This is the 2013 Daycraft Executive Diary (planner), in brown. The cover is made of a high-quality polyurethane, or imitation leather. You'll notice the diary is secured with an elastic strap that secures to a knob on the front of the book.
The good thing about the way this strap secures is loose items that are stuck in the planner are less likely to fall out, and the pages of the diary itself will not get crumpled up due to the planner accidentally opening in your bag or purse.
The downside to this type of securement is that the knob on the front cover sticks out a bit, so it will fit awkwardly next to other books on a shelf and may end up scratching them or leaving indentation marks, so keep that in mind.
As for the paper, I do enjoy that it is a similar color to the cover, and most of the Daycraft products I have seen tint the paper so it looks more interesting from the side.
The Daycraft Executive Diary is a bit thicker, allowing for a page-a-day format with time slots. I personally don't like when time is included in the formatting, because I might have a number of things to do in one hour and have the rest of my day open. Obviously this is personal preference, but I tend to go for the more organic approach.
Outside of the page-a-day views, there are also month-at-a-glance pages to help you plan for larger projects and events. I like the layout of having the lines above the calendar rather than having little boxes with the date, like many planners often do.
There are several motivational quotes throughout the planner, but I wanted to share this one as it is the one that stuck with me the most (and it's great advice, right?). The paper itself is thin, but it holds up to a variety of mediums pretty well, though show-through is significant. I recommend sticking with a pencil, ballpoint, or micro-tip gel.
Various information pages and reference material is also located at the beginning of the book, which you can see in my recent review of the Daycraft Animaland Diary.
On the spine is the year of the planner, which looks great, but there is the aforementioned issue with the knob for the elastic band. At any rate, the Daycraft Executive Notebook has a lot going for it, and it is available is also available in a pocket version. This is the A6 size, and it goes for ~$30.83 (U.S) as of 9/15/12.
 |
| Image from Daycraft.com.hk |
Next we have the Daycraft Astrology Notebook with Swarovski crystals. The one I have is for Aries (March 21st to April 19th). I love the black cover with black pages, allowing the crystals to literally shine off of the cover.
The cover is made of a high quality polyurethane, which has its own sheen. Between the crystals and refraction of the cover, I did have difficulty in taking pictures, but I cannot fault the notebook for this.
The notebook comes in a box which not only makes gift wrapping easier, but it adds to the presentation, assuming you don't end up keeping the notebook for yourself. :)
On the first page of the book is a plastic insert that shows all of the different star clusters that relate to a zodiac sign. I honestly didn't know what they looked like, so I thought this was a nice touch.
On the pages is a star-grid patter, similar to Rhodia's Dot Grid style, but each of the points is a little plus sign which I believe is meant to reflect the star/astrology theme of the notebook itself.
The paper itself is exceptionally smooth and much thicker than than the paper in the Daycraft Diaries. You get 88 sheets (176 pages), and the paper is white in color (though it looks a little darker in the photo).
Given the theme of this notebook, I think it would make a great dream journal or book of aspirations. Regardless of what the notebook is used for, the notebook feels like it should hold the contents of something special. At $299 Hong Kong dollars, or $38.57 U.S., this notebook is a bit pricey, which is another reason to use it for something worth the price.
Many thanks for Foreal Lee for sending out the samples to review!
You can order this notebook directly from Daycraft - Daycraft Astrology Notebooks