Notebook Review: Quo Vadis Keith Haring Artist Series

I have a lot of notebooks. I actually have an insane number of them inside my 'notebook cabinet'. While some are from my impulse buys, most of them came from my silent sponsors, as samples for review. I'm fascinated by colorful things, but I have always been fond of plain-covered notebooks. I like using any black-covered ones for journal writing and note taking. I also use a small black notebook for the 'ink diary' that I keep (more on that on the next notebook review). 

When I received the Keith Haring Quo Vadis Habana notebooks that Karen Doherty (Exaclair's USA VP for   Marketing) sent to me a few months ago, it wasn't exactly love at first sight. Late last month, while I was sick and recovering at home, I saw the notebooks again and decided to try them out. That time, though, it was definitely love at first write.

Keith Haring Habana notebooks are the most recent addition to the Quo Vadis limited edition Artist Series that include the art of Pablo Picasso and Henry Matisse. Picasso's "Portrait of Dora Maar" and Matisse's "Icarus" and "The Creole Dancer" are the selected cover designs of their respective series.

Keith Haring's "Earth Day" and "Baby" on small Quo Vadis Habana notebooks.

These Keith Haring Habana notebooks, as with the other notebooks in the Quo Vadis' Artist Series, are made in France, with leather-like cover material which I love because they are soft, not very smooth, and not shiny either. This leather-like material is wrapped on what I assume is thick board, making the cover solid. The firm, solid covers of Quo Vadis Habana notebooks are made to provide writing support. Photo below shows the notebooks' back covers, printed with Keith Haring icons in the middle, while the Quo Vadis logo is etched in the bottom.

Quo Vadis made Keith Haring Habana notebooks in four designs and two sizes. The four designs are: 'Baby', 'Heart', 'Earth Day', and 'La Ronde'. They are available as either small (4" x 6") or large (6¼" x 9½") notebooks. Both Haring Habanas used in this review are small notebooks.

"Earth Day" is only available in small (4" x 6") size.

"Heart", though, comes in small (4" x 6") and large (6¼" x 9½") sizes.

The Keith Haring Habana notebooks have the same features as their regular counterparts: they have the elegant page ribbons/markers and elastic closures in matching colors. Soon I'll be tying the end of the page ribbons into knots to prevent ugly fraying.

Keith Haring's signature is printed in white on the notebooks' front covers. How elegant.

The small Haring Habana notebooks have 96 sheets of very smoooooth satin ivory paper. The pages have 5.5mm ruling, a welcome change from the wide 8mm ruling previously used on both large and small Habana notebooks. The pages have round corners too, which is great. I prefer notebooks with round corners because sharp page corners can sometimes cut into my fingers and palms when I'm writing. Round corners also look more elegant and stylish.

Round page corners of the Haring Habana notebooks.

Another wonderful feature of Quo Vadis Habana notebooks, including the Haring Habanas, is their sewn binding. This ensures more page security and flexibility, and also (again) adds to the notebooks' elegance. Sewn binding is so much better than most punch and bind methods because the pages are more secure and also tidy.

Sewn pages of the small Haring Habana notebooks.

These special Habana notebooks have lovely spines printed with Keith Haring's signature and icon. Definitely a welcome change from the old, plain spines of my previous notebooks.

The Haring Habana notebooks have printed spines.

The Habana's "small" is not the same in size as the "pocket" of other notebook brands, which is always misunderstood by many users who think that the two sizes are interchangeable. "Small" and "pocket" sizes are not the same. Several brands share the same "pocket" size, such as Moleskine and Rhodia, and Scribe here in the Philippines, while Quo Vadis uses the "small" size alone.

Size comparison: Two pocket notebooks on top, Moleskine and Rhodia. 

The two notebooks below are regular Rhodia and Keith Haring Habana.

I mentioned earlier that the Haring Habanas have smooth satin ivory paper. It is really very, very smoooooth but I did not have any difficulty writing on it. In fact, the smoothness made writing very easy and comfortable, compared to other overly smooth paper types that make writing uncomfortable. I also noticed that while the ruling in the old Habana notebook pages went all the way to the binding, it has a certain margin in the new notebooks.

