Pantone Honeysuckle Journal

I've enjoyed finding different Pantone stationery and supplies at a few stores, and this caught my eye the other day browsing at Annie's Blue Ribbon General Store (which stocks Field Notes notebooks as well as many other unusual and interesting items): Pantone 18-2120 Honeysuckle journal.


Honeysuckle is the color of the year for 2011, so this journal features the Pantone Honeysuckle color chip wrapping around the front and back covers. The paper is so-so, I haven't tried it yet as I'm waiting for something I really want to keep track of and haven't thought of anything yet.



But when I do use it, I'll have a lot of choices inside this one journal: there are four styles of paper, starting with blank sheets, then grid pattern, lined, and dots.


The top 2/3rds of the sheet is gray, the bottom third is white, and the lines/grids/dots are in yellow-gold. Not easy to see, but a pretty combination. The above pics don't really show the different page styles too well, but it's a really great idea.

The journal is 5 x 7 inches and 192 pages, so it's bigger than a back pocket but can easily fit in a purse or bag. If you're looking for a trendy journal that's got some nice design features, check out Chronicle Books.

Pantone Universe Flame Orange Notebook

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.