Reading this post over at Dave's Mechanical Pencils had me wondering where I could find Pantone Universe supplies like this, particularly a notebook. When I went online to Pantone I couldn't find any information about notebooks, much less mechanical pencils, so I figured I was out of luck.
Then I noticed these really interesting notebooks tucked away in a corner at Kinokuniya, and discovered this one, a Pantone Universe notebook in Flame Orange (15-1157TCX in Pantone Code). According to Pantone this color is jucy, exotic, and friendly, all of which I would agree with, along with bright and lively.
You can't see it in the first picture above, but on the right side are the words Pantone Universe glazed into place against the matte orange cover. The back, pictured above, gives you the color code information.
The Pantone Universe notebook is made in Japan, an interesting 7in. X 10in with 100 pages of bright white paper. I like the white double rings next to the bright orange color, the combination reminds me of a vibrant creamsicle.
The paper itself is quite good. It's not especially fountain pen friendly, and as you can see there is some bleed through on the top writings. Gel inks work well, especially the Zebra Eco Clip I used in the last sentence.What was equally of interest was the price: $7.95 for the notebook, which is quite reasonable for a specialty product like this. Given that Kinokuniya's pricing system is a bit idiosyncratic (paper products tend to be cheaper than at JetPens, but pens and other writing instruments tend to be a lot more expensive--given it's a brick and mortar store I would have expected both to be higher, not just the latter), I'm not sure if that's within the expected range or not.
If you can find any of these (or can point me towards a source), do give them a try. The cover colors alone are worth it. I am certainly thinking of getting one of these, not because it's better but it's certainly cooler than the ones I already own.
I really like this notebook! Do you think the paper would support a Sharpie pen without bleeding through? Sometimes I find despite their ad copy they bleed through notebook type paper. Great review!
ReplyDeleteI just tried writing with a Sharpie pen (not the permanent marker type) and there was no bleed through, nor a particularly heavy shadow on the other side. So it should work okay. Don't you have a set of Pantone markers, or am I thinking of someone else? Those likely would be fine as well.
ReplyDeleteYou can actually find some of them under "accessories" on the Pantone site: http://www.pantone.com/pages/products/product.aspx?pid=377&ca=33.
ReplyDeleteI use extra-fine nibs on my fountain pens, and the paper works well with those; I suspect a broad nib will bleed through.
does anyone know where I can get one of these? i have three in the taupe colour and they are the best notebooks ever but i cannot find them anywahere in the UK? thanks
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