letter to the White House Kit

Help your children develop civic pride and an interest in letter writing with this Write to the White House letter writing kit ($25) from Mr. Boddington. The kit includes five sheets, five envelopes pre-addressed to the White House, stickers and a booklet with tips for writing to The President. The kit should be available for purchase August 1.

Kenro For You

Kenro is clearing out some of its sample pens and its discontinued models. Their clutter clearing is your treasure! They will, from time to time, be putting these items up on their new site Kenro for You. So, bookmark the page and check it out. This will be your opportunity to purchase that pen you may have actually tested at a pen show, seen photographed for the web site or seen at a trunk show.

Strickplaner 2018

Strickplaner

Hey, Knitters! Have I got a planner for you. It’s the Strickplaner for 2018. The planner is designed with daily and weekly event planning AND project planning in mind and includes a pattern for a knitted cover. The end papers are illustrated by Julie Levesque of Symposi Press who makes great knitting themed planner stickers so your planner and stickers could match! Strickplaner will be available in August. It’s in English and German and just a ting bit smaller than A5. The web site has a detailed video with more details.

House Industries in San Fransisco

One of my favorite type designers, Andy Cruz from House Industries will be discussing creativity with none other than director extraordinaire J.J. Abrahms Thursday, September 14, 2017 at 7:30 PM at the Nourse Theater in San Francisco, CA as part of the City Arts and Lectures Series recorded live for Public Radio. If you’d like to be part of the audience for this event, you can purchase tickets here. Go for me. The lecture is hosted by Adam Savage. Yes, THAT Adam Savage. No doubt, there will be lots of talk of fast cars, explosions, pop culture, and entertainment.

In Fountain Pen Review

Pen Review: Pilot Decimo Fine Fountain Pen

AnaJuly 13, 2017December 29, 201710 Comments

The Pilot Decimo Fine Fountain Pen ($139) is my first foray into the world of retractable fountain pens. The Pilot Vanishing Point or Capless is the best known of these pens but the Decimo is its smaller version. The barrel is slightly narrower and in general looks like it was designed with the “fairer sex” in mind as it comes in lighter, brighter colors. While I don’t mind the color options, I do get a little annoyed at the gender bias. I’m not inclined to want the carbon fiber looks but the fact that the range of colors available for the Decimo is considerably smaller than the Vanishing Point is a little bit annoying. But I’ll take the sky blue, pearl purple or burgundy any day over the black, black and more black options available for the Vanishing Point!

One of the hidden treasures of a Decimo or VP is that it comes with an 18K nib. Whether the nib is silver rhodium-plated like this one, black or gold, underneath the fancy paint job is a slightly springy nib. Its a little added bonus on top of getting a retractable fountain pen that is beautifully designed.

Sometimes I have a little too much fun with the macro lens. Look at the detail of the nib on the Decimo! You can even see some of the ink droplets from the pen being tossed around in my bag and a stray cat hair. Yes, life at The Well-Appointed Desk isn’t all that glamorous sometimes.

The mechanism the controls the knock that exposes and retracts the nib also covers the opening where the nib retracts inside the pen so even though there was some ink on the nib, none leaked into my bag, pocket or anywhere else.

Part of why the clip is on the nib end is so that if you do clip the pen to your pocket it is nib-end up as a final precaution against any possibility of the pen accidentally leaking on your pocket. Or if it was clipped to the front of a notebook, the nib again would be pointing up reducing any chance of leakage down the front of your papers, clothing or anywhere else.

Since the nib unit is so unique, I thought I’d show the inner workings. This is the nib unit with the converter attached. The nib unit can easily be swapped out should you decide you want a different nib size in your pen or if you have more than one Decimo or VP (they are completely interchangeable).

The pen ships with the converter as well as a cartridge and a metal cartridge cap. It’s recommended to hang on to the cartridge cap if you intend to use cartridges as it protects the plastic from being punctured by the retract mechanism. Remember that Pilot cartridges are proprietary sizes so be sure to have the right size on hand.

The Decimo measures about 5.5″ (14cm). The length did not change with the nib exposed or closed as the button depressed the exact distance that the nib was exposed. The body weighs 25gms filled with the converter filled.

I was worried that the clip was really going to bother me, especially being left-handed but Pilot pens are so well-tuned they are quite forgiving of all the janky angles I tend to write at. After a couple of times using it, I found the “sweet spot” of holding it where I didn’t notice the clip and it didn’t get in the way.

I bought the pen because I wanted a good pen that would be good for using in meetings, on-the-go, and for those jot-it-down-quick moments that happen throughout the day. The Decimo has taken to living tucked in the front of my Traveler’s Notebook, on my desk and in the front pocket of my bag. I guess that pretty much makes it my everyday carry, doesn’t it?

If I were intending to sit down to write a long letter or journal entry, I would probably choose one of my other pens but for everything else, the Decimo is working out great. And I’m actually pretty glad I picked a bright color because I can find it easily.

Notes:
I tested the Decimo on Rhodia Uni blank pad paper using my standard 7mm guide sheet underneath and deAtramentis Pigeon Blue ink (It was the only bottled ink I had at work and I was impatient to fill this and try it right away).

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