If paper can make people happy, the Haring Habanas' paper will. 

I know because the smooth satin ivory paper made me happy.

Unlike the previous Habana notebooks with continuous lines, the Haring Habanas have dotted lines. But that's fine. The dotted lines didn't get in the way of my writing, or with the readability of what I've written. I actually think this is cool.

Haring Habana page up close. See the dotted lines?

Below is a page devoted to pen and ink tests, and I included gelpens, felt markers, and a permanent marker in the list to fully test the paper. All the fountain pen inks I tested on the Haring Habana fared very well. I did not see any serious feathering or bleed, even with the notorious bleeder, Noodler's Midnight Blue. I also used a couple of pens with broad Esterbrook nibs such as the Transitional J with Private Reserve Black Magic Blue and J pen with J. Herbin Lierre Sauvage. This is good news, and it made me very happy.

The "non-fountain pen" pens I used in the pen and ink test include Pilot G2s, Stabilo felt markers, Zebra Sarasas, and a Sharpie Ultra Fine Permanent Marker. All the other pens wrote well without feathering or bleed, except for the Sharpie which feathered and bled like an open faucet. But that's just okay. Sharpies bleed bad on most papers.

Inks on the Haring Habana up close: Waterman South Sea Blue, Pelikan Blue Black, 

Private Reserve Black Magic Blue, and Pelikan Edelstein Jade.

The "non-fountain pen" pens: Pilot G2, Stabilo, Zebra Sarasa, 

and Sharpie Ultra Fine Permanent Marker.

Shown here below is the back of the pen and ink test page. It's almost clean, without any ink bleed, except for the one on the bottom part of the page. which is the Sharpie pen.

Sharpie pen bleeds at the bottom of the page.

Overall, I am a very happy recipient of these notebooks and I am beginning to think of how to use them soon. A small journal? A notebook for my daily notes? Who knows? Being the fanatic that I am, I'm sure I'll find a way to use them sooner than I thought I would. Now you know where to get yours, right? All information about these lovely Keith Haring Habana notebooks are posted Quo Vadis' site here: http://quovadisplanners.com/notebooks, and also at the Quo Vadis blog here: http://quovadisblog.com/

The Quo Vadis Keith Haring Habana notebooks used in this review are from Exaclair, Inc. through Karen Doherty. The pens and inks used in this review all belong to my personal collection.

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Fountain Pen Review: Lamy Nexx

Here comes a first in the blog: a pink fountain pen!!! Cool, isn't it? But yes, I have a brand new pink Lamy Nexx fountain pen to review, a gift from the Philippines' Times Trading Company and Charlene Ngo. This pink version of the Nexx is among Lamy's new offerings for 2011.

I was very surprised when I a delivery person came to my office and handed me a small package because I was not expecting any. When I saw the Lamy bag, I was ecstatic! Inside are two Lamy boxes, the bigger box contained an unfamiliar looking pen with a metallic barrel and a bright pink plastic cap. The smaller box had a pink Lamy Logo ballpoint pen. Pink pens!!! A few minutes later, Google revealed that the unfamiliar pen is a Lamy Nexx fountain pen.

As an avid collector of Lamy's Safari line of pens, I am happy to receive the Nexx, and write my very first Lamy fountain pen review.

Lamy took extra care in presenting the Nexx in a neat, well-packaged offering. It comes in two boxes: an outer box and an inner box. The outer box, photo below, is made of silver-colored board paper, printed with the Lamy logo on the lower right part. Very simple, very elegant.

The inner box, below, is made of gray plastic that splits open when the two sides are pulled apart, as indicated by the arrows.

The top sides are pushed under the bottom part of the box, and a clear plastic pen clamp that holds the Lamy Nexx fountain pen in place. Again, cool, isn't it? This packaging is waaaaay better than gray paper boxes that my other Lamy pens came with.

