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Business Moleskine Mania: How a Notebook Conquered the Digital Era

thewalrus.ca

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Re: Business Moleskine Mania: How a Notebook Conquered the Digital Era

#3
> From 2005, Leuchtturm.. took on Moleskine, matching them for quality.. older companies like Clairefontaine, Rhodia, and Paperblanks refreshed their offerings. Western hipsters, always alert to high-end Japanese design, started to import notebooks from companies like Midori, Hobonichi, and Stalogy, which bested any of the European brands with their exquisite papers and bindings (Moleskine and Leuchtturm both use mainly Taiwanese paper). In the US, Field Notes struck a utilitarian chord with a mid-century aesthetic. All presented a fresh spin on the basic product, and all benefited from the product building that Moleskine had done.

Stalogy has thin paper with minimal bleed, enabling small notebooks with more pages for writing and reference.

Re: Business Moleskine Mania: How a Notebook Conquered the Digital Era

#4
“Do you know there’s a section of our customer base that buys a fresh Moleskine every time they come into a store? We have no idea what they do with them”

I give them out. I have far too many moleskine's yet I still buy one every time I'm in a store with them... I just can't stand seeing someone using a crap notebook. So when someone I like comes into my office and they're using some free shit they got as swag from salesforce or w/e, I give them a moleskine and a F-701.

Re: Business Moleskine Mania: How a Notebook Conquered the Digital Era

#7
I personally prefer Rhodia notepads and notebooks: I prefer the stark whiteness of the paper, the smoother paper, and the 5mm dot grid. Moleskine's marketing is simply too aggressive: they don't sell notebooks, they sell an aesthetic.

I'm not going to claim to be above such marketing tactics: I'm definitely not. But Moleskine's claim to sell authentic Parisian notebooks used by struggling authors is such obvious bullshit.

It reminds me of the 'Original Australian Ugg Boot Company', which is an American business that tried to trademark the name of a generic product made by countless Australian businesses from offcuts of sheepskin. Just as everyone in the southern half of Australia has a pair of Ugg boots (but only Bogans will wear them in public), so those famous authors used moleskine notebooks: they're not good quality products; they're just ubiquitous and cheap.

Re: Business Moleskine Mania: How a Notebook Conquered the Digital Era

#9
post #7

I personally prefer Rhodia notepads and notebooks: I prefer the stark whiteness of the paper, the smoother paper, and the 5mm dot grid. Moleskine's marketing is simply too aggressive: they don't sell notebooks, they sell an aesthetic. I'm not going to claim to be above such marketing tactics: I'm definitely not. But Moleskine's claim to sell authentic Parisian notebooks used by struggling authors is such obvious bull…

I have also used Rhodia notebooks in the past. I think they are manufactured in France. Which for me is a plus since one assumes the manufacturing process is kinder and to a high standard.

Rhodia pricing is also really good!

Re: Business Moleskine Mania: How a Notebook Conquered the Digital Era

#10

Moleskine is nice, but have you ever tried Leuchtturm1917?

The A4 hardback with square dotted paper is really nice. Before I moved my notes into text files, I used to put everything into mine. Work notes, sketches, plans, etc etc. Leuchtterm make gorgeous notebooks.
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