Ruled or blank, which do you prefer?

[Dudley]

Where did you get the Kyokuto notebook? Is that a B6? I'd love to order several. I've seem them somewhere but can't recall where.

If there's a Kinokuniya, or another major Japanese bookstore near you, check that out -- I get my Boston Note spirals and Cute Model notebooks from them, and have always been satisfied with the prices and styles.

Velma hit the answer. I got it from Kiku. a japanese book store. I think they have locations in LA NY Seattle and a few other cities, but not sure. If you want i can buy one and have you Paypal me back, Margana.

 

Dudley

[tonyv]

For everyday notes and writing I also prefer the narrow-ruled paper--kind of keeps me focused and in line (pun intended) For letters, I usually struggle with blank.

[GregPQ]

I like the grid. Lined paper reminds me too much of elementary school. Something vaguely remedial. Also, I have mostly FOND memories of geometry.

 

I feel free to disregard the squares sometimes, and I think it still looks OK. If I do that on ruled paper, it looks kind of spastic.

 

Also, it looks European! /:)

 

Greg

[Margana]

Where did you get the Kyokuto notebook? Is that a B6? I'd love to order several. I've seem them somewhere but can't recall where.

If there's a Kinokuniya, or another major Japanese bookstore near you, check that out -- I get my Boston Note spirals and Cute Model notebooks from them, and have always been satisfied with the prices and styles.

Velma hit the answer. I got it from Kiku. a japanese book store. I think they have locations in LA NY Seattle and a few other cities, but not sure. If you want i can buy one and have you Paypal me back, Margana.

 

Dudley

That would be fantastic, Dudley! PM me so we can work out the details. Thank you so much!

[tonyv]

I remember reading somehere what French ruled paper is (I think it was on a claire Fontaine or Rhodia website), but I can't remember the definition. I have a Rhodia notepad that I think is French ruled--considerably large left-side margin, a little more than 1/4 (0.25) width of the paper. Does anyone know off the top of his head why it's called French ruled and what the reason is for the wide margin?

Edited June 2, 2006 by tonyv

[M4R1N4]

When forced to use lined paper (the notepads at work for example), I write with the words between the lines rather than use a line as the "floor" for the letter bodies.

 

Doug

I too write in the space between lines, if ruled papers are used, as opposed to on the lines.

 

raf.

 

When you guys say you write in between the lines, do you mean you make your letters smaller than the space and they "hover" inbetween the top and bottom?! Can you post a sample? And why do you do this? Seems like it would just be harder to not write on the line (boy they trained me well!)

[Betty]

ruled paper because on blank paper, my sentence slopes up or down. It never stays straight!

 

But what is the difference between ruled and french ruled?

 

I go to Kinokuyia pretty frequently, so if anyone needs a purchase, you can contact me. I'd be happy to help.

[AlejoPlay]

Kinokuyia is EVIL! EVIL I tell you! Too much temptation!

 

I like buying pencils there. I love Mitsubishi and Tombow woodcased pencils.

 

I wanted to buy some Origami paper last time I was there but I restrained myself. They also have cute pencil cases.

 

The notebooks are cute, but I'm pretty diehard about the Moleskines.

[Betty]

Kinokuyia is EVIL! EVIL I tell you! Too much temptation!

 

I like buying pencils there. I love Mitsubishi and Tombow woodcased pencils.

 

I wanted to buy some Origami paper last time I was there but I restrained myself. They also have cute pencil cases.

 

The notebooks are cute, but I'm pretty diehard about the Moleskines.

I past the woodcased pencils no matter how beautiful they are. But my weakness are their gel pens and erasers! I also love their notebooks, but they're easier to refrain from since they're bigger items that I don't know where to store them. But pens and erasers...they're such tiny items I don't even think of where to put them.

[KCat]

ruled but I really like Rhodia graph pads for writing creatively and for notes while working. For snails, I prefer ruled.

