Bindewerk, Journal, My Collection, Notebook Reviews, Places to Buy Notebooks, Sketchbook

Bindewerk Linen Journal Quality Control

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As I’ve mentioned several times on this site, the Bindewerk Linen Notebook (officially known as the Bindewerk Linen Flexible Cover Travel Notebook) is one of my most exciting finds for alternatives to Moleskine notebooks in the 9×14 cm hardcover format. I have bought 10 of these so far because I love them so much. I’ve used one so far as a daily notebook, and I’ll be starting another one any day now. But now that I’ve seen quite a few examples of these Bindewerk notebooks, I do have some frustrations with them.

The first Bindewerk Linen notebook I bought was from the museum shop at the Frick in NYC. They had a few on the shelf, and I examined them all closely and selected one that was pretty close to perfect in terms of symmetry and a nice spine. The others in the shop were ok, but not quite as good as the one I bought. My next few purchases came from online sellers (OrangeArt in the US, and Papersmiths in the UK) and , so I was a bit disappointed when I saw that some of them had uneven spines and cover overhang that was larger on one side or the other.

Note tight rounded spine on blue notebook, vs. uneven loose spine on light green notebook.

The other day I was in Paper Presentation on 18th St in NYC– always one of my favorite places to shop for notebooks. They now have quite a good selection of these Bindewerk notebooks in lined, dot grid and plain pages, in all their pretty colors. I picked through the ones with plain and dotted pages and quite a few of them had the crooked/loose spine and uneven overhang issue. I ended up finding one pretty good one, and bought it, but I found the consistency of the problems to be quite disturbing. And even the “good one” I bought seemed to have some extra glue on one side of the spine. There are also a couple of pages inside where the glue between signatures extends a bit too far in and the pages don’t open as flat as they should. Otherwise the notebook opens flat and functions just fine, but these minor defects do bother me.

Bindewerk notebook
Bindewerk notebook from Paper Presentation, with uneven spine and extra glue.
Bindwerk notebook

These notebooks are expensive– at Paper Presentation, they are $18.95, which is the lowest price I’ve seen. My first one from the Frick cost $20. Either way, it is very high for a 9x14cm notebook. (In this size, Moleskine’s list price is $14.95, as is a Rhodia Webnotebook and a basic pocket Leuchtturm. A pocket size Baron Fig notebook is only $12. HandBook Artist Journals are now usually around $13-14. Bindewerk has some advantages over each of these, and to me, the combination of perfect size, beautiful cloth covers and the fantastic paper inside make them worth a little more, but it is also worth noting that they lack a ribbon marker, elastic closure, or back pocket, which are standard on most of the competition. The packaging says they are “handmade in Germany,” so I would expect to get a high level of quality vs. products that are more cheaply produced in China. I can’t expect any notebook maker to be 100% perfect all the time, but with so many binding issues, I’m not sure Bindewerk notebooks are really delivering the consistent level of quality this price point demands.

I can still see myself buying more Bindewerk notebooks if I can inspect them in person and avoid crooked bindings, but I definitely won’t be ordering them online. I hope they can work on their quality control and make sure all their notebooks live up to their potential.

Art, creativity, Links, Muji, Notebook Addict of the Week, Organization, Sketchbook

Notebook Addict of the Week: e2g4

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This week’s addict is another Reddit user, who posted the image below of his tidy and consistent collection:

Notebooks. It’s not fancy, but each month I put it on the shelf and grab a new one. I used to have nice notebooks, but then I tried to standardize and reduce the barrier to drawing. I never want to think ‘I shouldn’t draw that, this paper is too nice.’

His notebooks are from Muji.

See the original post and comments on Reddit. Images from inside these notebooks can be seen on Imgur.

antique, Diary, Journal, Marquette, My Collection, Planner, record-keeping

1940 Marquette Diary

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Every once in a while an antique diary catches my eye on eBay. Most of the time I don’t buy them because they are similar to things I already have in my collection. Sometimes they are more tempting but too expensive, usually because the contents might have some historical interest, such as a soldier’s memoirs of one of the world wars. But every once in a while there is something that looks a little different and seems worth a try if I can get it for a low bid. That was the case with this diary.

1940 marquette diary

I paid $0.99 for this diary, plus a couple of bucks for shipping. I’m glad I didn’t pay more. It’s a bit musty and the spine was broken and re-glued in a wonky way that makes it all crooked and impossible to open fully.

So often these old diaries are a smaller 2.5 x 4″ format but this one is about 3.5 x 6″. As is typical, it has frontmatter with populations of cities, distances between cities, and a list of holidays. Somewhat more unusual are the 3 pages of detailed information about postal rates. Then you have a page per day diary, and a few pages in the back for recording cash received and spent, and telephone numbers and addresses. The endpapers have yearly calendars for 1940 (in the front) and 1939 and 1941 (in the back). Whoever owned this diary made note of a couple of birthdays in pencil, but it is otherwise completely empty.

