Life notebooks always catch my eye in stores. The covers look so elegant in a modern yet retro way. And the paper always feels so smooth and silky. This one above was a freebie from the generous folks at Notebook Maniac, who sell a variety of notebook brands, many from Japan, including Life, Midori, Tsubame, … Continue reading Life Renover Notebook Giveaway
I can’t believe it’s taken me over 2 years to review these notebooks. I first heard of Design-Y in early 2012, when they were receiving quite a bit of buzz on fountain pen blogs. If you’re not familiar with this brand, here’s the background: they are handmade in Japan by a Mr. Yoshino. He uses … Continue reading Review: Design.Y Notebooks
Based on the photo below and the website where I found it, Russell Stutler is definitely a sketchbook addict. His website is a great resource for anyone who is interested in sketching on the go– there are articles on tools like waterbrushes and assorted sketchbook brands, and tips on how to use them in the … Continue reading Notebook Addict of the Week: Russell Stutler
Here’s a couple of notebooks I bought at Jet Pens about a year ago. First, the adorable little Metaphys notepad, shown next to a pocket Moleskine so you can see how small it is. I love the orange cloth-covered flexi cover. Inside there are blank pages made of a fairly thin, smooth paper. They are … Continue reading Quick Review: Notebooks from Jet Pens
Weirdest notebook story of the week: With Japan’s birth rate stuck in low gear, the Abe administration has come up with a new idea to make babies: convince the women to have a child earlier rather than later. It plans to give out notebooks to all young women – and perhaps also to young men … Continue reading Can Notebooks Help the Japanese Have More Babies?
I am sorry to say that I seem to have misplaced the name of the reader who tipped me off to this intriguing image, from an exhibition called “Souzou,” featuring the work of 46 self-taught artists living and working within social welfare facilities across Japan: Untitled by Shingo Ikeda Undated, artist’s notebook, collection of the … Continue reading Notebook Page by Shingo Ikeda
I love this idea– writing and drawing a blog in a notebook and then scanning the pages into an online blog. I’ll have to try it sometime! Takashi Betsui’s day job at an ad agency in Tokyo is decidedly digital, but his blogging life is much more analog than you’d expect. In fact, … Continue reading Moleskine Monday: Blogging on Paper
Grab a tissue before you click through to this link, because you’re going to drool: Design.Y, Handmade Leather-bound Notebook. I just found Design.Y via the Pencil Talk blog, and I had to sit on my hands to keep myself from immediately clicking the buy button for a few of these VERY expensive notebooks. At a … Continue reading Design.Y Handmade Leather-bound Notebook from Japan
The PH notebook came to me from the folks at Yaginoyama, a very cool online store that sells a variety of Japanese goods. This notebook is another example of the precision, minimalism and attention to design that’s evident in many Japanese notebooks. It’s totally plain, with the PH logo and a code number stamped in … Continue reading Review: PH Notebook
Gabriel Campanario is the Seattle Sketcher I featured a few weeks ago in this post. He’s also the founder of Urban Sketchers, and was interviewed for a Japanese book called 61 Ways to Put Your Life into a Moleskine: Yoko Nakamuta, who knows how much some urban sketchers love their Moleskines, invited me to write … Continue reading Moleskine Monday: 61 Ways