Review by Tina Koyama
The latest entries in the pocket notebook field are from Notegeist Bindery. Notegeist itself has been around for a while as a purveyor of carefully curated notebooks, pencils and other stationery items. Most recently, owner Gary Varner has added his own line of handmade notebooks and memo pads, including Everydays, Jotters and specialty refills for Traveler’s covers (stayed tuned for a review of Jotters and Traveler’s). Very limited editions are occasionally offered, too, with unusual papers or unique cover designs.
Available in a variety of design themes, Everydays (3 for $12.95) come in the popular 3 ½-by-5 ½ -inch “Field Notes” size. Gary sent me Modern Believe and Vintage Lace, shown here. The Vintage notebooks have slightly heavier covers that are blank on the inside, while the Moderns are printed on both sides with coordinating patterns. All four corners are rounded, which is a nice touch (most pocket-sized notebooks are rounded only on two corners).
Distinctive to the Notegeist line is the paper: 48 pages of fountain-pen-friendly 70 gsm Maruman Basic, a Japanese paper. The Modern books are dot-grid ruled; the Vintage are graph ruled.
I tested the smooth Maruman paper with my usual range of pencils and pens, and I saw no bleeding or ghosting with even my juicy Pentel brush pen or Sailor Fude de Mannen fountain pen with Platinum Carbon Black ink. With graphite, I prefer a little more tooth, but the paper is pleasant enough with a super-soft 8B pencil.
Fountain pen users don’t have too many options in an everyday-carry notebook with dependable paper at a reasonable price, so it’s refreshing to see Notegeist Bindery’s offers. If you want a chance to get one of Gary’s very-limited-edition notebooks, better get on his mailing list – they sold out pronto last time. And if attending a pen show is in your future, you might meet Gary there with his wares.
Giveaway: Want to try a sample pack of Notegeist Everydays? We’re giving away one each of a Modern and a Vintage notebook to two Desk readers, and we’ll toss in some stickers and a cute pencil, too. (Miatagrrl might toss in some of her stickers, too. )
TO ENTER: Leave a comment below and tell us which products over at Notegeist.com are your favorite? Play along and type in something. It makes reading through entries more interesting for me, okay? One entry per person.
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FINE PRINT: All entries must be submitted by 10pm CST on Tuesday, October 15, 2024. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winners will be announced on Wednesday. Winner will be selected by random number generator from entries that played by the rules (see above). Please include your actual email address in the comment form so that I can contact you if you win. I will not save email addresses or sell them to anyone — pinky swear. If winner does not respond within 5 days, I will draw a new giveaway winner. Shipping via USPS first class is covered. Additional shipping options or insurance will have to be paid by the winner. We are generous but we’re not made of money. US and APO/AFO only, sorry.
DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by Notegeist for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
Tina Koyama is an urban sketcher in Seattle. Her blog is Fueled by Clouds & Coffee, and you can follow her on Instagram as Miatagrrl.
I love all things related to notebooks and fountain pens. What I really enjoy the most are soft, tactile feels and things which embrace the use of a notebook and fountain pen. To that end, my favorite product from their website has to be the Lochby canvas field journal. Would really like something like that rather than having my notebooks with their flimsy covers deteriorating as I use them.
Wow, thanks for the giveaway! I love how whimsical the UPG notebooks are. My favorite is the 100-acre Woods notebook, though I also like the birdwatching one.
My two favorites would be the Maruman papers and of course the Blackwings. I like all the grades of Blackwing except extra firm—I’m more the 8B pencil type!!
Great review. I ventured over to the Notegeist website and have to say that my favorite was their “Always Room For A Few More” sticker. For me, that relates to paper, notebook, pens, stickers, art supplies…yes just about anything!
Never been but I’ll give it a gander, which could be very, very dangerous. Love paper…a little too much.
I went over to the Notegeist site and what jumped out to me were the Die-Cut Memo Pad Stands – particularly the Orange Cat one (my wife would love those!) Thanks for the giveaway and showing us another cool vendor.
I really like the Modern series
Pocket notebooks are very handy in my purse, I always have one with me
Thanks for the chance to win
Hmmm… I ended up liking the Baronfig Unfinished Journal. Why? Mostly because the Astronaut on the cover and the super cool design and color made the fly go to the light (me!) !
Thank you for posting about Notegeist – I did not know anything about them… but after looking on the site… I’m impressed. I really like the Modern Believe notebooks.
Thanks so much for the giveaway. I’d never heard of Notegeist before. It looks like they have a lot of great notebooks.
I didn’t know he carried Dapper Notes! I’ve been wanting to try soms.
Love the review and a lot of the items there / still a few of his notebooks on there too (but a few less since you showed us this site!). The travel notebook covers are so great especially having slim options (I like to finish a TN and have a new one more often than the bigger inserts allow).
thank you for the find.
I am really coveting the cryptid notebooks! So sad they’re sold out already.
What a great set of stationers products! I’ve been a fan of Unemployed Philosopher’s Guild for a while so it was fun to be reminded of their paper products, especially the custom note pads! Love the Edgar Allan Poe ones. The Notegeists notebooks are pretty awesome too.
Hi, I don’t have a favorite, since I have never heard of Notegeist before…..newbie here. I just recently got into fountain pens and their special lady friend, Paper. I found your website by googling, how to find a good fountain pen. That’s how new I am…but I can already tell that my “collector’s gene” will be activated soon. I know I need to start looking at better paper than the standard college rule spiral notebook. Too be honest, if it wasn’t for your website I would be lost and overwhelmed. I will check out Notegeist on my next pay check. .
Always want to try new paper that’s artist-approved!
I’m liking the Everyday Notebooks and Unemployed Philosophers Guild for notebooks and love the Blackwing Pencils too!