The coolest thing about it was this old telegram tucked inside. Nowadays it boggles them mind to think of arranging a visit via snail mail and telegrams, then arriving in a new city with a plan as vague as “meet me at this hotel on this day.” But I guess people made it work!

western union telegram

This is not the most exciting vintage diary in my collection, but I guess it’s nice that it didn’t end up in the garbage. Whenever I go to estate sales or yard sales or antique shops, I’m surprised in a way that there are so few diaries and notebooks on offer. Maybe avid collectors snap them up. Or maybe the original owners’ families destroy them because they are seen as private and of no value to others. But I always enjoy these links to the past– every notebook has a story, even if it’s blank.

Art, creativity, Field Notes, Journal, Links, Notebook Addict of the Week, Other People's Notebooks, Sketchbook, Travel Notebooks

Notebook Addict of the Week (Again): Tina Koyama

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Tina was a Notebook Addict of the Week back in 2014, when she showed us her collection of hand-bound sketchbooks. She is still a dedicated Urban Sketcher, and has also done quite a bit of traveling. This time, Tina shares her collection of travel journals:

[Above] is a photo of the whole collection: several Moleskines (including one City notebook that was nice in concept but didn’t have enough freeform space for writing), a few Field Notes for shorter trips, and several Rhodia Rhodiarama notebooks. The latter is probably still my favorite, although the slightly larger format of the Field Notes Signature is very nice (I just wish it had a few more pages). The Hello Kitty notebook was my first travel journal, used on my first trip to Japan (and my first time outside the US). Disappointingly, it’s the least interesting of all my travel journals. I guess I was so overwhelmed with being in a new country that I hardly wrote anything! Since then, however, I have been to many other countries and cities, and I learn more about how to be a better travel journal keeper each time I travel.

“When I ran out of pages toward the end, I started sketching on ticket stubs and receipts.”
“My travel journal in Brazil was a Rhodia Rhodiarama notebook.”

On Tina’s blog, you can read her review of the pocket Rhodiarama notebook as well as see more details and photos of her Portugal Travel Journal. Her Instagram (@miatagrrl) is also a constant source of sketch inspiration!

Many thanks to Tina for continuing to share her notebook (and sketching) addiction with us!

Field Notes, new products, Places to Buy Notebooks, Travel Notebooks

Field Notes Mile Marker Edition

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A year ago, I had just embarked on my epic cross-country road trip, so this season’s Field Notes special edition struck a chord and makes me want to hit the highway all over again!

This edition even comes with a map of the US interstate highway system (free if you’re an annual subscriber, otherwise a separate purchase). More details at the Field Notes website.

Art, creativity, Diary, Journal, Links, Other People's Notebooks, record-keeping

Scanned Notebooks From Yang Zhichao’s Chinese Bible

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There is currently an art exhibition on view in Australia featuring a work called “Chinese Bible” by Yang Zhichao. It is a “monumental installation of 3000 notebooks and diaries inscribed between 1949 and 1999. These small books were collected by the artist from Beijing markets from 2005 to 2008 and ritually washed before presentation. Once owned by people of all ages and backgrounds, they reveal handwritten notes ranging from the experience of falling in love to the ideological slogans of the Cultural Revolution.”

A view of the installation is below, and in the video you can see more about the project.

Yang Zhichao’s Chinese Bible installation view

You can also see the covers and scanned pages of all the notebooks on the website of the Art Gallery of New South Wales. (I couldn’t help wondering if I would spot one that looked like the 1980 Chinese Diary from my own collection!)

Yang Zhichao’s Chinese Bible notebook covers
Selected interior pages from Yang Zhichao’s Chinese Bible notebooks

See more at: Scanned notebooks :: Chinese bible :: Art Gallery NSW

Art, creativity, Diary, Journal, Links, Other People's Notebooks, record-keeping, Scientific, Sketchbook

Tips for Starting a Garden Journal

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It’s the perfect time of year for this article from Delaware’s Cape Gazette about a workshop on garden journaling:

Kelly Sverduk, a teacher and an artist, says “I used to only keep nice sketchbooks when I went on a trip somewhere, but eventually I realized that I wanted to treat my day-to-day life with the same level of appreciation.”  The process of studying a plant or object and carefully re-creating it feels especially therapeutic in our fast-paced world, she says. 
This type of journal usually incorporates text as well as pictures or sometimes bits and pieces, like a scrapbook, such as seed packets or pressed plant material. Whether the content is observations on temperature, bloom time, seed types, or planting notes for next year – or more personal reflections on your own life, remember that your journal or sketchbook is for you. 

