Kikkerland WritersBlok Notebook Review

Pocket sized notebooks are a great utility item. I keep one on my person when I leave the house (even though I also carry an iPhone), one in my car center console, and one in my backpack when I take it to work out of the house. I have tried many - Doane Paper, Field Notes, Moleskine, Behance, Ecosystem - and across the board they are all good quality notebooks. The Kikkerland WritersBlok Notebook, on the other hand, is not so good.

I added these to a recent Amazon order, and I could tell before I even took off the shrink wrap there was going to be a problem. The cover of the notebook has a raised rectangle area for you to apply a label. It was out of alignment by several degrees on the top notebook, and progressively worse through the next two in the pack. I could let that slide if it were just the cover, but unfortunately, it transferred to the paper too.

You can see clearly in the photos what I am referring to. If I used blank pages it wouldn’t be an issue, but trying to use grid paper cut like this is not going to work. I’m not sure how a product like this leaves the factory to be quite honest. It’s too bad because this could be a decent option for a pocket notebook.

Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen Hard Tip Review

On my never ending quest to forcibly turn artistic use brush pens into my own personal writing and note taking pen, the Tombow Fudenosuke is the latest put to the test.

If you haven’t been paying attention, I realized a few months back with the the Kuretake Fudegokochi that some brush pens make for pretty good writing pens. As one who uses felt and plastic tip drawing pens on a daily basis to write with, the brush pen provides a unique option. It takes a very particular brush pen to work well in this scenario, starting with a very hard tip.

For a brush pen, the Fudenosuke has a hard tip, but it is not hard enough for writing notes with. It is a wonderful pen for its intended use - I can get a wide range of line widths, and the ink is great - but for general writing it is not firm enough. Artists shouldn’t hesitate to pick this one up.

Are there any brush pens that you have used that I should try out for general writing use?

Rad and Hungry STMT X Spain Kit Winner

Thanks to everyone who entered this great international Rad and Hungry giveaway. It looks like it is Ken for the win!

Congrats Ken - here is what I need you to do to claim your prize:

1. Leave a comment on this post.

2. Email me your mailing address using the emil address on the sidebar.

Thanks to Hen at Rad and Hungry for providing the goods for this giveaway, and thanks to everyone who entered.