Notebook Reviews
Published September 2nd, 2008, 8:04am in Curiosities, Lists.For all the dorks like myself who obsess about notebooks, this post is for you.
Full disclosure: I tend to be partial to notebooks of the pocket-sized, reporter-style, durable, flexible, wirebound and blank variety, but I use and sample all kinds. To my mind there are two types of notebooks: portable and desktop. Portable notebooks should be easy to carry around and fit comfortably in your pocket. Which pocket you use, and therefore which notebook, can depend on the season. In the warm months I require a slim, flexible notebook for my back pocket. In the winter, a harder-backed notebook can go into my inside coat pocket. Many notebooks that are marketed as portable—hello, Moleskine—are actually desktop notebooks in my opinion because they don’t fit comfortably in your pocket. They have their place.
Let’s get this out of the way: Moleskines are vastly overrated. Sure, they look nice but how functional are they really? I like a strong notebook that I can bend back. Moleskines can be laid flat but won’t bend over backwards for you. They don’t fit comfortably in your pocket. And for those who have bought into the Moleskine brand mythology, note that Hemingway, Picasso and Matisse did not in fact use Moleskines. Dave Eggers, Neil Gaiman and countless bloggers do, to some folks’ dismay. Black Cover is an entire blog dedicated to uncovering superior Moleskine alternatives.
Pluses: Pretty. Moderately hackable.
Minuses: Unoriginal. Low-quality paper that can’t handle fountain pens, so pen nerds shun them (pen reviews is another post).
Muji—short for Mujirushi Ryohin, or “brandless quality goods”—has been taking the American notebook-nerd market by storm. As they say on their website, “Muji, the brand, is rational, and free of agenda, doctrine and ‘isms.’ The Muji concept derives from us continuously asking, ‘What is best from an individual’s point of view?’” Designer types are entranced by Muji’s intense minimalism. Their chrononotebook makes people giddy.
Pluses: Free of artifice. Also cheap! Many of their notebooks are $1.
Minuses: Very few. Available in New York at the MoMA Store, Muji Soho and inside the New York Times Building.
Rhodia is an iconic French brand of notebook whose design has been unchanged since the 1930s.
Pluses: Striking. Orange. Endorsed by poet-blogger Ron Silliman.
Minuses: Too clunky for portable use.
The tagline on this Japanese brand of notebooks says it all: “MOST ADVANCED QUALITY GIVES BEST WRITING FEATURES & GIVES SATISFACTION TO YOU.” Apica notebooks have a devoted cult following.
Pluses: Ultra high-quality paper.
Minuses: Their portable model, the CD5, is a bit too small for serious note-taking.
Barcelona-based Miquelrius notebooks first came to my attention as the platform for Bill Westerman’s paper-based time management software, above.
Pluses: Like Moleskine but much more flexible, with higher quality paper.
Minuses: Pages won’t lay flat. Owners of the most annoying website in the world.
Pluses: See above.
Minuses: Hard to come by. I recommend subscribing to his shop’s feed if you want in on the next batch.
Ecoteca was a sturdy and stylish Portuguese brand of notebook that now appears to be defunct.
Pluses: Rounded corners.
Minuses: Impossible to find.
Field Notes made a splash last year on the back-to-paper and get-things-done (GTD) scene, when they started showing up on blogs like Lifehacker. Launched by Coudal Partners, some people find the brand a bit cloying.
Pluses: Pocket-friendly. Heavy paperstock. Futura typeface.
Minuses: Seemingly designed with Urban Outfitters in mind. Tries too hard. Staplebound.
My current favorite, Rite in the Rain notebooks are 1.) sturdy as hell and 2.) can be used in the shower, where many people get their best ideas. Seriously, recommended.
Pluses: Waterproof authenticity.
Minuses: None.
Ciak is an Italian brand of notebook determined to take on Moleskine.
Pluses: Closes with a sensible horizontal elastic band.
Minuses: Too thick for portable use (twice the thickness of a Moleskine). A bit overzealous in their marketing.
The brand of choice for Japanese productivity junkies, Kokuyo makes hyper-functional notebooks for engineers and surveyors.
Pluses: Pocket-size. High-quality paper. Durable green cover.
Minuses: Only available in Japan.
