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Curious iApp Discoveries

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my iPhone home page

I started this post because I found some unusual iPhone apps recently but then I got to thinking about it and decided maybe folks would like to see some of the apps I use regularly as well. So, here are the highlights of the apps I use almost daily as well as some funky little tidbits I’ve found recently. (The screenshot is my home page as of this morning, truth.)

  • Dots: Dots is a beautiful time-waster game in chunks of 30 seconds. Its free and its addictive. You’ve been warned.
  • Device 6: This looks like a game made for me. Its a thriller/puzzle/mystery game wrapped in beautiful design and a mysterious man in a hat. I just got an iTunes gift card so I’ll be downloading this ASAP. $3.99
  • Connor: Connor NYC is a high-end bespoke stationery company that produced an iPad app to create e-stationery
  • Squarespace apps: I’m familiar with Squarespace as a blog/commerce/website venue but did not know that they offer several apps to create on-the-go notes, portfolio viewer from content on their Squarespace site and a sleek site controller. Squarespace Note app does not require an account and its free.
  • Dictionary.com: I love the Word of The Day feature and being able to look up words on the go. Free.
  • Gmail: I have tried lots of email apps for the iPhone including Sparrow and the default Apple Mail app and I am stuck on Gmail. The new divided tabs that separate updates from social from pormotions and your actual email is genius. It saves me tons of time and lets me see my mail from all the spam, newsletters and miscellany. Genius.
  • Cardstar: This app has the ugliest icon ever and it makes me cringe when I look at it but it is the wallet-lightening joy of an app. It will scan the bar codes off all those frequent shopper cards, hotel/airline points accounts, etc and store them in your iPhone complete with the scanner-readable bar code. Other apps have better icons but THIS one works. And its FREE.
  • Fantastical: Why do I need another calendar app? Because Fantastical lets me type “Meet with Stephanie at 3pm today” and voila! It places a meeting in the right time without having to remember that today is the 15th. I thought it would be more cumbersome to type out a whole sentence to schedule a meeting but its not. I like it so much, I just paid $2.99 to upgrade to the new iOS 7 version.

Other apps I use all the time are Tweetbot, WordPress, IFTTT, USPS Mobile, Delivery Status, Wake, Riposte and Evernote. I’ve tried lots of photo editing apps and use AfterLight most often. What are your favorites?

In photo

Vanity Fair Desks

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Each month, in Vanity Fair magazine (and on their website) there is an annotated photo of a famous person’s desk. For the pen geek, its a treat to see that Jerry Bruckheimer collects ornate fountain pens, that Lorne Michaels office looks just like the set created for Sutdio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and Trey Parker and Mat Stone’s office is just as messy as you thought it would be. I love Aaron Sorkin’s vintage Pen & Pencil ashtray shown in the photo above.

They also have a digital version of the My Desk column called My Phone that shows digerati’s home screens and they discuss their favorite apps.

(via Vanity Fair)

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Leather Cover for Field Notes

Author AnaPosted on 4 Comments

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Greg Stevens has created a lovely leather cover for Field Notes (and other similarly-sized pocket notebooks) that includes a pen quiver on the cover and an elastic band to keep it closed. He’s added a pocket inside the front cover for even more functionality. The case looks like it will age beautifully though the elastic might get stretched out. Prices start at $100 and include a 3-pack of Kraft Field Notes.

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Don’t forget that Field Notes offers their own EDC brown leather memo book cover and Pony Express leather pouch in their shop ($85.95 each). Gourmet Pens did a write up on the Davis Leatherworks notebook cover which is distinctly Midori-like. I did a search on Etsy and there are dozens of other options available for notebook covers as well. My favorite from Etsy is the Zenok Leather from Canada. Zenok’s Midori-style covers hold three notebooks and sell for $39 each.

More leather cover options can be seen on The New Artemis as well.

