Brand: O-Check Design Graphics

Size: 5.11 x 7 inches

Pages: 128

Paper: 70gsm, lined

Cover: Hardcover

Price: 19.95 AUD (19.65 USD)

Markings: ‘Another Day Cloudy Memory’ title on the front cover; company name on back cover is barely noticeable due to small font and font colour. 

Features: Vintage Book look – very aesthetically pleasing, maroon coloured lined pages, narrow lines measuring in at just 6mm, ribbon page marker.

Quality: Seems sturdy – I’ve been bending it in every direction, and although it will crack and pop, it stays together and nothing is breaking/ungluing/ripping. That’s always a good sign.

Where to buy: Australian company, Notemaker (wonderful service).

Recommended? Yes

The size of this notebook is great – a bit more squared than your average sized notebook (compared to a Large Moleskine above), but I’m starting to really enjoy notebooks that come in this smaller, more squared size since they’re a bit more portable and offer a different layout than the one I’m used to.

Aesthetically, this notebook is made to look like a vintage book which I personally think is a great idea. It looks great, and it would be a real treat to display somewhere on your bookshelf – of course, depending on what you use it for – I don’t think I would display a personal journal so openly. There are other notebooks in this set, to see them all click here.

O-Check is a Korean company. I do love Korean (or should I say, Asian in general?) stationery for their creativity and inclusion of the little details that most people would not bother with. The usual English quotes/sayings that can be found on many of these Korean and Japanese stationery products is not something I care for, however O-Check doesn’t overdo it, which is manageable. Please note that the colour of the actual notebook is not representative of the above photo, rather resembles the rest of the photos much better.

Opening up the notebook, you find a little treasure – a rather fitting design which I completely adore. It not only goes very well with the blue cover of the notebook, but it continues that vintage play on the inside of the notebook as well.

The paper feels thick – apparently it’s only 70gsm, but to the touch it feels quite a bit thicker than that. It is smooth without being silky, which feels great but also takes a variety of different pens fairly well  (see last two photos). One of my favorite things about this notebook is the lines themselves. The pages are lined in a deep maroon colour which is a pleasant alternative to the usual blues. The lines themselves are narrow, measuring in at just 6mm – which, if you ask me, is the perfect spacing.

Another great feature of this notebook is that it lays flat completely on its own when opened up in the middle and one needs just a gentle hold at the beginning. It comes with a brown ribbon page marker that is similar to the ones Moleskines come with – therefore, fraying does happen, however a bit of superglue at the tip will fix that. You won’t find a back pocket with this notebook, and of course, no elastic band. All the better, at least on the latter, since an elastic band would completely ruin that vintage book look which this notebook strives to achieve.

… and of course, the pen test.

Not too bad. Could be better, sure – but for the type of notebook, I think the paper quality is actually quite good. Sorry I had no Fountain Pens on me when I took the photos for this review, however if you want to use FP’s, then you’d better go for something else, such as a Habana, Rhodia or Conceptum. No major bleeding, however quite a bit of show through, especially with the likes of a Sharpie or Fineliners – however, that’s to be expected. A ballpoint pen would probably be the best pen to use with this paper. A thin gel/liquid ink pen would work perfectly fine as well.

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Brand: Monsieur Notebook

Size: A6 – 11 x 14.5 cm
A5 – 14.8 x 21 cm
A4 – 21 x 29.8 cm

Pages: 192 pages

Price: A6 – £9.99 ($15-16 USD)
A5 – £12.99 ($20-21 USD)
A4 – £21.99 ($34-35 USD)

Markings: Monsieur logo on the lower right hand corner of the back cover.

Features: Authentic leather cover, elastic band enclosure, ribbon page marker, comes in ruled or plain paper, sketchbook with 140gsm Cartridge paper also available, 3 different colours: black, tan and brown. According to the Monsieur website, starting this month, they have also introduced a limited range of landscape notebooks available + more colour variety, including green, red, turquoise among other colours.

Pros: Fantastic leather cover + great colours, good paper, elastic band closure, ribbon page marker, classic and simple look – very aesthetically pleasing.

Cons: No pocket and the ribbon page marker is unfortunately already fraying and I haven’t even really used the notebook yet.

Where to buy: Online you can buy these at Papernation – the shop is based in the UK, but they do ship worldwide. For a list of retail shops that carry Monsieur notebooks, check here.

Recommended? Yes

Size wise, the A5 Monsieur is comparable in length to a Large sized Moleskine, but as you can see, it is a bit larger in width. I’m beginning to really enjoy wider width notebooks – they add more room without actually making the notebook look or feel much larger than the more average sized A5′s out there (Moleskine, Rhodia).

Aside from the cover, the next best thing, in my opinion, is the design given to the front page – simple, yet classic. Perhaps you enjoy a more minimalistic approach, but I do think that the subtle design gives it a more luxurious feel. Plus, it’s a beautiful geometric inspired design – what’s not to like? I’d plaster my house in geometric designs if I could.

The leather cover of the notebook is nice – it’s harder than a softcover and yet much softer than a hardcover – I’m not sure what to call it, it’s somewhere in between. But because it is real leather, the cover will, over time give in and become a nice, easily bendable softcover. The edges have that nice rough leather feel which I think adds quite a bit to the overall look of the notebook. Appearance wise, the Monsieur gets a perfect 10.

When you first open the notebook, it’s a bit stiff, but the people behind Monsieur Notebook encourages us to bend it back – “If you want it to lie flat, bend the book back on itself. It can take the strain; they’re stronger than you think.” Although I am usually very careful with bending stiff notebooks, for the fear of breaking them completely, I took their advice and gave my Monsieur a few hard bends. And that is the outcome. Just as strong as before, and now lying perfectly flat, just the way I like it.

As for the paper, it seems to do quite well under a variety of different pens. The paper itself feels very smooth, with just enough grain to not make fountain pen inks, gel pens and markers run.

There is a bit of show through from markers and the medium tip fountain pen, but nothing that one couldn’t deal well with. Even the Sharpie did okay, when compared to how it does on the paper of other notebooks.

And, if any notebook should get a reward for it’s logo – it’s Monsieur. I mean, really? How awesome is that!

I think you do – and it’s very simple to win this lovely pocket, ruled Monsieur. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Leave one comment on this post, anytime between today and the night of Sunday, October 2nd, at 11:59PM Eastern Time. Only one entry per person please. If you have a blog, I’d appreciate it if you would spread the word, but it’s not required in order to win.

2. The winner will be picked at random, using the Random Generator at random.org. The comments will be numbered in the order they are received – so the first comment is #1 etc.

3. Contest winner will be posted on Monday, October 3rd. The winner will have one week to e-mail me with a shipping address, at notebooklovespen@gmail.com. If no e-mail is received within that week, I’ll use the Random Generator again, and another winner will be given a week to e-mail me, etc.

4. Contest is open to all of you, no matter what part of the world you’re from. I’ll ship anywhere, at my own expense. Package will come from Canada and will be marked as gift, for Customs purposes.

** Please note: Comments are moderated, so they will not show up automatically. Please remember, only one comment per person qualifies.

And that’s it! Good luck to everyone!

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