In Planners & Organizers

It’s 2013… almost — an exhaustive round-up of planners and calendars

Author AnaPosted on

Most calendar and planner manufacturers have already released their 2013 offerings so I thought I might whet your appetite for a new wall calendar, desk calendar or planner.

First from Taschen are a range of designs featuring art, architecture, illustration and more in many different sizes and configurations.

(From left to right: Pin-Ups by Elvgren Weekly tear-off calendar, 8.1 x 13.0 in., 108 pages, $ 19.99; London Diary with spiral binding and elastic ribbon, 6.9 x 8.7 in., 122 pages, $ 15.99; Illustration Now Diary with spiral binding, 6.9 x 8.7 in., 124 pages, $ 15.99; Hiroshige. Famous Views of Edo Wall calendar with spiral binding, 13.5 x 19.3 in., 28 pages, $ 24.99; Paris Wall calendar, 11.8 x 11.8 in., 24 pages, $ 13.99; Fashion Ads of the 20th Century 365 Day-by-Day Hardcover, 6.7 x 8.5 in., 736 pages, $ 29.99)

From Jenni Bick come the Paperblanks line of bound planners and diaries. Diaries are available in sizes from micro 2.5″x3.5″, 3.5″ x 5″, 3.5″ x 7″ slimline, 4″ x 5.5″, 5″ x 7″, 7″ x 9″, 8.25″ x 11.75″ — pretty much something for everyone in designs that are ornate and rich looking with prices that range from $8.95 for a micro to $29.95 for the Grande Week -on-two-pages.

(From left to right, top to bottom:  Grolier Week at a Time Planner, Grande Features, 8.25″ x 11.75″, 160 pages, $29.95 Burgundy Foiled Week at a Time Planner, Midi Horizontal Features 5″x 7″, 160 pages, $16.95; Black Moroccan Week at a Time Planner, Midi Horizontal Features 5″x 7″, 160 pages, $16.95; Karakusa Week at a Time Planner– Slim Features, 3.5″ x 7″, 160 pages $14.95)

Jenni Bick is also stocking my favorite Cavallini daily planner, as well as an assortment of the Cavallini vintage-inspired wall calendars.

We Are What We Do have also released their 2013 Action Diaries, available in 6 colors in the A6 size (that’s about 4″ x 6″ for the Americans) for £6.

There are also options available in an academic calendar year (starting with September and either including 12 or 18 months). Paper Source has a variety of simple academic wall, desk and pocket options.

(From left to right and top to bottom: Academic Booklet Calendar 6″ x 7 1/2″ $12.95, Academic Date Book 5.5″ x 8″ $33.95, Metallic Gray My Agenda Academic Planner, 9″ x 7″ $47.95, Academic Great Big Wall Calendar, 24 3/4″ x 19 1/4″, $29.95)

And last but certainly not least (or the only other options because I could have gone on for days with this post), is the classic and ever-present Moleskine. Moleskine also offers academic planners in a variety of configurations and sizes so you can get organized ASAP or you can choose your favorite 2013 planner now before they sell out. European Paper is currently having a sale on the Moleskine Academic planners, just so you know.

Previous reviews of:

In feature

Kaweco Allrounder vs. Student: The Purchasing Debate

Author AnaPosted on

Let me start off by saying I have not yet handled either of these pens but based on the descriptions listed, let me go through the differences (and similarities) between the Kaweco Allrounder ($106) and the Kaweco Student ($56). Also, let me clarify that I started this research for my own benefit as I was trying to decide which full-sized Kaweco I wanted to purchase and decided I might go ahead and share with you, my fine readers. Shall we proceed?

The Kaweco Allrounder has an anodized aluminum body while the Kaweco Student has a plastic body. Both have stainless steel, iridium-tipped nibs. The Allrounder is slightly longer at 5.3″ to the Student’s 5.125″. Both have twist threaded caps like the Sport Classic and AL Sport models and because of the larger pen size, both can be used with a converter or you can store a spare cartridge inside the pen body.

At present, JetPens stocks the Student in black, white and demonstrator blue in fine or extra fine nibs. The Allrounder is available in red, blue, black and silver with a wider range of nib sizes.

So, for me, only question is whether the $50 price difference for an aluminum body fountain pen is worth it. I have an aluminum body Lamy that I’m lukewarm about. If you require a medium or broad nib, then the Allrounder may be your best option but, at the $100+ price point, there may be other fountain pens in the running. In my opinion, once you go over the $100 price point for a stainless steel nib pen, there are lots of other options and I am a diehard loyalist of the Kawecos when you talk about the under-$30 fountain pen.

(via JetPens)

In feature

Gender-specific pen: ‘Bic For Her’

Author AnaPosted on

Bic for Her

Oh, boy… Bic is getting lots of flack for the gender-specific Bic for Her. Does is come with a just showered fresh scent too?

I have to be honest, I do prefer smaller pens because I have small pens but this kind of crap marketing and tampon-esque “Easy Glide” ad words make me cringe. C’mon people, sell a pocket pen, small pen, slim pen but “Easy Glide”?!?! Give me a break!

(via NPR)

In feature

Evernote + Moleskine Smart Notebooks

Author AnaPosted on

I’m sure this isn’t the first time you’ve heard about the recent union between Moleskine and Evernote but I thought I’d go ahead and include info here for those who might not have heard the news.

Moleskine announced an Evernote-specific “smart” notebook last week at the Evernote Trunk Conference. The book includes stickers that, when scanned or photographed and stored on Evernote, will automatically help to tag your page. The embossed covers are really pretty and the grids and/or lines on the page are actually dots to help correct the skew when taking digital snapshots of your pages though I’ll have to see it to believe it.

The 3.5×5.5″ size can be pre-ordered for $24.95 and the 5×8.25″ is $29.95.

More details can be found at Design Taxi.

UPDATE: Our sponsor, Notemaker in Australia will also be stocking the Evernote X Moleskine Smart Notebook. You can pre-order now for delivery the first week of October. Their prices are $29.95AUD for the pocket-sized and $39.95AUD for the larger size. Don’t forget to use the discount code WELLAPPDESK at checkout to receive a 10% discount.

In feature

Need Advice on News and Digital Detritus

Author AnaPosted on

I’ve had a couple questions floating around in my organizationally-obsessed head and I was hoping you fine readers might have some input.

  1. What is your favorite way to get your news? I’m talking weather, politics, big news — not just RSS feeds from Gizmodo and the Pen Addict.
  2. How do you collect and track online tidbits — articles to read, review or remember for later? Do you use Readability, Delicious, Pocket or something else entirely? Do you use different services for personal content and business? Do you use the same app to track to-dos, projects and other digital detritus?

I’d prefer a service that can be accessed via web-based/cloud AND iPhone for both news and article/tidbit collecting.

Please leave your recommendations in the comments here. I’d really appreciate any input as I’ve floated from one option to another without finding one I’ve been really happy using.