Hailed by some as the perfect notebook, the Stifflexible was the inspiration behind the Black Cover blog, for whom they were resurrected after being discontinued. Two built-in creases on the front and back covers allow this handsome Italian notebook to be flipped through and searched without opening it. According to legend, Giuliano Mazzuoli got the idea after finding a book from the 1700s in a Florentine library with a similar design.
Pluses: Stiff yet flexible. Pages open flat. Back flap can be used as a bookmark. Made entirely in Italy. Not a Moleskine.
Minuses: The newer versions don’t have the creamy paper or colored page edges of old.
33 Responses to “Notebook Reviews”
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Wow. I am going to bookmark the s**t out of this one. Thanks, Sean.
Miquelrius’ American site, while nothing special, is less annoying than the gimmick-laden main site:
http://www.shopmiquelrius.com/
I love these notebooks: flexible, indestructible, and with 300 pages. But I must not be alone: some models are listed as out-of-stock.
Super list, really well done.
Huh, I use my fountain pen in my moleskine all the time and have never had any bleed-through problems. For sheer paper pleasure, though, I haven’t found anything that can top Clairefontaine.
Never a problem with fountain pen & the mole
Seems a bit unfair to knock Field Notes for “trying too hard” — which is as meaningless a phrase as there is.
Regardless, I agree with most of your reviews. One thing I like about some of the Moleskines is the section of removable pages (those come in handy). I use only one side of the paper, so it’s important to note that for me any bleedthrough hasn’t contaminated the next sheet. Even when it doesn’t literally bleed (which it usually doesn’t with my F and XF fountain pens), the pages are pretty translucent.
I love the larger Apica notebooks– they all have great paper and the perfect lines.
Finally, there is one potential problem with the “write in the rain” notebooks (if they are the same as the ones I use)– mine have “indestructible” pages and they aren’t kidding… they are literally impossible to tear off without mangling the wire binding. Kind of embarrassing when you go to give that hot barista your number and you can’t tear it off
Wonderful list! I love Apica. My only problem now is that they were normally half off at a local stationary store, which as since stopped carrying them, forcing me to pay full price now.
I’ve been using some of the small Muji notebooks—the equivalent to the Moleskin Cahiers series—and like them very much. The fact that they’re dirt-cheap doesn’t do any harm, either.
I agree with Sarah on the Clairefontaine notebooks. Great paper, funky plaid covers, and cool sizes available.
Wow never knew there were so many different types of notebooks!
I love notebooks too. For me it’s really important that they can be bent over backwards.
An interesting solution for those who are not looking for quality but for cheapness e this free notebook: http://www.pocketmod.com/
I didn’t know that Portuguese brand, Ecoteca, and I’m really sorry it’s not available anymore…
notebook porn…….delicious stuff……..love the look of the Ciak books and Rhodia as always……
Argh! How could you tempt us like that, with the photo of the Portuguese notebook no longer available!! But let me speak up for Rhodia, the smallest size of which is not too unwieldy to stuff in a back pocket.
Great wrap-up!
Cant wait for the pen review!
You left off the best of the bunch in my estimation. The small Hand-book sketch books. They’re far superior to moleskins and the best books if you want to make sketches and washes along with your writing.
The construction of these books (in three sizes and four colors (including black) are spartan but well made. And the cost is a totally relevant pleasure. Unlike Moleskines, you’re not gouged for a well made book.
Best of all, the weight of the paper inside is hefty and strong enough for pen, pencil, and light wash. I love them and have given up on any of the other pretenders.
You can see them on Dick Blick’s art supply website.
http://www.dickblick.com/zz118/69/
You really should check these out and update your list.
Wondermachine,
Those Hand Books do look nice.
I’ve reviewed the Hand*Book here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/biffybeans/2121168888/
I say, don’t waste your money….
love this review.
I am very impressed by your journal overview. Couple of things I would note. I like Moleskin’s new line of cheaper journals that come in packages of three shrinkwrapped together. In regards to Muji, I use a fountain pen, so I use their art notebooks which absorb the ink well. Besides having the right size (somewhere around the size of a paperback book), for me, it’s necessary to have blank pages. So, that takes a lot of journals out of the running.
Fantastic. Never knew about these things. Thank you.