Ask The Desk: Planner for Medical Editor, Waterproof inks and Cross Porous Point Pen Options

Angela asks:

Hello–I’m a freelance medical editor. I have to keep track of jobs for ±6 clients each day. For years, I’ve used a spiral notebook and pencil. I’ve been upgrading my notebooks, and now I think I’d like to use a daily planner so I have a more orderly view of finished projects. I would need something that at least 8 inches wide because I have to record client job numbers and project descriptions, as well as the amount of time each job takes. Do you have a recommendation for a nice but moderately priced planner or notebook? I wouldn’t need extra pages for long-range planning or goals.

I think your best bet would be to start with Agendio.com. This site allows you to completely customize a planner to meet your needs. This takes a bit of decision-making on your part but it also means you can get what you want and nothing you don’t. You can save your design and change it or update it next year if you find that there was something you didn’t like about your layout this year. And you can start any month. You can even choose if you want a spiral binding or just what your pages punched to fit into a binder you already own.

Lisa asks:

Hi, I’m thinking of buying a TWISBI ECO to accent my watercolor sketches with ink. What kinds of ink can the ECO use? I’m interested in experimenting with acrylic inks, for example. PS – total newbie. Thanks!

Lisa,

NO ACRYLIC INK!!!

I don’t mean to yell but I want to make sure you don’t miss my comment. Fountain pens use fountain pen ink ONLY. However, there is waterproof (bulletproof, archival, etc) ink that can be used in fountain pens that will work with your fountain pens. I did a post awhile back about some of my favorite waterproof fountain pen inks and urban sketcher Liz Steel is a big fan of using fountain pens for her artwork too. Our own resident urban sketcher Tina also uses fountain pens for her artwork and has lots of recommendations as well. And, of course, my favorite will always be Platinum Carbon Black.

If you want to play with acrylic inks, I would recommend using a dip pen and nib like a Speedball dip nib. These are available for about $1 per nib and a holder is anywhere from $5 and up depending on how fancy you want to be. Using acrylic ink with a dip nib means if the ink dries on the nib, you have only damaged a $1 nib. No big deal. You can throw the nib out (or recycle it with a metal recycler) and use a new one.

John asks:

Hello, I was wondering if you know what pens are compatible with the cross porous felt pen refill. I truly love that you porous refill tips from Cross and looking for a similar experience with a different pen body. I was wondering if you knew of any.

The Porous Point (felt tip) refill from Cross is part of their “Selectip” line which fit in the Cross Century Classic. Any of the BigiDesign capped designs like the Ti Ultra, Ti Arto EDC, and Ti Arto. Pretty must any of the BigiDesign models with a cap. I realize that’s not a lot of options but at least it will give you a pen that will accept other refills should you no longer be able to get the Porous Point or decide you want to use something else.