Behance Action Cards Review

I am huge fan of index cards or note cards as an idea capture tool. We have all used basic index cards from the office supply store, and recently I have started to test out some of the premium brands like Levenger and Moleskine. The 3x5 Behance Action Cards are the latest to hit my desk - are they the best of the bunch?

The Behance Action Method was designed to be a productivity and project management tool, and while I am not a practitioner of the method, I can appreciate the thought and creativity put into it. The main difference between the Behance cards and all of the other cards I have tested out is that one side of the Behance card is dedicated to Action Method input. The colored side of the card has eight defined sections to add Action Steps, along with a date/title header strip across the top.

Flipping the card over gives you the open index card format you are probably used to in the form of a dot grid pattern. Behance uses the dot grid across all of their product lines, so if you are familiar with any of their other products, this is the same.

From an ink standpoint, the Action Cards held up very well to everything I threw at it - including a TUL Ultra Fine Permanent Marker. The cards are made out of 80lb. cover stock, and while that isn't the smoothest paper, I had no issue with any pen I used. The gel and ballpoint inks really popped off the card, and the ink in my Lamy Safari EF didn't bleed at all.

When I compared the Levenger and the Moleskine note cards, there were things I liked and disliked about both. I can't say there was anything I disliked about the Behance Action Cards, but I am not sure about the Action Method side yet. I see the usefulness, I just have to see if it fits me.

You can pick up 30 cards packs of Action Cards directly from Behance for $5.00. I grabbed mine from Amazon for $5.95 since I was shopping for other goods and took advantage of the free shipping. No matter where you buy yours, I think you will enjoy them.

Moleskine Memo Cards Review

After my Levenger Note Cards review last week, I figured I would back it up with these Moleskine Memo Cards pretty quickly. While they both appeal to the same audience, they are both very different when comparing the two directly.

The Moleskine Memo Cards come packaged 20 to a pack, with 10 gridded cards and 10 lined cards. Unlike the Levenger cards, they are printed on both sides. They measure 3 /12" x 5 1/2" and also have rounded corners, which I really like as a design element on these cards. One of the issues I have always had with Moleskine products is the poor quality of the paper, and if you have used a Moleskine product before, then you are familiar with how these memo cards perform.

The micro tip pens like the Pilot Hi-Tec-C 0.25mm gel ink pens perform poorly, as do many of the finer gel ink pens (although the Signo DX 0.38mm is not bad), but the wider gel ink pens and the liquid ink pens do a nice job. What really surprised me was how well my fountain pens performed. While I would have a tough time even using them on the Levenger cards, I thought they were great on the Moleskine cards. Who knew?

But now for the real kicker - the price. Holy cow are these expensive. My 20 pack was $8.95 at Amazon, making them nearly 8 times more expensive than the Levenger cards. While there are several things I like about these Moleskine cards, there is no way I could justify that price in any quantity. Heck, I'm scared to use the remaining ones I have in case certain retailers start taking them as a form of payment.

Out of the higher end note cards, I still need to try out the Exacompta (I have some on order), but right now the Levenger cards are looking like the winner.

Levenger 4x6 Note Cards Review

As I have mentioned before, I am a big fan of the index card. I like their sleek, simplistic nature, and there is just something satisfying about having that one single card to jot down your current ideas or to do list. At the time I ordered these last year, you could buy the 4x6 Levenger Note Cards in a 75-card sampler pack, containing 25 five each of grid, ruled, and blank cards. That option doesn't seem to be available anymore on the Levenger website, but the 3x5 sampler is, as are all of the 3x5 and 4x6 single design options, and all are worth checking out.

I tried out several different inks on these cards, and as you might have guessed, some performed better than others. All of the gel ink pens worked great, especially the sub-micro tips like the Pilot Hi-Tec-C 0.25mm and Uni-Ball Signo DX 0.38mm. There was no delay or skipping at all with any of them. The liquid ink and fountain pen ink didn't fare so well. While there wasn't much bleed through the card, there was some feathering as you can notice in the picture. I felt like I had to write really fast with them to make the lines decent.

One thing I didn't like is that the cards in the sampler pack were only printed on one side. I think if you order the standard personalized note cards or non-personalized note cards they are printed on both sides, but not every note card description stated that fact, only a few. If I was to reload my stock I would definitely want grids on both sides.

The cost of the note cards isn't exactly cheap at $28 per 500 ($5.60 per 100 cards) for lined or grid non-personalized cards, but there aren't a slew of options in the high-end note card realm either. If you are looking for an upgrade over your standard store brand cards, the Levenger Note Cards may be your best bet.