(via Greg Stevens, tip o’ the hat to reader Cheyenne)

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The Standard Memorandum

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Word Notebooks partnered with hand lettering guru Jon Contino to create a historically-inspired agenda called the Standard Memorandum. Its a slim volume at just  2.35″ x 5.25″ to easily slide into a pocket. The black cardstock cover is foil stamped in decorative lettering, “The Standard Memorandum” with the branding on the back in foil as well. Jon chose beautifully classic typography for dates and information. Word offers the notebook with its plain paper covers for $11 or purchase it with a sturdy leather cover in black, tan or brown (free monogramming available) for $45.

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My European Paper Holiday Wish List

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For the most part, stationery and office supplies are not super expensive and perfect for gift-giving. Unfortunately, non-paper geeks have no idea what do buy for the paper-and-pen geek.

Here are a few things I think would love to find under the tree this Christmas:

1. I love high-quality fountain pen inks. Both J. Herbin and Noodler’s make great inks and have lots of colors to choose from. I particularly like the icy aqua blue Noodler’s Navajo Turquoise Ink ($12.50)»

2. The amusing Cavallini Oops Eraser ($3.50) would make a perfect stocking stuffer.

3. I’ve been on the lookout for a great dry highlighters and the Moleskine Highlighter Pencil Set ($16.50) with its matte black casing and cool carpenter-style shape make this an appealing option.

4. I’m always looking for good-quality stationery and the G. Lalo Medium Tablet & EP Set ($23) in mint green looks like the luxury option. Wrapped with a red bow, it’s holiday-ready. And those lazy post-Christmas days are a great time to catch up on all my correspondence.

5. So many wonderful things have been said about the Apica Premium A6 CD Notebook ($14.70) but I’ve yet to buy a pad. I think the plain paper pad with the black cover would be a great way to try it out.

6. Anything by Midori is a welcome gift. Their products are high quality and have great classic looks. The Midori B7 Spiralbound Envelope Notebook ($8.35) would be a great catch-all for receipts, stamps or travel ephemera.

7. Finally, in preparation for 2014, I will definitely need a new calendar for my desk. The Cavallini Around The World Desk Calendar ($12.95) is just the right sort of retro cool for me to dream of my next vacation while sitting in the office.

Maybe I need to fill my own stocking this year?

(This is a cross-post from European Paper who has asked me to occasionally write about products for their site. This is my first post. The folks at European Paper also put together another collage of images from my Pinterest boards last week featuring the Leuchtturm 1917 notebook line.)

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Link Love: Notebooks, Scanners and Places to Go

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Notebooks:

Places to Visit:

Pens:

 

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Pencils:

Ink:

Misc:

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Disc World

Author AnaPosted on 14 Comments

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The Circa system. Its been around for awhile and I’ve even made a foray into the “disc world” myself in the past but the Circa system had sort of fallen off my radar as of late so I thought I’d reconsider it.

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If you’ve not familiar with it, its a series of plastic discs and a customized die cut or hole punch that creates divots in the edge of the paper to accommodate adding or removing sheets easily to the disc binding system. While Levenger’s Circa system is the most well-known, there are other options available like the Rollabind and the Arc system from Staples. They all look interchangeable which is appealing if you want to customize a system to your specific tastes and budget.

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The Circa system has relationships with popular notebook companies like Rhodia and Behance while Staples’ Arc system beats out in the pricing and convenience arena. Pre-printed and punched sheets are available for meeting notes, recipes, agendas and planners and many other task specific activities. All three bands offer a range of paper but the real appeal to me is being able to select my own paper and then use the custom hole punch to fit it into a notebook. While I like Rhodia paper, I’d prefer dot grid or blank sheets rather than the customized meeting notes style available at Leveneger. Because of the way the disc system works, smaller sheets of paper can be inserted into a larger system and they stay in place. So, other pieces of paper, from 3x5s to photocopies, can be punched and inserted into the right spot in your notebook.

Lots of cover options are available from simple poly-plastic to leather zip cases. And of course, there are some unique discs that make the possibility of sitting in a long meeting, a little more tolerable.

Does anyone use a Circa-style disc notebook? How do you like it?