Archive for Give us Your Feedback
Details
We recently received this email: “Would be nice if your website offered more information. The links show graph or lined paper. How many squares per inch? Wide ruled or college ruled? Maybe a glossary for potential new customers who are searching for quality paper, but do not understand what L+M means.” 
I asked a blogger friend if this level of detail was important. She felt it was. “When I do journal reviews which had lined paper, I would include the ruling width,” she said. “To people that write big or small, that’s important. I’m not a fan of graph paper, so I’m not sure why people would want to know the dimensions of the squares but if it helps, by all means include it! I say in circumstances like this, more is better.”
What is your opinion? What product specs do you find most valuable for notebooks and journals?
BTW – “L+M” means means “Lined with Margin.” The thumbnail photo next to the caption was supposed to illustrate this, but obviously it didn’t for this person. We’ll change the website to make title clearer.
Expanding the dotPad
It seems as though the new Rhodia dotPad is making a big impression. We have heard from writers, calligraphers and artists that simply LOVE the dot grid format on the Rhodia paper. For me, it’s my favorite non-blank page. I love the pale dots and found them to be great for practicing lettering with a dip pen or calligraphy pen.
And you must be loving it too because we are constantly hearing people ask if it will be available in formats other than the top-stapled pads. If yes, which would you want most? Spiral bound or hard bound? Would you like a dotWebbie?
Remember, Rhodia listens to our Rhodies! We love your feedback!
Cover your journal?
Do you prefer to cover your journals with an external case? I’m torn… While I like the idea of having a custom cover, I need to make sure that it doesn’t in any way restrict the way I use the journal. Which many of you may know is balanced on my leg while sitting in a chair. (Flat table space is a scarcity in my home.)
Image by Biffybeans © All Rights Reserved.
Basic Colors
The Staplebound Clairefontaine Basics journals come in 4 colors. I am partial to the red. Which of these colors do you like the best? Is there a different color you would like to see? (I want purple!) Is the color of the cover important to you at all?
Yellow Pads
Rhodia makes one pad with yellow paper. It is 8 1/4 x 12 1/2″, ruled with margin. It is not the most popular pad we make, but the sales are consistently high enough to keep it in the mix. 
Since I write with fountain pens, white paper enhances the color of inks (Diamine, Sailor, Herbin) I use and makes the experience of writing more vibrant. But for some interior reason, when I need to take “serious notes” I prefer a yellow pad. I have thought about why this might be and have concluded I associate white more with creativity; and yellow with memory.
Which color pad do you like to use?
Burn this journal!
While I never have, I’ll admit I have given it some thought. Someone I know has a yearly bonfire and I’ve considered purging years worth of writing by ceremoniously tossing them on the pile- yet I don’t.
I write for many reasons, but mostly because it’s super cheap therapy. It’s a place where you can fully express yourself in a completely unedited way. You write for you and only you… or do you? Some people write memoirs in hopes that some day they will be published, and while I suppose that idea might be nice, in my mind, I’d rather just leave something behind that can maybe inspire someone to move past a difficult time in their life.
What would you think about burning a blank journal to symbolically represent letting go? Maybe make a few notes inside of specific instances that were particularly difficult to write about?
Numbered Pages?
If you’ve ever visited my other blog, you’ll know that I’ve reviewed a lot of different brands and styles of journals.
While the Webbie meets about 95% of my preferred features, to make it 100% perfect I’d love to see numbered pages. (What??? Numbered pages? Seriously? Yes… ) I just reviewed a competitor’s product and the one thing I liked about it was their combination feature of numbered pages with a blank index at the front of the book. As I tend to do a great deal of stream of consciousness writing, I loved the fact that I could simply note the page numbers at the front of the book should there be a particular section I’d want to refer back to. It sure beats all those little sticky page flags whose purpose I always end up forgetting- much like a string tied around a finger… I liked this feature so much, I recently hand numbered all of the pages in my new (3.0) blank Webbie.
Have you ever used a journal with numbered pages, or numbered your own? Of all of the journals I’ve ever tested, the one mentioned above was only brand I’ve ever seen with them. I’m wondering if it just isn’t a feature that people are interested in, that it is too costly to produce, or if it’s one that other companies are simply missing out on.
(PS – my full list of preferred journal features include: roughly 6×8 in size, hardbound, rounded corners on both paper & cover, blank off-white fountain pen friendly paper, 70g-ish paper weight, numbered pages, and a cover in black, red, or purple.)
Webbie Tablets?
