Posts filed under Notebook Reviews

Endless Storyboard Notebooks Moonshot Edition Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

At this point in time, I can barely keep up with all the different pocket notebook makers. The pocket notebook is such a convenient and affordable class of notebook, it's virtually impossible to avoid making one if you are involved with any kind of stationery market. The ubiquity of the humble pocket notebook deserves the recognition it has achieved, though. It's an indispensable tool that people used long before it was cool. With that mentality, I'm always happy to try out a new pocket notebook and compare it to the old standards.

Endless Storyboard Notebooks Moonshot Edition

The Endless Storyboard notebooks are new on my radar, but I'm glad they made their way to my desk. The specific one I'm looking at today is no long available (special editions!), but I'm definitely excited to see what other editions come out from the Storyboard line. Edition 01 - Moonshot is a two-pack of moon-themed pocket notebooks. The cover of each notebook features imagery of the moon. One cover uses a shot of the whole moon, while the other is a low orbit view across the surface of the moon looking out into open space. They're both excellent choices for a notebook cover, and they definitely know how to pull my strings when it comes to any kind of space exploration theming.

Branding aside, this is still a pocket notebook, so how does it compare to the others? Well, one of the specifications that threw me off is the sizing. It's not the standard pocket notebook size (3.5 x 5.5 inches). This notebook measures in at 3.5 x 5.9 inches. The extra fraction of an inch of vertical space means you get another couple of lines out of each page. It's not large enough to make a visual difference (unless you're comparing two different notebooks side-by-side), but it definitely makes a difference on the inside when doodling and writing notes. One of my first thoughts regarding the extra height was whether or not the notebook would fit in other cases I had for standard pocket notebooks. The Nock cases I use have just enough extra space to accommodate the additional 0.4 inches without introducing any negative side effects. I can even use this notebook with a leather Traveler-style notebook cover. The leather cover is flush with the notebook height, but it still provides excellent coverage. And, of course, these notebooks still fit perfectly in most pockets and bag sleeves.

Endless Storyboard Notebooks Inside Cover

Moving around the rest of the notebook, it features a strong stitch binding, rounded corners, and sturdy cardstock cover. The inside of the covers are blank, and the only unique page is the very first one, which contains some space to fill in vital information and dates. The large "Storyboard" on the front is the only branding you'll find on the front, and the back contains a little more information such as the company name, the dimensions, number of pages, and paper quality. There's also some text to note the special edition:

EDITION 01: MOONSHOT

One small page turn for man,

one giant idea for mankind.

Personally, I'm not a fan of the way they repurposed Neil Armstrong's famous quote upon stepping foot on the moon. The changes they made to fit the theme and edition of this notebook seem minor enough to feel lazy, and I wish they'd put a bit more thought into creating their own writing-oriented idea or just left it off completely. Writing is what generates great ideas, not turning pages. It leaves me with a vague "huh?" feeling.

Besides the odd quote on the back cover, this notebook is stellar. The paper inside is 90gsm off-white paper with a standard dot-grid layout. The paper has a good bit of tooth, but it performs beautifully with different kinds of nibs and inks. I'm extraordinarily happy with how this paper performs. The fact that it's used in a small pocket notebook is even better. I haven't noticed any feathering or bleeding, and show-through to the back of the page is almost unnoticeable unless you're using a very dark and wet ink. Honestly, this is some really great paper.

There are two notebooks in the pack, and each each book contains 64 pages (32 sheets). That's plenty of space for lots of ideas, and the quality of the paper means you can use any of your favorite pens and inks without worrying about bleeding or unusable show-through on the back sides of the pages.

The Moonshot edition isn't available any more, but you can sign up to receive notifications on the next special edition announcement. For people looking for fountain pen friendly pocket notebooks, you should seriously consider this option. Endless also offer another line of notebooks called the Recorder Infinite Space that look promising. With Tomoe River paper inside, these A5-ish hardcover notebooks have great color and layout options. At under $15 USD, these look like a great deal.

These notebooks aren't perfect, but I'm really excited to see what Endless produce next as part of the Edition 02 campaign. These are fantastic notebooks, and it would be great to see them available all the time.

(Endless Notebooks provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on August 26, 2020 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Endless Notebook, Notebook Reviews.

Analog Supplies for Virtual School

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)

It's that time of year again, but this time it's totally different. School supply shopping--stationery Christmas--has gone weird, like everything else. But even though our education has gone virtual, the act of study, of learning, has not. It's still a very tactile thing, and analog supplies are maybe more important than ever. I learn by writing, so even if I'm parked in front of a computer for class, I need to be writing the material down. I still need writing instruments (I have a few) and notebooks (check), and I need a system to keep them organized.

I'm writing this in the middle of my grad school orientation week, which my university has affectionately dubbed "bootcamp" to prepare us for the intellectual equivalent of an obstacle course designed to find our weaknesses and limitations. So that we can improve them, of course--not out of cruelty. While the effect might be the same, intent matters, in this case. It's also my first foray into online classes, as the event was moved to a virtual platform due to the pandemic. My courses themselves were always going to be online, so it's actually serving as excellent practice for navigating that format--and for testing out my assembled supplies to see if they will work for online learning.

