Daycraft planners for 2013

Daycraft planner 2013

The fine folks at Daycraft sent me two new 2013 planners to share. More details on how to win at the bottom of the post.

The first up is a bright orange, leatherette-covered week-at-a-glance Signature Chromatic A5 planner. Its approximately 6″x8.25″ if you’re not familiar with the European and Asia paper sizing. It is filled with bright white paper and helpful info pages in the front of the book like international holidays and time zones. The bookmark is a bright sunshine yellow with a nicely sealed edge so it won’t fray. This edition is available in English and Chinese. Price for the book is $259 HK (approx. $33US).

Daycraft planner 2013

The paper quality is about the same thickness as a Moleskine. I went into greater detail in the previous post about the Daycraft notebooks and planners but the thinner paper keeps the books slim and portable.

Daycraft planner 2013

The Chromatic planner has gorgeous colored edges with the year in white. The leatherette covers are soft and flexible making the book easily lay flat and tuck into a bag.

Daycraft pocket planner

Next up is the Pink A6 Executive Diary which is about 4.25″x5.75″. Its comparable in size to a pocket Moleskine or Field Notes book though its a little wider.

Daycraft pocket planner

Its a day-at-a-glance with ivory pages and matching pink edging. Even the satin ribbon book mark is pink! The book closes with a silver stud and a purple elastic. The paper stock is the same weight as the Chromatic Planner and it also includes helpful information in the front of the book.

Daycraft pocket planner

The A6 Executive Planner is also available in Chinese or English for $239 HK (approx. $30 US).

Daycraft offers over 100 different planner configurations, they are quite likely to have one to suit your specific needs. Check out their website and find the perfect planner. Start 2013 well-planned!

So, now you have a choice: Do you want a bright pink, pocket-sized planner or a larger, bright orange desk planner for 2013? Giveaway is for the books shown above. The packages were opened for photography purposes but have not bee used. Both editions are the English versions.

If you tell me which one you need and why in the comments below, you could win your choice!

FINE PRINT: All entries must be submitted by midnight CST on Friday, October 19, 2012. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winners will be announced on Saturday. Winner will be select by random number generator. Please include your email address in the comment form so that I can contact you if you win. I will not save email addresses or sell them to anyone — pinky swear. Shipping via USPS first class is covered. Additional shipping options or insurance will have to be paid by the winner. We are generous but we’re not made of money.

(PS: These are the last few photos taken with the dying camera so I apologize for the image quality. Love, money and endless Photoshopping would not make these images any less pink but future photos should be of better quality.)

The Palmer Method of Business Writing

Palmer Method booklet for Business

My dear friend Wayne pulled this from his collection of ephemera to tickle my fancy. It is a  very old edition of The Palmer Method of Business Writing, a technique taught well into the twentieth century, not just to would-be office workers but also to children in school.

Palmer Method Booklet for business

“You cannot fail, if you study the instructions and follow them.” Words to live by, in writing and in life as well.

Memo Books from French

If you work in the print design field, you’ve heard of the French Paper Company. Its one of the few independent American paper mills left and they also have a fabulous marketing team that has wisely teamed French up with designers like Charles S. Anderson to create some great packaging and products. One of those products is the French Paper Memo Books. Yeah, sure, everyone is doing these now but a pack of two of these little books is just $2.50. Inside is 32-pages of top quality French paper and sturdy cardstock covers printed with graphics from the CSA Images archive. The memo books come in pre-selected sets but there is bound to be one you’ll like.

French Paper Co. Mod-Tone Paper and Envelope

While you’re shopping, pick up some fun, reasonably-priced paper and envelopes and get a jump start on your promise to make your own Christmas cards this year. The Mod-Tone patterned paper and envelopes (shown above) sell for $30 for 50-sheets of 8.5″x11″ and the $20 for 50 A6 (4.75″ x 6.5″) envelopes. Solid papers sell for $15 per 50-sheet pack and solid A6 envelopes are $12.50 for a pack of 50. Obviously, you’ll get a better value if you buy larger quantities.

(via French Paper Company)

Finding the best Read Later Option

After a post several weeks ago asking all you fine readers about the best options for reading news and saving articles, I narrowed down the list for the “read later” options to three of the most popular options:

Each offers bookmarklets or plug-ins for popular browsers, each offers apps for iPhone, iPad and Android, and all ofthem will integrate with a number of popular apps. Its gotten so complicated, I’m going to have to make a spreadsheet….

  iPhone/iPad Android Other Mobile Devices Other Apps Bookmarklet or Web Plug-in Email to: Twitter integration?
Instapaper yes yes Kindle, Nook over 140 bookmarklet yes yes and lots of app support
Readability yes yes Kindle Reeder, Longform, Flipboard and more Firefox plug-in, bookmarklet yes Tweetbot, Twitterific, Echofon, more
Pocket yes yes Windows Phone, Blackberry  a lot incl. Flipboard, Reeder, Longform Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Opera plug-in, bookmarklet yes yes and lots of app support

Okay, that wasn’t too helpful unless you are using a Blackberry, own a Nook or you absolutely love having a web extension.

So, do you want my opinion about the options?

Instapaper is the original option and has lots of connections with tons of social networking apps and lots of other places but it is bland as the web interface looks. If you want a simple reader and the option that will most likely to link to all your favorite sites, stick with Instapaper. The web account is free but apps for your mobile device are paid apps.

Pocket is a great option if your “read later” needs lean towards visuals because the interface features a photo from the page if one is available. Pocket is a much more graphic interface, more colorful and pretty easy to read. I thought this was going to be my favorite and I have been using it for several weeks for reminders for the Link Love weekly posts. Pocket is free.

And then I finally started digging into Readability and I fell in love with it. The web interface is clean with beautiful typography but it was the mobile apps with typography from Hoefler & Frere-Jones. The interface on iPhone and iPad are so lovely that I wish Readability would redesign all the ebook apps because the typography and color options for reading in bright light, at night or somewhere in the middle are just fabulous.

See what I mean? Lovely. So, for me, Readability has won out as my favorite “read later” app. Now, if only they add support for PDF and ebook/epub formats I would live in Readability. Readability is free.