Illustration by Out of Paper, an artist out of Norway
I couldn’t pass up this darling illustration of a redhead reading with a pencil at the ready. Wish it was for sale as a print. Would look lovely in my office.
Michael Roger is a line of notebook products best known for the Decomposition Composition notebooks. While in Chicago, I found this lovely kraft paper covered hardcover blank notebook called Dispatches. The airmail-trimmed belly band caught my eye and the simple look of the book really appealed to me.
Its a 5″x8″ (hello, A-5 size-ish!) notebook with a black linen book cloth along the spine and filled with 160 blank cream-colored pages. It even has a simple black ribbon bookmark. I was so excited to try this book out.
Then I put ink to paper and the wind went out of my sails. I tested a lot of different tools because the paper is a heavy weight and I thought this would be a good option for markers and stub-nibbed fountain pens. The paper seems to resist inks like the Moleskine sketchbooks do. Even a felt tip took ages to dry.
The picture says it all. My favorite Kawecos took over 20 seconds to dry completely. The 1.1mm Lamy nib never seemed to dry. Even the Pentel Hybrid Technica and a classic office supply closet staple, the Pilot Precise V5 took a lot longer to dry than on the average office paper.
Needless to say, I can’t recommend this across the board. If you prefer pencils or want something to do artwork, multimedia or collages, this might be a good option since the paper is pretty durable. But if you love writing with fountain pens, this is not the book for you.
Like all good office supply junkies, I’ve been listening to the Pen Addict podcast. There have been several episodes lately that have waxed poetic in regards to the Field Notes pocket memo books. They have become quite collectible. But, truth be told, my favorite Field Notes product so far is the Steno Book. It is a larger format than the memo books at a whopping 6″x9″ and has all the features associated with a steno pad — top ring binding and Gregg ruling.
Of course, Field Notes does the features of a steno pad better than the any others currently on the market. The covers are made from heavy-duty chipboard, the ring binding is a sturdy double black wire and is filled with 80-, 70# bright white paper with light brown (almost khaki colored) lines.
The inside covers feature a plethora of info, both useful and entertaining. If your next meeting is particularly boring, you can read the covers of your Steno Pad and see how many of the phrases on the Abbreviation Guide you can use in one sentence. There is even a ruler printed on the inside back cover — both inches and centimeters — which comes in particularly handy in my world.
And, of course, in the most important tests of any paper, the Field Notes Steno Pad performed excellently. I tested rollerballs, hybrid gels, felt tips, fountain pens and pencils and every pen worked well. My very, very fine Pilot Prera fountain pen was a little too fine to lay down much ink on this paper but it may have been a result of the slightly drier J. Herbin ink I was using. The Lamy Studio with the 1.1mm calligraphy nib wrote beautifully and there was no bleed-through on the page — just a tiny bit of show-through but not so much that I wouldn’t be comfortable using both the front and back of the page.
And you may be asking yourself, how did this review end up in the middle of Pencil Week? My favorite tool on this paper was my fittingly 60s-looking Palomino Blackwing 602 which glided on the paper and is the perfect tool for those first drafts — whether you know shorthand or not.
I think he is using a Moleskine Reporter notebook and Blackwing combination here but I think it would be more authentic if he were using a Steno Pad. (via Blackwing Pages)
The Steno Pad is available from Field Notes for $9.95.
Since I’ve been talking about pencils all week, I thought I’d come clean and tell you my favorite pencils. They are, of course, on the higher-end of the pencil spectrum, in other words not cheap and not usually available at your local big box office supply store. But I think they are worth the effort to order these through your favorite online retailer.
First, is the Tombow 8900 (about $19/dozen) which came directly from Japan by way of my friends Tag Team Tompkins. It is the B hardness, hexagonal with a glossy olive paint on the body. There is not ferrule on the end or eraser. On one side of the pencil it says “Since 1913 High Quality Tombow 8900 B” in gold foil, on the reverse in white foil “For General Writing B”. It is a lightweight smooth writer and is a little darker than a standard No. 2. It is available in H, HB, B hardnesses.
Next up is the Faber-Castell Grip 2001 HB (2 1/2) ($16.45 per dozen). It is a triangular-shaped pencil with a silver metallic finish and strategically placed black rubber dots for improved grip. The branding is subtle in black “Grip 2001 Faber-Castell” on on side, and a bar code and hardness number on the other. The end is painted a glossy medium gray since there is no eraser or metal ferrule. It is a smooth writer and available in several hardnesses. I love the triangular shape and the grips make the pencil comfortable for long writing or drawing sessions. The only down side is that the dots are susceptible to heat and will melt if left in high temperatures (like a locked car on a hot, summer day).
And the last pencil is the much-discussed Palomino Blackwing 602 ($19.95 per dozen). I have never used an original Blackwing 602 so I cannot make a comparison to the original but I can compare it to other currently-available pencils. It maintains the classic iconic looks with the over-sized, extendable eraser with its large flat, gold-tone ferrule. The Blackwing 602 ships with the black eraser but it can be replaced with a classic pink or white eraser or try a fun colored eraser (available in blue, green or orange), each is available in a pack of ten for $2.50. The pencil itself is a dark metallic gray hexagonal pencil with gold foil lettering “Palomino Blackwing 602” on one side and the legendary “Half the pressure, twice the speed” motto on the other. It is as smooth as the Grip 2001 and the Tombow 8900 which are all smoother than any other wood pencils I have in my arsenal.
If you are looking for great writing pencils, these are the cream of the crop as far as I’m concerned. Other pencils pop up every now and again that are comparable in quality but I reach for these three more often than any others.
First, I’d like to say thanks to everyone who entered the Hallmarket Notebooklet Giveaway. There were lots of fun facts too. Here’s a smattering of my favorites:
Ikea is coming (true. Late 2014)
The mayor, Sly James, uses a Pilot Varsity (hmmm… UPDATE:TRUE!)
Kansas City has more pencils per capita than any other city in America (if you count my house, than probably)
KC is home to the largest maker of boxed chocolates in the world (true. Russell Stover is headquartered here)
Hallmark, which is headquartered in Kansas City, gives one-month “sabbaticals” to employees, for them to pursue art or other projects. Admittedly, the “sabbatical” is spent onsite, but it still sounds like a cool idea. (Actually, the sabbaticals are 6-months and two are awarded each year through the Barbara Marshall Award. And travel can be a part of the sabbatical. I know of winners of the award that have spent time in Venice, Greece, traveling the US and even tailgating at a Chiefs game. FYI, I work at Hallmark so I have the inside scoop on this particular detail!)
Kansas City is home to the Royals, who have not won a World Series in my lifetime (true UPDATE: False. Won the Series in 1985. I was young but I was alive)
Country Club Plaza holiday lights started from a 16-light strand in 1925 to more than 80 miles of wires and 280,000 lights today. (true)
“Unbeknown to my family, there is a secret door at the back of my wardrobe that I can walk through and instantly appear in Kansas City” (have not found the secret door… yet)
Kansas City is home to the best barbecue in America (point of great debate but we do love our BBQ and eat a lot of it. Oklahoma Joe’s is my personal favorite)
And now, for the winner of the Hallmarket Notebooklet….
Congrats, Dave! I’ll be sending you an email to get your mailing info! Looks like you landed on FREE NOTEBOOK!