Read more: Get started with a garden journal

creativity, Journal, My Collection, new products, Notebook Reviews, Places to Buy Notebooks, Printfresh, Sketchbook

Printfresh Journals Review and Giveaway

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I discovered the Printfresh brand when I was doing my Christmas shopping several months ago. I was in a lovely gift shop in Mt. Kisco, NY called Porch, and among their many nice things, I saw a beautiful chunky journal with a velvet cover. My usual tastes in notebooks tend to run towards minimal designs, but this one was an eye-catching exception. I contacted the manufacturer and they were kind enough to send me not only a sample of the velvet notebook, but a big box of other products for me to review and share with some lucky winners!

printfresh journal notebook sketchbook

Velvet Journal

The Velvet journal has a beautiful indigo tie-dye pattern. This one is called Shibori Stripe, inspired by Japanese textiles. This small size measures about 4 x 6″, but it’s quite thick so will fit better in a bag than a pocket. There is a pretty big cover overhang but it kind of goes with the thickness and square corners.

When you open the journal, the binding feels quite stiff. This would be the main downside to this notebook– it is difficult to open flat due to the square spine. Repeated flexing helps, but I did worry the spine would break or tear. Inside, the endpapers are made of a lovely paper with bits of flowers throughout. There is a ribbon marker (an unusual metallic braid with a knot at the end) but no back pocket.

The 360 pages are lined, with the lines ending within the page, and larger margins at the top and bottom. The paper feels smooth and medium weight. I expected it to have a lot of bleed-through, but was pleasantly surprised to see that it actually performs quite well with most fountain pens. A few were a bit feathery, but there was almost no bleed-through.

Overall, this journal is lovely and will please most fountain pen users except for the difficulty in opening the pages flat. The list price for this small journal is $20, which is a little on the high side but it really is a beautiful, gifty object. Various designs are available on Amazon for $18.

Leather Marbled Sketchbook & Journal

The larger version of the leather sketchbooks made me say “Wow.” At 8.75×12.25″, it is a generously sized and substantial book, and I’ve never encountered a marbleized painted leather cover like this. The cover is really beautiful. There is a line of stitching on the back cover, perhaps just because it is easier for them to use two separate pieces of leather to bind such a large sketchbook– the smaller leather journals don’t have the stitching (I didn’t unwrap or test the smaller journal).

When you open it up, you are greeted by beautiful endpapers too, as well as a black ribbon marker (but no back pocket).

The paper inside is a creamy white, fairly smooth. The weight is not specified but it is not very thick. Here again fountain pens work fairly well with no bleedthrough but some feathering. I did not test watercolor paints but this paper is probably better for dry media.

At $38, this is more expensive than a hardcover sketchbook from Stillman & Birn or Moleskine, but those brands don’t have the luxurious leather cover. Many leather covered sketchbooks in this size are at least this price or more. Again, this sketchbook from PrintFresh offers a distinctive and gifty package that sets it apart. Available for purchase on Amazon.

Wire-O Bound Notebook

I love wire-o bindings for work notebooks, where I want to have the option of folding the cover back. These have a fun pattern on the cover, stamped in gold to match the wire. The pages within are lined and perforated for easy removal. I did not do pen tests on the wire-o notebook. The list price of this notebook is $13. Similar designs are available on Amazon.

printfresh wire-bound notebook

Conclusion

Printfresh notebooks are indeed fresh! Their designs are lovely and make these journals and sketchbooks special gifts for notebook collectors who already have all the run of the mill brands, or for anyone whose creativity is inspired by a colorful, attractive design. Be sure to check out the Printfresh website for their full line of products.

Giveaway!

Thanks to the generosity of the folks at Printfresh, I have quite a few samples to give away to some lucky readers!

Five winners will each get one Printfresh notebook. Please note that prizes can be mailed to US addresses only. Winners will be randomly selected from entries received in any of these ways:

On Twitter, tweet something containing “Printfresh Notebook @NotebookStories”, and follow @NotebookStories .

On Facebook, “like”  the Notebook Stories page and the Printfresh page, and post something containing the words “Printfresh Notebook” on the Notebook Stories page.

On your blog, post something containing the words “Printfresh Notebook” and “Notebook Stories” and link back to this post, also leaving a comment below with the link in case the trackback doesn’t work.

On Instagram, follow @Notebook.Stories and @Printfresh, and comment on my Printfresh post, tagging a friend and adding a hashtag of your favorite adjective describing the Printfresh notebook, journal or sketchbook. (Example: “@myfriendsally #velvetcover”)

The deadline for entry is Friday March 29, 2019 at 11:59PM, EST. Good luck everyone!

I received free samples to review but no other compensation. All opinions are my own.

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