Moleskine, new products, Places to Buy Notebooks

Super-cheap Moleskine Desk Calendar!

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A reader named Jennike tipped me off to another fantastic deal on Amazon, this time on the 2010 Moleskine Desk Calendar, which is currently marked down 81% to $3.74!

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I can’t say this is my favorite Moleskine product– I think it’s a bit too much of a stretch away from doing what they do best. After all, it’s not really a notebook! But if you love Moleskines and like having a tear-off page-a-day type calendar on your desk, you should snap one up at this great price! The last time I linked to one of these deals, so many people bought them that the price started increasing almost immediately, so don’t delay! And send good thank-you vibes to Jennike for spotting this!
The Days That Count Desk Top Calendar (Moleskine Legendary Notebooks (Calendars))

Ecosystem, new products, Places to Buy Notebooks

Sometimes I Can Resist: Ecosystem Notebooks at B&N

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I went to Barnes & Noble today and finally got a close up look at their Ecosystem notebooks.
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At first I thought I wouldn’t be able to resist buying one, but the longer I looked at them, the more I felt a bit underwhelmed. First of all, the Union Square store didn’t have a very wide selection of colors and styles. Then I decided that the prices really weren’t all that exciting– $9.95 for a pocket size softcover, $6.95 for a set of 3 small  cahier-like notebooks, or $10.95 for a pocket size hardcover.

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Then I started to read the packaging more carefully and got annoyed. I don’t know why people have to whip up all this mythology around a line of notebooks. Moleskine’s Hemingway/Chatwin thing gets tired, but I found the Ecosystem verbiage even worse. They name each style of notebook after a role that might be associated with it, and add these definitions:

Unlined paper = ARTIST: an individual who utilizes their imagination to produce works that are beautiful and kind to the earth.

Squared paper = ARCHITECT: an environmentally aware person who creates strength and order with lines.

Lined paper = AUTHOR: one who writes with well-being and sustainability of the earth in mind.

Planner = ADVISOR: an ecologically friendly provider of professional or personal advice.

I really don’t mean to belittle environmental causes, but for some reason this makes me want to barf AND run over Bambi with a Hummer.

But okay, I’m over it now and will continue to try to lead my low-carbon-footprint lifestyle… just without buying one of these notebooks.

I mean, as notebooks go, they’re fine, I’m sure. They come in fun colors, and you can buy little inserts that slip into the back pocket so you can add an address book, calendar, to-do list or extra notes pages to your notebook. (I think it frustrates a lot of people that Moleskine includes a little slip-in booklet with some planners, but doesn’t sell them separately.) And I was most tempted by the graph paper notebook because it’s somewhat unique in having a smaller grid than any of the other graph paper notebooks I’ve used.

The Ecosystem website also mentions a few more unique features. If you register, you can read all sorts of info about the carbon footprint of your notebook. You can also enter the unique number of your notebook so they can help you try to recover it if it’s ever lost. And there are detailed instructions about how to separate all the various components of your notebook to recycle them, if you should decide that you don’t want to keep them. If these features are of use to you, by all means buy one of these notebooks!  But I’m afraid I had to pass.

Albertine Press, Links, new products, Places to Buy Notebooks

Bright Ideas Notebooks by Albertine Press

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Here’s some really cute notebooks featured at Design Inspiration– I love the colors & images.
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If you’re in NYC, they sell these at ABC Carpet & Home, but be prepared to gasp when you see the price– I didn’t actually jot it down when I saw them, but it was either $23 or $26 (for the set of three)! At least at the Albertine Press Etsy page, they’re only $18, but that is still a lot. They are adorable, but I’d like them a lot better if they cost half as much!

Design Inspiration: Bright Ideas Notebooks.

creativity, Fun & Weird, Links, Other People's Notebooks, Writing Notebooks

Copywriter Quits, 20 of His Notebooks Auctioned by Former Colleague

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I thought this story was sort of funny when it popped up on MediaBistro— funny, yet horrifying!

So there once was this copywriter named Aaron Robnett, who worked with Daniel Shapiro. Robnett and Shapiro toiled over client needs like creative teams do. Until Robnett left his New York agency for Boston and some sort of comedy start-up. Typical. Also typical, he didn’t thoroughly clean out his desk and now a comically-peeved Shapiro is selling 20 left-behind notebooks containing Robnett’s ideas.

