Rating: 4.0
February 15, 2011
I’ve been a big fan of ecosystem notebooks, having positively reviewed their hardback lined journal and created an iPad cover from a large, lined softcover journal. When I found out that they were releasing a sketchbook, I made it a point to get a copy to review, and I have to say that I’m pretty pleased.
The basic setup is very similar to a standard ecosystem hardback notebook: rounded corners on the paper and cover; a bound-in, 100% organic cotton bookmark; a sturdy elastic strap to keep the cover closed; and a paper pocket inside the back cover.
Rating: 5.0
September 30, 2010
I’ve been keeping writing journals for well over a decade, since I began the practice back in college. During that time I’ve used a wide variety of notebooks: ruled Moleskines, leather-bound blank journals, books with black paper that had to be written on with colorful gel pens, books that cost one-dollar, books that cost sixty dollars, spiral bound, hard bound, hand-bound, large, medium, small – the list goes on and on.
Rating: 2.0
July 7, 2010
The Dot Grid Journal is part of Behance’s Action Method product line – a set of paper products designed to support their Action Method project methodology. They’ve got a wide range of products, from pre-printed loose sheets to spiral bound notebooks, to stickers – the goal of which is to focus the user on action items. This journal, however, can easily be used without any reference to the Action Method.
Rating: 5.0
June 23, 2010
Ever since I started writing ink reviews, I’ve been using Rhodia notepads. Rhodia uses bright white, 80gsm, acid-free, pH neutral, Clairefontaine paper in their notepads, which is a joy to write on. Clairefontaine paper is widely considered by fountain pen aficionados to be the best paper available. It has a very smooth finish to it, which makes the pen glide across the paper, and it stands up to even the wettest ink without complaint and without feathering.
Rating: 4.5
June 13, 2010
Much has been discussed about Ecosystem’s commitment to producing a green notebook. The bright, white, 100% post-consumer, recycled paper by New Leaf Paper is prepared using a chlorine-free bleaching process and printed with a soy-based ink. It has an organic cotton bookmark, and the cover is coated with a water-based acrylic.
Additionally, all of the components are sourced in the United States, which cuts down on the cost and carbon emission of transportation.
The fine folks at Ecosystem put out a call for people to hack their large notebooks in service of creating an iPad cover. I volunteered, and a large, flexi-cover, lagoon notebook showed up at my door a few weeks ago. I finally got a chance to play with the notebook today, and I think the hack turned out well.
Below is the ecosystem notebook with the iPad. The notebook is almost exactly the same shape and size and the iPad - it is about a quarter inch taller and about an eighth of an inch narrower.
