In April 2005 I wrote about Moleskine notebooks. At that time I’d been writing in them for a year or so. I’m still using them, but as with programming languages, I don’t write in just one kind of notebook. This page collates a few recommendations I would make to anyone with similar needs.
Moleskine
The classic pocket-sized hardback one—originally, of course, the only one they sold—is still my weapon of choice for serious writing on the move. Durable, well put together with excellent paper. The cult is endearing but I dislike being exposed as a pretentious dilettante.
Over the years I have tried their squared notebooks, for design work, and their smaller Cahiers for portability’s sake. However, I now prefer other notebooks in these roles.
Rhodia
The Bloc Rhodia № 16 with 5×5 mm graph paper is a superb development notebook. Layouts, lists, copy, code—they all jump off the crisp paper, and the detachable pages are the best I’ve used. Being bright orange, they’re also quite hard to lose.
Field Notes
Field Notes are classic memo books from Coudal. I bought a pack on a whim, and they’re robust enough for note-taking in the garden and around the house. Slim, light and small, they accompany me most places. I have some Muji notebooks too, but they don’t fit into a pocket as easily, so I tend not to use them.
Pens
I write with black UB-150s from the Mitsubishi Pencil Co.