Someone, somewhere had asked about me about the possibility of a Webbie tablet. Webbie as in the 90g off-white paper found in the Rhodia Webnotebooks. With few exceptions, Rhodia/Clairefontaine products typically include bright white paper. As I myself prefer off-white paper for journaling, I think I could love the idea of spiral or staple-bound off-white tablets with same the fountain pen friendly Webbie paper.
Your thoughts? And if you could buy a Webbie tablet in just one size/format, what would it be?
Pocket, Purse or Portfolio?
Our blogger friend and regular Rhodia snapper Margaret Mendel is hanging out in France for 15 days eating real French bread with butter and jam – (Just please tell me that’s not a mini jar of Smuckers!) She mentioned how the Bloc Rhodia N° 11 fits perfectly in her back pocket and it prompted me to wonder…. with the plethora of sizes and shapes of available Rhodia products, which size goes with you everywhere, and how do you carry it? I only carry a bag on rare occasions and even then I’m not very organized. My tablets and journals tend to migrate towards the bottom of the bag and always elicits a “Wait a sec, I’ve got some paper right here!” which is often followed by my dumping the contents of my bag onto the floor. Bag is typically some sort of mini-backpack, or my gently used (for $20) Timbuk 2 Metro bag in orange and teal.
My real problem is picking only one or two tablets for the road….
The Violet Lines
I have always been curious as to why Rhodia notepads have violet lines. When I was growing up, my notebook paper and notebooks had blue lines. Some sported a red line near the margin or header. 
So I put the question to someone who would know…..why does Rhodia have violet lines? She said, “More restful for the eyes.”
What do you think? Is violet less obtrusive than blue? Does violet work better with grid formats? Is it more soothing on your eyes?
Graph Paper – Better for Handwriting?
The middle tablet in this photo was one of my first ever Rhodia pads. I bought it after learning that someone I’d admired always had one tucked in their back pocket- and I guess I’d hoped that some of his artistic mojo would rub off on me if I implemented one of his favorite tools… Continue Readering »
Isometric Graph Paper
Recently, Janine from California wrote to us looking for notepads filled with “isometric” graph paper. As that was a new one for me, I went to Wikipedia and found the following definition:
Isometric graph paper or 3D graph paper — This type is a triangular graph paper which uses a series of three guidelines forming a 60° grid of small triangles. The triangles are arranged in groups of six to make hexagons. The name suggests the use for isometric views or pseudo-three dimensional views. Among other functions, they can be used in the design of triangle point embroidery.
The following video seems to really drive home the way in which this paper could be used, and I am SURE this is just the tip of the iceberg. Anyone else out there using or looking for this kind of paper?
Zippered Closure
We recently got this email on our Rhodia website: “am mad (love) about your paper quality; brought an armful of pads today and would love to know where to purchase buttery-soft leather pad holders, preferably with zipper close for the different size pads.” 
Exaclair has gotten this request enough at this point to prompt me to start looking for a possible supplier – either at the upcoming National Stationery Show in New York or through our customer recommendations. I do know of two artisanal places: one in Montana and a second in Washington State - one-person shops that make leather covers to order and completely by hand. Stephanie has suggested Colonel Littleton in Colorado. I know Tom Bihn makes wonderful bags where you can tuck in your Rhodia pad, but not leather zippered ones that I can see.
Friends, please help me with your advice: would you be interested in a leather zippered cover for your Rhodia pad? Can you suggest any suppliers? Would there be any other feature in this product that would be important to you; i.e., pen holder, place for business cards, etc.? All comments and suggestions are welcome. Thank you very much.
Do you have a favorite color for editing or correcting?
While I love to write longhand, certain things do get typed directly to the computer. As far as the editing process, I prefer to do most of it on paper. 1st, 2nd, and 15th draft copies are printed and edited with reckless abandon with whatever color ink is in the closest pen. That doesn’t mean I don’t have a favorite. I always have my red Lamy Safari fountain pen filled with red ink and it’s the one I’d prefer to be using- it’s just not a deal breaker if it’s not close at hand. (As evident from 3 different inks viewable on the above image.)
Do you have a favorite color ink for editing or correcting papers?
Pens, Pencils, Markers, Watercolors… What kinds of media do you use in your journals?
My primary implement for use in any of my journals is a fountain pen.
I almost never use pencils.
Sometimes I will use medium nibbed Signo Gel pens,
or a Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pen in a fine nib.
Perhaps a palette of watercolors
and a Niji Waterbrush.
I’m not as adventurous in my journals as I am in my sketchbooks, and I know some people that use everything from sandpaper to spray paint in their journals. I think maybe I just need to learn to let go…. Continue Readering »
