I was browsing eBay recently and came across a very odd Moleskine planner. I searched for it on Moleskine’s own site but found nothing. The only other listing I found was at Target:

Digging still further, I found another Target listing for a beige version, which was also listed on the website of Sandman Books.

This is so weird. To be honest, I thought at first that it was someone’s idea of a joke to Photoshop together a really stupid looking fake Moleskine product (which I am not above doing myself). But Target actually shows this product as being in stock in one of their stores, so I guess it’s real.

The product description says the covers are made with special paper (and yes, the typo is in the original):

FAVINI PAPER – SUSTAINABILIY AND INNOVATION
Made in Italy: the planner’s covers are made from innovative Crush and Remake paper by Favini. Based in northern Italy and tracing its history to 1736, Favini is a leading global producer of natural, fiber-based materials. Remake is made using up-cycled leather residues, while Crush is produced using residues from organic products.

I suppose I could imagine something uglier if I tried, but I don’t want to. The whole concept looks like a patchwork of features from other journals you’d find in Target, or a Hallmark store or the checkout lane at HomeGoods. Gold modern calligraphy? With a ring binding that looks like it’s made of cork? These things aren’t ugly per se, but it’s like they’ve been patched in from a different design universe, and the way this all comes together with Moleskine’s branding looks terrible, at least in my opinion.

Moleskine used to have a very particular brand identity and aesthetic, but they seem to be going far astray.