I love the Maruman Mnemosyne line, with the slick black cover and bright neon yellow sheet on the inside explaining who Mnemosyne was (the Goddess of Memory and the mother of the 9 Muses).
The 188 in particular is a favorite, size A5 (almost the same as a Rhodia No. 16, but the 188 is about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch longer) with one-sided gridding of pale brown-gray-green ink that doesn't get in the way of writing or reading. The paper is nowhere near Rhodia quality of 80gsm, but it's fairly close (possibly 70gsm to 75gsm).
I'd actually say this paper is more pencil friendly than ink-friendly, even gel ink will leave a heavy shadow that makes using both sides impossible. The cover and back material are actually a bit thicker than Rhodia and don't wear down as fast or as obviously.
I like the way the pencil looked and felt gliding over the paper as I tested it out with my strawberry Hi-Tec-05 gel ink pen and a Koh-I-Noor pencil. I didn't notice any obvious smearing, either. So the 188 is a good work-day notepad, expensive as all get-out but worth the money if you want something that's sturdy and good-looking for projects of any and all sort.
This brand is great, and I agree that for some reason, they work very well with graphite. I've only seen the wire-bound versions, but I think this stapled version would be even more appealing.
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