It was hard to choose just one photo from this blog post of fabulous office spaces but the one that caught my eye was a black-and-white image of Yves St. Laurent’s desk. Its cluttered and looks like its used on a daily basis. Click through to the full post to see the desks of other well-known designers like Isabel Toledo, Frank Gehry and Diane von Furstenburg.

(via Habitually Chic®)

Leuchtturm 1917 Review

Leuchtturm 1917

I found a display rack full of the Leuchtturm 1917 notebooks today at the new art supply shop in Kansas City, Artist & Craftsman Supply,  and I’ve been itching to try them for sometime so I grabbed one. I chose the plain, pocket-sized book with a simple black cover ($8.10). From the outside, its almost indistinguishable from a Moleskine pocket notebook from the outside. I didn’t have a pocket-sized Moleskine handy for comparison but I grabbed my husband’s large Moleskine to compare paper and color. Based on the cover measurement, the pocket-sized Leuchtturm is listed as 0.5” taller than a comparable sized Moleskine.

Inside the Leuchtturm 1917

Inside, the paper is a warm white but not as ivory as Moleskine’s paper. The stock itself is a bit toothier but not much heavier weight to the touch. What sets the Leuchtturm 1917 apart from the other leatherette notebooks in a similar class is the index pages in the front of the book and the page numbers printed in the bottom corner of each page to make it easier to reference notes at a later date.

Paper comparison

The ribbon marker is black and sealed on the ends from the factory which is a big plus for me.

Leuchtturm 1917 pen test

In writing tests, the Luechtturm paper has just enough tooth to provide some friction but not so much that is would cause ink to feather or resist.

Leuchtturm 1917 pen test

From the reverse, not even the Pilot Envelope pen bled through. There’s a touch of show-through but with most of the pens used, its not so bad that you would be unable to use both sides of the paper.

I purchased the plain notebook first as they tend to be my favorite but I’m keen enough on the quality of this book to consider purchasing either the dot grid or the lined version soon. Office Supply Geek did a nice review of the lined version and Writer’s Bloc Blog and Gourmet Pens have some writing samples of the Dot Grid version.

For the quality and price, the Leuchtturm1917 is a much better value than Moleskine coming in several dollars cheaper with higher quality paper and a bookmark ribbon less likely to fray. It’s also available in an array of colors including white which is not particularly common in notebooks.

Other notes on the Leuchtturm:

  • Acid-free, bleed proof, 80gsm paper. The Master A4 sizes contain a heavier 100gsm paper.
  • Expandable pocket. All notebooks have an expandable pocket in the inside back cover. The Master A4 size notebook has a pocket that is big enough for letter size documents .
  • Thread-bound for durability.
  • Archival stickers for labeling
  • Perforated pages, last 8 sheets are detachable

A Pearl Among Swine?

IMG_0509

I had heard about the legendary Paper Mate Black Pearl eraser — the distant cousin of the old faithful Pink Pearl — but I had never located one to see for myself if it was all it was cracked up to be. I was visiting my local office supply superstore and lo and behold… the Black Pearl! It is black and a smooth, flat-like oval, like a polished stone. The shape alone is worth the price of admission. It feel delicious in my hand. PaperMate kept the delectable script lettering like the Pink Pearl as well so I was sold on these before I took them out of the package. If they even erased a little bit, I’m buying them in a gross. They sell in packages of two at the office superstore for about $2 per blister pack. The package claims that the Black Pearl produces less eraser dust. I took it out for a test drive today. I compared its erasing powers against my gold standard, the Staedtler Mars (well-loved) on standard sketchbook paper using a Zebra 0.7 mechanical pencil loaded with standard HB lead. The photo below shows the very faint remains of both erasers. The Black Pearl did not smear as much as the Staedtler and I think even erased more completely. I’m sold.

Don’t forget the other Pearl — the White Pearl, latex-free.

IMG_0512

[previously posted on my personal blog but it seemed appropriate to move it here, amongst other papery-related bits]

I’ve been itching for a new solution to a paper address book. Yes, its low-tech and can be location-specific but sometimes I just want to look up a name, address or phone number without logging into my computer or locating my ever-elusive iPhone. The Mini Black Book is a nice solution as it is based around a small binder so pages can be added or replaced as needed. Each page includes slits to hold business cards so you don’t have to copy out addresses if someone has be kind enough to give you their card. The Mini Black Book comes as a kit and includes everything you need to get you started: binder, A-Z tabs, the R+H signature “people tracker” pages and a mini rubberband. $54

(via Russell + Hazel)