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Up for review today is the Equology by Quo Vadis Sapa X Weekly Planner for 2010. This is a pocket planner designed for minimal environmental impact. I received this planner as a sample from Exaclair, Inc. Thanks! (I am not otherwise affiliated with Exaclair)
First Impressions:
This little planner just looks and feels great. It's the perfect size for slipping into a pocket, purse, or bag.
Appearance:
The cover is an attractive clay sort of red-brown. According to the label, it's made of 83% recycled materials it feels great in hand, but the feel is kind of hard to describe. The material feels like it's some sort of rubber or vinyl but it feels soft in the hand; very reminiscent of leather. On the top right corner of the cover appears the Equology logo and on the bottom right corner is the Quo Vadis logo. The pages are printed in grey and teal. This is a fantastic color palette.
Construction/ Dimensions/ Design:
As one would expect from Quo Vadis, this planner seems quite sturdy and durable. The binding is sown. There aren't any heavy end papers. There is just an addition page of the same paper used throughout the planner which is partially glued to the paper cover of the planner insert. The size of this journal is perfect for carrying: 5.5" in length, 3.75" in width, and .5" in depth. Very compact. It's also fairly light. It lays flat fairly well. It will stay open to the page I've turned it to.
The planner begins with the coversheet, a page for personal information, and a 2010 calendar with weeks beginning on Monday. After this comes the actual planning section. This planner is laid out with a week on two pages: Mon-Wed on page 1 and Thurs-Sun on Page 2. Each day gives you about 1.25" to write in. Each day section also has hours of the day listed on either side of the page so that you can write in appointments: 8am-1pm on the left and 2pm to 7pm on the right. The month is written at the top center of each page, a calendar of the current month appears on the bottom right corner of page 1, and "Quo Vadis" is very discreetly printed on the bottom left corner of page two. At the end of each months worth of planner pages are two blank pages for notes. The planner ends with a section of maps, a phone book, and a 2011 calendar.
And of course each page has a tear away corner which is very functional for keep your place in the planner. This is one of my favorite design features.
I own one other Quo Vadis planner (the Septanote, review forthcoming) and one of their strengths is their functional and practical designs. This format is quite practical, although I have one quibble. The times that appear on the outer edges of each day section are just not functional for me. There isn't enough space to really use the times unless you have very small writing. I'll like just write down my appointment and notes as if these times were not present.
Paper:
Now, this is perhaps the most important aspect for us fountain pen users. This paper is off-white leaning toward grey which I love. It's also 100% recycled and seems to be about 64g in weight. It is not the most fountain pen friendly paper combination. Most us know to be very wary of any paper that says 100% recycled. This usually means the paper will bleed and feather like crazy. HOWEVER, I have to tell you this paper was not terrible. Bleeding and show through is an issue, but feathering is not. One thing that seems to work well to control the bleeding is to write with your nib upside down. When I do that I don't get bleeding. Now this also means that if you are writing with extra fine or finer nibs with average to dry flow you won't have many issues with the paper.
All other writing instruments perform quite well on this paper. I tested a gel pen, roll ball, ball point, felt tip and pencil. While there was some show through there was no bleeding and the show through was not bad enough to impede use of the planner.
Cost: The Writer's Bloc has this planner priced at $16.25 which is pricey, as one might expect for a higher end planner.
Conclusion:
I generally like this pocket planner and I will probably carry it, but a really wish this planner had better paper like the Clairefontaine 90g paper. Yes, I know it would increase the weight and thickness of this pocket planner but I, and probably most other fountain pen users, would accept those side effects so long as it meant a pocket sized planner that is completely fountain pen friendly! Now THAT would be a planner I'd really ENJOY carrying and using everyday!
As is, this makes a great pocket planner for any gel pen, roller ball, ball point, or pencil users out there.