I hope I never forget any notebooks when I leave a job! At least not ones containing anything important and personal. The notebooks being auctioned were all yellow lined pads, nothing fancy, but who knows what their contents meant to the original owner.

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Actual listing on eBay. No one placed a bid.

Black & Red, carnival, Exacompta

The Third Carnival of Pen, Pencil and Paper :: OfficeSupplyGeek

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It’s that time again: the third monthly edition of the Carnival of Pen, Pencil and Paper, hosted by Office Supply Geek. Lots of good stuff, including:

Exacompta Sketchbook Review and Field Tests

Black & Red Notebook Review

Rhodia Webnotebook vs. Moleskine Journal Showdown

Read more at:

The Third Carnival of Pen, Pencil and Paper :: OfficeSupplyGeek.

Archie Grand, Links, new products

Archie Grand Notebooks

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I’ve recently noticed a couple of mentions of this fun new line of notebooks from a Swedish company called Archie Grand.
archie grand notebooks
With titles like “Architects I Met and Liked” and “Lovers I Had and Liked” you’d think these might be address books, but they’re not– just plain unlined pages within. There seem to be 61 different options available, so chances are you could find one that’s a perfect gift for just about anyone!

You can buy them directly from Archie Grand, or at Rare Device (which only stocks a limited selection of the many titles)– at $12.50 (or 8.99 Euro), these seem well-priced for the specs: “They have a matte satin cardstock cover and inside are 160 blank pages of Lessebo Linné paper with sewn signatures.” Size is 4 1/2 x 6 1/2″.

See more commentary at designvagabond and Poppytalk.

EcoJot, Giveaway, Links, Other People's Notebooks

EcoJot Giveaway!

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Sabrina at Slice of Lemon says “these notebooks = crack,” so she’s sharing them with 5 lucky winners!

Here’s the contest details:

In order to enter this contest, answer the following question in the comments section of this post [at Slice of Lemon, not here at Notebook Stories]:

What is your fondest childhood memory?

Answers can be something like, “The time I went fishing with my dad” or “When I punched Jimmy Smith in the face for smashing my sandwich at lunch,” or “Taking horseback riding lessons,” or “The time I made $10 from my lemonade stand.”
Answers can be as long or short as you want.

Only one entry per person is allowed, and all entries must be submitted no later than 9 p.m. Pacific Time on Monday, Oct. 5, 2009.

Enter at her website: A Giveaway: The Greatest Notebooks on Earth, and I’m Not Really an Advocate of Crack. : sliceoflemon.com.

Art, Art Alternatives, Links, Other People's Notebooks, Places to Buy Notebooks, PSN, Sketchbook

Followup on Giant Sketchbook and Tiny Notebook

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For those who were wondering about the very large and very small notebooks featured recently in readers’ collections, here you go!

The humongous sketchbook is available at Amazon here: Sketches in the Making Giant Hardcover Sketch Book
and was previously available at Blick  with the image and description below (the dust jacket is removable, with a plain black cover underneath):

Sketches in the Making Sketches in the MakingThis is a coffee table book with a big difference! It’s not just a collection of drawings and illustrations, at least not to start with. Instead, this giant, hardbound blank book invites you and your friends to create the keepsake of a lifetime. Leave it on your coffee table and watch as the blank pages slowly fill up with artwork created by you, your family, and friends. This conversation piece is bound to become an historical record of good times shared with those you know and care about. It’s also a great gift idea! The book weighs an amazing 8 lbs (3.6 kg) and contains 348 sheets of blank, 75 lb (110 gsm), acid-free white paper. The book jacket is printed to give the appearance of a genuine coffee table book. Hardcover. 348 sheets. 10¾” × 12½” (27 cm × 32 cm) .

As for the teeny weeny notebook, it’s made by PSN, a Dutch company.

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I’ll be reviewing some of their notebooks here soon. Unfortunately, they do not sell direct to consumers, but you can check out the list of retailers on their website, most of which seem to be in various European countries or former Dutch colonies such as Aruba. Now that’s a notebook field trip I’d like to take!

Notebooks, journals, sketchbooks, diaries: in search of the perfect page…