Three Questions With Josh Ginter

When I first ran across Josh Ginter at his site The Newsprint, I knew he had “it”. There is no true definition of “it” other than you know it when you see it. His combination of style and content is not to be missed. My thanks to Josh for answering Three Questions.

1. What role do analog tools such as pens, pencils, and paper play in your day to day life?

While I often hunker down in the evenings and dedicate time to snapping photos and creating prose, by day I crunch numbers at the accounting office. Despite the drive to digital in accountancy, I can’t help but adore traditional analog tools at the office. I write my daily plan of attack in my new 2015 planner every morning and I’m often on the prowl for new pens to show off to my colleagues. I’ve also found that I retain information far better when I take the time to write things into a notebook instead of quickly typing in a text editor. Lastly, my daily journaling habit has its cornerstone in trusty Field Notes memo books. Be it thoughts or quick arithmetic when chatting with a client, Field Notes are my go-to tool. It’s a rare day that I don’t have a Field Notes jammed into a Stuff Sheath in my back pocket or in my messenger bag.

2. What are your favorite products you are currently using?

I’m a total sucker for a new pen or notebook, so you’ll constantly find me saying I have a new favourite. However, there’s no better memo book for me than a trusty Field Notes. My all-time favourite edition is Drink Local and I’m currently in the middle of the Pale Lager/Pilsner book. I carry around my field notes in a DDC Stuff Sheath or a Hellbrand Leatherworks Field Notes cover. I find I lose too many nicer pens when I carry them on the go, so I’ve slowly settled on the Uni-ball Signo Micro 207 gel ink pen for general note taking. 

Most recently, however, I’ve fallen for the Hobonichi Techo. Everyone raves about this planner, and for good reason. Tomoe River paper’s ability to absorb heavy fountain pen ink, all the while remaining thinner than any other paper I’ve tried, absolutely defies logic. This Hobonichi Planner is the coolest notebook I own, bar none.

3. What post are you the most proud of on your blog?

This is a seriously difficult question to answer. Sometimes your most popular posts are your least favourite work, while your best work is the least enjoyed across the web.

After pondering this question for a few days, I think I’ve settled on the Hobonichi Techo review as the single post I am most proud of. The post has the best product photos I’ve ever shot and I’m genuinely in love with the product itself. This review sets the bar for me personally and I strive to achieve that same photographic look with every review I create. Surpassing that review will be difficult for me, but I’m looking forward to the challenge.

Three Questions With Aaron Mahnke

Designer of graphics, author of novels, worker from home, maker of stationery, and haver of breakfast each year prior to the Atlanta Pen Show, Aaron Mahnke is a busy man, and someone I’m proud to call my friend. Are we on for breakfast again this year? My thanks to Aaron for answering Three Questions.

1. What role do analog tools such as pens, pencils, and paper play in your day to day life?

I might work on my computer (designer by trade) and keep my list of tasks in a digital app, but all of my real productivity happens on paper. I use a daily list, written out by hand, to run my day. I don’t leave the house without my notebook, and there’s always a pen clipped to it. I’m a firm believer in the power of writing things down. I remember things better, and sometimes I can process ideas better with pen and paper.

2. What are your favorite products you are currently using?

Currently, I use a black Uni-ball Signo (.38, baby!) as my daily pen. I do have a Fisher Space Pen, but that lives in my pocket Field Notes book. I usually have a small stack of my own Frictionless Capture Cards with me, and have recently fallen in love with the Baron Fig Confidant for personal journaling. And my recent purchase of a Timbuk2 D-Lux messenger bag was the best decision I’ve made all year.

3. What creation or design of yours are you most proud of?

The physical product I’m most proud of would have to be my Planning Pads. I use the Mini version daily for planning my day and tracking notes and business details. But I love that others use it in different ways because it’s so flexible. It’s been wildly popular, selling consistently well, and at the same time, it scratches an itch I had in my productivity system, so it’s a win for everyone.

Three Questions With Grace McCarter Of The Bento Buff

One of the coolest things about writing this blog is learning new things from awesome people. Grace helped me do both because, one, she is awesome, and two, her blog The Bento Buff has taught me about a topic I was completely unfamiliar with previously. My thanks to Grace for answering Three Questions.

1. What role do analog tools such as pens, pencils, and paper play in your day to day life?

I think that analog tools play such variety of roles in my life that it's difficult to give it just one role. I use analog tools for anything from making a "cut here" sort of line to creating plans for various things, whether a to-do list of the day, outlining a project, or writing up a rough draft for a blog post that suddenly and inconveniently pops into my head.

Perhaps, it would be that the role that these analog tools help me to express an idea in my head, of something I want to do and a way to go about it.

2. What are your favorite products you are currently using?

My vintage Esterbrook fountain pen (J series, Lever Filler, 1550 Nib) which is not a pen for everyone. Since the nib is worn to my handwriting style it seems to skip a lot for others. This pen is great for people on a budget and wanting something classy, and as a left-handed fountain pen user, and the barrel is all stained from before I knew how to handle it properly (now I know, thanks to an episode on pen care from the Pen Addict Podcast, hehe).

Then there's my purse. For those of you whom want specifics, it's the Guess Cheatin Heart Avery Satchel in Cement, but it's basically a long tallish triangle, and it fits everything I could need in a day with work, college and socializing except my water bottle.

Lastly it's my bento boxes. To the readers whom may not know, they're pretty much glorified lunch boxes. You could make a bento style meal in even a Tupperware container, but if you're into aesthetics like I am, a Monbento box is the way to go. I have a plain black one and a green and white one that I use near daily.

3. What post are you the most proud of on your blog?

Since I have to pick, I'd say my Evernote themed bento. My fangirling over Evernote aside, I think this post came out beautifully. It's one of the first posts where I really took an attractive photograph of a bento meal using the techniques my photographer friends taught me, and where I really started to go more nuts with the variety of foods in my bento meals, not just applying the rule of 50,25,25. I love how the colors came out and the whole meal looks. Basically, this post is symbolic of my leveling up!