Last week, I was delighted to find a sample pack of these InkJournal Notebooks in the mailbox. This is a new product from Tom Oddo, creator of the InkJournal and fine-writing specialist at Goldspot.com, which has a large selection of pens, paper, ink, and cartridges.
As a pen, paper, ink enthusiast, Tom set forth to create a better tool for testing and organizing ink characteristics and reviews. The key here is convenience and standardization. I often try out new inks in whatever notebook is available, and I usually don't keep the individual pages that I test inks on because they are in different locations. Given my need to be more organized, I think this is an efficient solution to keep track of how different pens (nibs) distribute various inks on the page.
Within the 3-pack of InkJournal Notebooks is an instruction card, which also doubles as a blotter card. Though the layout of the notebooks is intuitive, the card is both a nice touch and a helpful aid for those who are new to the terminology of ink properties, and the blotter card will prevent other pages from getting ink on them if you close your notebook.
I very much like the layout, and the 100% recycled paper performed surprisingly well. The ink on the page is vegetable-based ink for a "greener" production process.
For the money, these are fantastic, clever little notebooks, and I look forward to seeing if Tom puts out some regular notebooks on this paper. I love my other notebooks that are of comparable design, but they just cannot handle fountain pen ink very well, even if the ink is designed for cheaper papers.
The InkJournal Notebook comes in packs of 3 ($9.99) or packs of 6 ($17.99) and is available at InkJournal.com