 

However, Dudley's notebook looks like a fascinating alternative. I've got a couple of Japanese notebooks that Freecia hooked me up with and while the paper is a bit thinner it behaves very well with FP inks and is very smooth. I am sure that *somewhere* in Houston there has to be a source. We are a major port city and very diverse. But I have no idea what to look for in the directory. or who to ask about such things.

[Margana]

Thanks to Dudley I was able to order the Kyokuto notebook from the Kinokuniya Book Store in L.A. I already received my order and I am totally jazzed.

 

This paper is quite smooth and produced zero feathering with the seven inks I tested. Although you cannot tell from the scan, the paper is a light cream color but paler than Moleskine. I like the line spacing which is a tiny bit smaller than Moleskine and I prefer the dots to the solid lines found in other notebooks. I felt less confined to staying on or within the lines but that still makes me a ruled paper fan.

 

The only thing that will deter my switching to the Kyokuto for my general needs is availability. I hope an online source will appear. Visiting a Kinokuniya store with any degree of regularity would be disastrous for my budget.

 

I must include a caveat with the ink test. My scanner, computer and Photoshop do not agree on colors and despite every effort to encourage them to get along, they do not. So the ink colors will not be true but you can see how well the ink and paper got along.

[Velma]

Kinokuniya stores are absolutely dangerous. I am intrigued by the spiral notebooks with the Pantone color covers and rulings; the only thing that's stopped me from dropping too much money on them is that they didn't have the precise shades I wanted the day I was there.

 

But, oh, the notebooks, and the paper, and the pens....

[Dudley]

Wow nice picture of fountain pen tests, Margana.

 

And yes, Kinokuniya is a trap. its like a dream world for those who notebookphiliacs.

[thewolfgang]

What pens do they carry?

[Dudley]

They carry...

 

- Alot of Gel pens, known for their thinness and vibrant colors

- Mechanical Pencils (Tons of Gr grip varieties, and a few others that costs up to 30 some dollars

- Fountain pens: so far i have found A.G Spalding, Ohto Tasche, and a few others i dont know of.

[M4R1N4]

I am very sad that I cannot visit one of these stores!! Pantone covers?! Wowee zowee... I found their website, though I can't read a single character I found an awesome picture of what I assume is a book cover:

 

http://bookweb.kinokuniya.co.jp/imgdata/large/4163247602.jpg

 

What the heck?!

 

I gotta get to NYC...

[Dudley]

Excuse my ignorance, but what are pantone covers??

 

And wow, that is an awesome picture. I wonder what that book is about.. Yoshimoto banana?? Muruka?? Japanese people are puzzling...

[M4R1N4]

Well, pantone is for the Pantone Matching System (PMS).. Pantone makes color guides for matching colors and giving formulas for reproducing the colors using the standard printing colors CMYK. They come in booklets like this:

 

http://www.newcyberian.com/images/pantone.jpg

 

I don't know exactly what the covers of these japanese books look like, but they might reproduce these color swatches. Just a guess there!

Edited June 8, 2006 by M4R1N4

[Velma]

Well, pantone is for the Pantone Matching System (PMS).. Pantone makes color guides for matching colors and giving formulas for reproducing the colors using the standard printing colors CMYK. They come in booklets like this:

 

http://www.newcyberian.com/images/pantone.jpg

 

I don't know exactly what the covers of these japanese books look like, but they might reproduce these color swatches. Just a guess there!

They are smallish spiral notebooks with plastic covers, in various Pantone shades, college-ruled, if memory serves. Very nice-looking, with the Pantone number somewhere on the inside of the book.

 

(I found a link to someone's blog with the Pantone notebooks: http://bething.blogspot.com/2006_02_01_bething_archive.html)

[sonia_simone]

(Hi Miss Velma!)

 

Pantone is licensing quite a few products--dishes, notebooks, wallets, etc., with selected Pantone value colors. Nice gifts for the art geek in your life.