When I placed my order with Baron Fig, I couldn’t just buy one notebook so I also ordered a set of their pocket-sized Apprentice books in the limited edition Time Travel design. The Apprentice notebooks come in a set of three books for $9 so they are in the same competitive price range as other pocket notebooks on the market. They are slightly smaller than most pocket notebooks at 3.5″x5″ rather than the average 3.5″x5.5″ inches. The Apprentice books feature rounded corners and a sewn stitched binding rather than staples which are nice details.
I really like the designs printed on the covers and the pleasingly toothy cover stock. The designs are simple but quite appealing.
Inside on the card stock is a lightly printed gradient that goes from the paper stock color to a twilight purple at the bottom. It almost looks like an optical illusion. There’s also a dotted line box printed inside the cover for contact info or details about the notebook contents.
On the inside of the back cover is teeny tiny branding and info about the books. Its super subtle and understated and I appreciate that. Thanks for not sticking giant logos all over the notebook I paid to use. Most obliged.
The paper inside the Apprentice is the same weight and color as the larger Confidant. I did, however, mix it up in terms of ruling and got the Apprentice with blank paper which is the only difference in the paper from the Confidant. I do love a blank page.
There seemed to be a little more show through and even a little bit of bleed through on the Apprentice than the Confidant which seemed odd. The only thing I could attribute this too is that the smaller book might be more prone to picking up moisture or oils from your hands more quickly since there’s less space overall. That said, with pocket notebooks, the goal is to have paper quickly available and handy with a writing tool that’s also quick and handy and often that EDC pen is not a fountain pen but a gel, ballpoint, rollerball or pencil which should not present any problems with the Baron Fig paper.
The absolute best thing, in my humble opinion about the Baron Fig Apprentice notebooks? They perfectly fit inside my Midori Traveler’s Notebook Star Edition Passport Sized. Perfect fit.
Overall, the Time Travel Edition of the Apprentice is a beautiful little pocket notebook set with fair-to-above-average ink handling. The books are beautifully constructed but I’m not inclined to combine them with many of my fountain pens in order to utilize both sides of the 48-page book’s sheets. And the fact that these books fit perfectly in passport-sized Midori Traveler’s is a win-win.