I had joked, when I first enrolled in grad school, that I wanted a travelers-notebook-style setup that would hold my hobonichi cousin plus five A5 notebooks with decent page counts. It was only a half-joke, though, because while that sort of thing sounded a bit ridiculous, I really did want one! Well, I found one. On Etsy, of course. The maker is DianoD, a leatherworker who I believe is located in Russia (their shop is currently on vacation, so not all details are visible). They make a variety of goods, including the beast I decided to order for my school needs.

I ordered the A5 extra wide cover with all the extra bells and whistles. It has a pen holder on the snap strap, another pen loop inside, two back pockets, an insert flap for my planner, five widely spaced elastic bands for notebook inserts, another slip flap for papers, a zipper pouch, three card slots, and on the folding piece there is a phone pocket on one side and a snap pocket and smaller pocket on the outside.

The leather is smooth but rigid, so it holds the contents firmly in place, and the snap closure has two positions, so it can be closed tightly, or let out a little bit if (when) it gets overstuffed.

It is a beast, when full. It dosn't fit in a purse, though it works in a tote bag or backpack. I was surprised to find that I can actually write in the notebooks while they're still in the cover, but I prefer to take them out for longer notetaking sessions, and then put them back when I'm done. I have one notebook for a commonplace book, one that I am using for all the information I need about school, a notebook for each of my two classes, and a notebook for my writing ideas. My Hobonichi is behind all of those. I keep a fountain pen in the strap pen pouch, and a mechanical pencil in the inside pen loop. I have blank notecards, business cards, and a very small pocket notebook in the card slots, and sticky notes in the snap pouch. I use the back pockets for planner items, like my ill-fated concert tickets. I keep work papers in the front pockets. It really is the most complete system I've used, and so far it's working really well for me.

Its weak point is, I think, the snap closure. The snap is a fairly standard craft snap notion, and it doesn't match the sturdiness of the rest of the construction. It works great now, but it feels like something I'm going to break, eventually. The rest of it feels like it will outlive me. All of the snap pieces are accessible, though, so I think it would be a fairly simple matter to replace them, if they do get bent or worn out.

I paid $165 (including shipping from Russia) for this, making it the most expensive Trapper Keeper I've ever owned. I do not regret it.

There is some irony here, considering that what I'm studying is the organization of information (how, why, where, when, how much, and by whom). I wonder if I can do a thesis on notebook systems.

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Posted on August 6, 2020 by Sarah Read and filed under Notebooks, Notebook Reviews.

ystudio Letter Paper Set Review

As I do with every ystudio review, I start off by stating how much of a fan of the brand I am. The look, the feel, the marketing - all of it works for me. That extends to the Letter Paper Set as well, but there is one additional question I have to ask of the brand for the first time: Why?

The design of the Letter Paper Set is as beautiful and well made as all ystudio products that have come before it. It’s listed as part of their Brassing lineup, which is a bit confusing as this isn’t a writing instrument. It does carry the same black and brass aesthetic though.

This A5 writing pad contains a feature that you don’t normally see in other stationery products, at least not ones from this century. Behind each of the first 10 sheets is a second, carbonless, copy sheet. The idea, according to ystudio, is to write a letter, mail it off, and keep a copy of the correspondence for yourself.

I get it. It’s not a bad idea at all. Carbon and carbonless copy papers have been around for as long as we have been writing regularly, but I have to ask: Do we need it?

Even as a fun, throwback, stationery product, the ystudio Letter Paper set leaves a lot to be desired. For starters, there are just 13 sheets per pad, with only the first 10 of those sheets backed, as mentioned above. It also ships with 5 envelopes as part of the set, so in combination with the page counts, you have a lot of management ahead of you if you want to make the best use of it.

If you want to use this product as intended, you should know that fountain pens need not apply. I have a heavy hand when writing, so using something like the ystudio Brassing Rollerball is the perfect choice to effectively copy your handwriting to the carbonless page. With fountain pens, I don’t - and don’t want to - press as hard as it would require to see my words on the copy page, even with the built-in backing board giving me something to press down on.

As odd as I find this product, I can’t help but be enamored with the paper itself. Maybe it’s the ystudio fanboy in me coming out, but the brass lines on the off-white page really pop. The pages are thin, so there is some ghosting, and it is absorbent, so you won’t see much shade or sheen if you do choose to use a fountain pen, but there is no feathering to speak of. I wouldn’t want a 200 page journal with this paper, but give me a 30 page pad, drop the copy sheets, and sell letter envelopes as a separate 10-pack. Then we have a product I can really get behind.

Because right now, at $40, this is not a product I can recommend. Yes, it features the ystudio style I love, and yes, this is a brand that makes premium products and charges accordingly. The difference is that I can see a use case for their other products. There is a very limited use case to be made for the Letter Paper Set.

(Vanness Pens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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