Anyone Using Design Y Notebooks?

[george c]

Hi folks,

 

Presently using a million (OK, not quite a million) journals, among them two of the small Allan journals.

 

The Allan journals are terrific. Presently using a fude nib and sketching on some pages. Absolutely no bleed through. Yes, of course there's see through though I use both sides.

 

The only thing I don't like about the Allans are the lines. I'd rather have wider spacing but on the small journals I'd rather have blank.

 

Any comments appreciated.

 

Hope we all have a good holiday season.

 

Regards,

 

George

 

EDIT: Link to Design Y http://design-y.near-mint.com/product.html

Edited December 15, 2017 by george c

[TMLee]

I have the 'Record 288' in 'Toscana' Italian cowhide, brown

 

I am not sure what feedback you are looking to hear ....

 

so here goes ...

 

LIKES

• Beautiful exquisite leather, keeps its leather scent for ages.
• Impeccable workmanship, every square inch is perfect. The edges of the covers are also done with great care
• the stitch binding is also perfect, very well executed. Very taut, no slack whatsoever. Been using mine since Nov 2014 and I am down to my last 15-20 pages. (then again its carried in my workbag so its sheltered all the time)
• TOMOE RIVER paper , Cream, 52g , supersmooth - shows off ink colours very well. This is very good writing paper for FPs. IMHO
• slim, narrow, very comfortable to carry around in pocket or carry in hand

 

DISLIKES

• TOMOE RIVER paper superthin, showthru very distracting but easily resolved using any black sheet of paper as underlay
• narrow pages (85mm or under 3.5inch wide only) - there's only so much you can write in one line. If your handwriting is large, you will have a problem.
• doesn't stay flat open. At best, it stays open at 135degrees? This is due to the leather which wraps both covers and traverses the spine in one complete piece of skin. So it can't open flat becos there is obstruction (leather) at the spine.

As a user, I prefer blank (unlined) pages.

This allows me more freedom.

Sometimes I write landscaped format, for whatever reason/s.

Sometimes I sketch.

A journal page shouldn't become a hindrance or limit the ways to record ideas. Ideas are fluid. some ideas are better captured in non-word formats.

 

In a small sized journal, small page , your writing instrument becomes a factor.

Large nib tips result in larger handwriting.

vice versa for finer nib tips.

 

sometimes non-FP (pls dont flame me ) work better on small pages , instruments like the UNI STYLE+FIT series with a wide range of hues. Their fine ball-points allow more information to be recorded especially on a small page.

 

I suppose this is a perfect journal for writing Japanese characters - they occupy less space on any given page.

 

If you are looking for alternative journaling solutions, cahiers may be a practical option.

They are slim.

You can find good ones like APICA (blank/dotted/graph grid/lined) with good paper.

When you finish , you can glue them together to form a book.

 

 

I think I drank too much coffee

 

[Silent Speaker]

I'll reaffirm TMLee's above points concerning build quality: it's immaculate. They feel very tight and we'll put together. There's nothing loose or flimsy about the cover or binding. I've got one LP record (the little, fattest one) and two EP records (the largest one).

 

I've not yet started the LP, as I have been so satisfied with the EP that I have already filled one and am working now through the second at an accelerated rate. The first EP lasted from the end of 2015 to earlier this year, mainly because I was still in the habit of using finer nibs and was writing rather small to save space; the freedom that comes with a larger writing space is truly wonderful and I'm finally able to use my broader nibs and stubs for journal writing with impunity. The paper is really something, and I've not managed to get it to bleed or feather. It ghosts to the other side, yes, but no bleed even with a wetter Pelikan M800 IB nib. It might be disconcertingly thin feeling, but as I understand it, Allan's paper is also rather thin? So you should be used to it (tbh I too would have liked to have tried an Allan's, but alas: detestable lines!).

 

Leather's very nice, but if there's one criticism I have it's that the only colours available are black, and brown. The brown goat on the EP is not a particularly interesting shade to be honest, but I've chosen it over black twice thus far. Perhaps one day Mr.Yoshino will offer some other colours or shades.

 

I don't know how the non-goat leather on the LP holds up to use, but the goat's held up very well. I do keep my journal wrapped with an elastic ribbon in a handkerchief for daily transport though, out of habit from my previous journals. It gets jostled around and knocked up, but nothing scratches it - not that the leather feels particularly prone to scratching, oddly, which is not what I'm used to wheb it comes to goat.

 

I opted to forgo the bookmark ribbon, though in retrospect the way they're attached to these notebooks looks more robust than usual. Perhaps on my next one.

 

Concerning the above point on opening flat: with the EP at least, when you're into the first quarter (or last), you might want to rest the opposite side to the one you're writing on (if you're writing on a flat desk or whatever) on something so that it's at an incline (coffee mug/pen case/pen cap), if that makes any sense. Closer you get to the centre, the more easily the EP lies flat on both sides.

[Strombomboli]

Thank you both for your comments! I came to this thread because I was pondering over whether to spend my Christmas money on an EP notebook. You helped me make my mind up, I just placed an order.

[ArchiMark]

+1 for Design-Y journals.

 

Quality is superb and so is writing in one with fountain pen

 

The goat leather is top-notch and does not seem to get scratched.

 

I've had mine for several years.

 

Well worth the cost.

[george c]

Hi Folks,

 

Want to thank all of you for taking the time to post these informative comments.

 

Greatly appreciated.

 

I hope we all have a best-ever New Years in 2018.

 

Regards,

 

George

[GutSchrift]

I love Design.y notebooks. I think they are quite frankly the nicest notebooks I've ever used. I have a 336 in black leather with dyed edges. It is a real pleasure. Craftsmanship and attention to detail are absolutely evident, even to non-paper & pen types who've seen it.

 

The paper is excellent of course (and I don't get much or any show-through using average-to-bold nibs and common inks.) Also, its a relatively thin notebook but because of the Tomoe River paper you can get a LOT of pages in a rather thin notebook.

 

It lays flat without a problem.

 

The leather is high quality and has held up very nicely.

 

The dyed edges are a nice touch.