Clairefontaine Neo Deco A5 Notebook Review

(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!)

I think I changed my mind five times about what notebook I would use for my class lecture notes this semester. It's an important decision! If you're reading this, I know you get it. I finally landed on these Clairefontaine Neo Deco A5 notebooks. Whether I made a definitive decision, or if school started before I could change my mind again, will remain a mystery. But I've been writing in these daily for a week now, and they're working quite well for the purpose.

These are A5 sized books with a matte-coated cardstock cover that comes in a variety of gorgeous Art Deco patterns. There are pastels and jewel tones, all with a touch of gold foil shimmer to them. The geometric patterns are particularly stunning. The cover is sewn all along the spine, which gives the pages a secure join. The cardstock is firm enough and the binding thorough enough that the notebook feels a lot more substantial than many softcover notebooks do.

Between the covers are 48 sheets, or 96 pages of 90gsm ivory lined paper. It is very smooth, with almost no tooth to it, but the thickness of the paper creates a slightly cushioned writing experience. Clairefontaine paper has always been a favorite for fountain pen users because of its liquid-ink-friendly properties, and this thicker sheet is even better than the more basic cahiers. Even the broadest, inkiest writing is invisible through the page. Sharpie shows through, but doesn't actually fully bleed through. The paper shows fun ink properties very well, with both shading and sheening standing out.

I do have one criticism of the paper, and that is dry time. Any paper this impervious to bleeding will have a long dry time, but for this paper, you either need to walk away from your page for a while before turning it, or invest in some blotting paper. Even when taking slow notes, I ended up with some ink splotch transfers across pages.

The lines on these pages are also quite widely spaced at 8mm. It's great if you have large handwriting, and sometimes my notes are more legible if I write bigger, but I prefer narrower lines. Better yet, I'd prefer grid patterns. Unfortunately, I can only find these available in wide-lined versions.

Clairefontaine has some of the best paper for the best value in their simple cahiers, and while these cost a bit more than those, they're still a great deal at $8.50. They're nice enough and priced reasonably enough to snag a few of your favorite patterns. I've already stocked up to use them again next semester. If I don't change my mind again.

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

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Kawachiya Paper Lab Kamon Letterpress Notebook A5

(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 such a great thing when good notebooks are also pretty. These Kawachiya Paper Lab Kamon designs (Japanese house crests) are so gorgeous. They are crisply letter-pressed into matcha green cardstock with a slight texture to it, which makes the whole book wonderfully tactile. The pressing can even be felt on the inside of the cover. It makes a fantastic first impression, so I was excited to try the paper.

Under that stunning cover are 64 pages of cream-colored dot grid paper. It feels like a heavy gsm, though I can't find the exact specs. In weight, crispness, and texture it reminds me a lot of Midori MD paper, maybe slightly smoother--closer to a heavy Tomoe River. The dots are dark grey and more pronounced than in some notebooks, so they don't fade into the background much, but do serve as excellent guides.

The pages are staple-bound with two brass staples. That does leave the top and bottom edges loose, which isn't an ideal structure as far as durability goes. But the minimal binding does help train the notebook to lay flat easily once the crease is smoothed.

The paper itself performs very well. Even a wet, bold fountain pen line with black ink has zero show-through. Magic! The only thing to defeat this paper, as usual, is the Sharpie. Pencil users might find this paper a little bit too smooth for harder leads.

Slim A5 notebooks with great paper aren't as rare as they were a few years ago. Once upon a time, that was quite difficult to find! Now they're everywhere, and it take a bit extra for new ones to stand out. I think this lovely letter-pressed design is a total standout. The perfect, tiny details are charming and beautiful. At $14, though, it is more than twice the cost of a similar Clairefontaine notebook. I think it's worth it for its handcrafted cover, but it's not something I'd buy in bulk, even if all the available colors are lovely. As a special treat, though, it's great.

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

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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.

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.

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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Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

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