Posts filed under Notebook Reviews

Studio Neat Totebook Notebook Review

I’ve been testing out a new product from my friends Dan and Tom at Studio Neat over the past couple of weeks under the notation REDACTED in my stationery usage log. They gave me an early look and asked me not to share it until it is live, which I’m happy to do. I’m also happy to say that the product is now live!

The Studio Neat Totebook is the portable companion to the desk-bound Panobook and collaborator with the Mark One, their wonderful pen design. Studio Neat is taking over the stationery world!

I’m a big fan of the quality, style, and performance of the Panobook, so my expectations were high for the Totebook. Studio Neat’s design philosophy is present in this new product, with a clean, minimal design, and thoughtful add-ons to what looks like a basic notebook from the outside.

The paper looks, feels, and performs similarly to the Panobook, but spec-wise, it is different. The Totebook uses wood-free paper, which is made via a chemical process as opposed to a mechanical one as used for traditional paper. In use, I wouldn’t have known the difference - I just know that it works well with any pen and paper I threw at it.

My handwritten review was done with the Schmidt P8127 rollerball in blue, which is a wide, wet writer, and it worked flawlessly. The only feathering I saw was with the even wetter Tombow Brush Pen, and the notorious Sharpie Ultra Fine Permanent Marker wasn’t as tragic as I have seen in other notebooks.

I mentioned add-ons above, and the Totebook has a specific one I don’t normally see: The last 8 pages feature a perforation that splits the page into quadrants. I love this, as seen by my chat recap to Dan when I discovered it. I never want to rip pages out of any bound notebook, and this alleviates any hesitancy I have about tearing away. It also ships with spine stickers for help with archiving your notebook when complete.

I love what this notebook is, but I do have two minor quibbles with it. If you know me at all, the first one is easy to pin down: This notebook has no size. Call it smart-sized, right-sized, Neat-sized - whatever you want to call it, but it’s not normal-sized in the common A or B international standards. This is a me problem, and one of the hills I will apparently die on one day, but I like notebook sizing standards. The best I can come up with for this one is B6-ish.

Secondly, the paper “waves” near the spine. This happens to thicker softcover notebooks from time to time, although I don’t know exactly why. For me, I notice it mostly when I am not writing as opposed to when I am. It doesn’t affect usability, but I can’t help but notice it visually.

The Totebook is made to be small, portable, pliable, have really good paper, and a few bonus extras to boot. It is everything I have come to expect from the Studio Neat Stationery Department, including a more than reasonable $20 for two price tag. If this notebook fits your aesthetic and workflow then it is well worth grabbing a pack or two to add to your portable writing arsenal.

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

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Posted on May 28, 2019 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Studio Neat, Notebook Reviews.

Makers South Leather A5 Notebook Cover Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

Several weeks ago, I wrote a review of the Midori MD Goat Leather A5 Notebook Cover. Since that cover was untanned, the instructions said to leave it in a sunny room so it could darken over time. I put it in the sunniest room in our house, the Florida Room, but this turned out to be a big mistake. The Florida Room is also where our cats sleep at night. One cat decided that my beautiful, sleek Midori cover made for a terrific scratching pad.

I know I should have accepted this with grace and considered the cover Wabi-Sabi. But I bought this cover because of its soft texture and the claw holes just ruined it for me. The Midori MD is my poetry-writing notebook, and I want it to be in an aesthetically pleasing cover. Besides, it turns out I don’t like the color the goatskin turned. It’s an orangey-tan that reminds me of Calamine Lotion from childhood. Blech.

When I started hunting for a replacement cover, I happened upon Makers South on Instagram and loved the look of their leather. They are a husband and wife team who make all sorts of leather goods by hand. Although they often have items in stock, they didn’t have any A5 notebooks when I visited the site. Luckily, they also make notebooks to order, so I sent an email inquiring about some of their leathers. I received a quick reply from Chrispian Burks with pictures of the leathers I had asked about and a photo of a piece of leather that was totally unique. He said he didn’t know what it was called, but he thought I might like it since it was so interesting. I loved it!

I decided on a simple notebook with a snap closure and no extras. Of course, when you place an order, you have all sorts of options, including multiple pocket styles, closures, pen loops, and even a sewn-to-the-cover pen sleeve. The base price for an A5 made-to-order notebook is $70.

My notebook arrived in about a week and a half (much faster than the four to five-week wait time indicated on the site). It came in a square cardboard shipping box and was wrapped in brown paper. I gasped when I opened it. It. Was. Gorgeous!

Whatever the leather is called, it has character. It’s a reddish-brown color with lots of tan crackles (I’m sure there’s a technical term, but I don’t know what it is). It’s smooth to the touch and rather thin. I wanted a sleek notebook, so the thinness of this leather is perfect.

The notebook has a simple snap closure. Unfortunately, after a few days of use the snap assembly came apart, and I had to send the notebook back for repair. It is holding up well, so far.

The back of the cover has two cool details. First, is the Makers South brand embossed in the bottom corner. It’s simple and melts into the leather so that you hardly notice it. Still, I think it looks really nice.

The second detail is the cool stitching attaching the strap for the snap closure.

The thread used for all the stitching is thick and full of texture.

I’m really happy with how the cover came out. My Midori MD Notebook fits perfectly, and I’m contentedly writing poetry.

If you’re looking for some really nice leather goods (notebooks, wallets, keychains, etc.) I highly recommend Makers South to you. You can choose from a whole range of leathers and have any notebook made to order just for you.

And if anyone wants my cat-clawed MD Goat Leather cover, let me know.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Posted on April 19, 2019 by Susan Pigott and filed under Makers South, Notebook Reviews.

Blackwing 602 Summit Notebook: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

The Blackwing 602 Summit Notebook is a 7.5 x 10 inch notebook with 160 pages. The cover is gray with a soft, velvety feel to it and it’s flexible. The only branding is on the back cover where “Blackwing” is inscribed.

The inner cover is printed with a place for one’s name, notes, start and completion date, and contact information.

The first page is a “Notebook Log” with columns for date, content, and page numbers. Unfortunately, the notebook itself is not paginated, so you will have to write the page numbers in yourself.

The book lays flat when open thanks to the sewn binding. There’s a pink ribbon bookmark that complements the gray cover well.

The ivory paper is 100 GSM with gray lines spaced 6mm apart. There are 36 lines per page.

Blackwing notebooks are, of course, meant to be used with Blackwing pencils. Unsurprisingly, the paper and pencil combination works perfectly.

But, I wanted to test my notebook with fountain pens and other writing instruments, just to see how it held up. The paper is smooth and thick and worked well with all the fountain pens I tried. I noticed a little show through and a tiny bit of bleed through with my wettest inks, but it was so minute, it didn’t show up in photographs.

With other writing instruments, the paper works equally well. The only pen that bled through was (as usual) the Sharpie. Highlighter did not bleed through, though I should have waited a bit longer to let the ink from my Pilot G2 dry (the smudging is my fault).

The Blackwing Summit is a no-frills notebook. It doesn’t have a pen loop or cover pockets or page numbers or any other bells and whistles. That suits me just fine. It feels nice in the hand, the paper is good quality, and the notebook should stand up well to abuse. I like the size because it’s portable yet large enough to write lengthy passages. It’s become my new Pen Addict review rough-draft notebook.