The pink Nexx is the newest and youngest member of its line. It was initially offered in blue, red, and lime. It measures 5.5 inches while capped, and 5 inches uncapped.

Below shows the deconstructed Lamy Nexx. From top to bottom: plastic pink cap, aluminum barrel, Z24 converter, section, feed, and medium polished steel nib. I just love shooting these deconstructed pens.

The cap of Lamy Nexx is made of thick plastic, and this is what gives the pen its happy, youthful look. I want to get one with a red cap next time.

The Lamy logo is neatly etched on the lower part of the pen's clip.

A rounded rectangular hole is on the upper part of the clip. Below that, printed in the traditional Lamy gray is the Nexx logo.

An eye on top of the pen's clip makes it easier to attach the cap to a lanyard.

Many people in the whole fountainpendom compare the Nexx to the Safaris and Al-Stars, but I would like to point out that there are also a number of differences among them, and one is this pen's section grip. The Nexx has a smooth, soft, contoured, non-slip rubber grip on its section, as opposed to the plastic section of other pens.

The Nexx can be inked either with Lamy's T10 cartridges, or through a Z24 converter (see deconstructed pen photo above). The converter has two nipples on either side that fit snugly into the small grooves in the upper part of the section.

This is how the converter fits into the section. It fits perfectly so that the converter, while inserted, will not easily turn or be accidentally pulled out.

This pen uses the same feed as those on other Lamy pens (Safari, Vista, Al-Star, Joy, and maybe the Studio). It can be pulled out of the section using rubber grips and this helps a lot in cleaning out deep-seated ink. Putting it back can be tricky because there are grooves in the feed and inside the section that need to fit.

Here is the medium polished steel nib on my pen. Writes wet and smoothly.

Here's the nib again, on the feed. 

Like the Lamy Al-Star, the Nexx has an aluminum barrel with a unique design. The barrel starts round at the grip, where it meets with the pen's section...

...and gradually tapers off into a triangular shape towards the end. The aluminum barrel is extremely strong, but is surprisingly light in the hand. This ensures comfort even for prolonged periods of writing. My only fear for this pen's aluminum barrel is it vulnerability to scratches. Like many fountain pen owners, I don't like chicken feet scratches on my pens, whether on the barrel, the cap, or anywhere else.

Finally, here is the writing sample of this cool pen. You can click on the photo for a larger image. The first three paragraphs read as:

Here is something new for the year: a pink fountain pen! This is my cool, pink Lamy Nexx fountain pen, and this is my very first Lamy fountain pen review.

The pink Nexx is a cute and cool pen, and though it looked unfamiliar to me straight out of the box, it was love at first sight.

Similar to its cousins, the Safaris and Al-Stars, the Nexx has received a mixed set of comments. Some frown at it for its school pen/kiddie pen look, some find it a poor design mix of the Safari (plastic) and Al-Star (aluminum), others just think it is downright ugly.

The pink Lamy Nexx next to a large Quo Vadis Habana journal. The ink I used is J. Herbin Rouille d'Ancré. The 1.9 mm italic nib is from my Lamy Joy set.

The last paragraph reads as:

My pink Nexx is the newest and youngest member of its line of fountain pens from Lamy. It is available in four other cap colors and has a polished steel nib. It has a plastic cap, an aluminum barrel, and a soft rubber grip on its section. It can be inked through cartridges or a cnverter. But what I like the most about this pen is its nib. Because it shares the same nib with many other Lamy pens, I can easily change its medium nib with, say, a fine or a 1.9 mm italic nib. What is that called? Ugly? No. It's called versatility.

I wrote the word 'versatility' using a 1.5 mm italic nib from my Lamy Joy set because I wanted to show this pen's, well, versatility. It is now fitted with a 1.1 mm italic, an all-time favorite nib.

The pink Nexx is a wonderful addition to Lamy's expanding line of fountain pens. The Nexx line has been manufactured to replace the formerly popular Lamy Smile pen, and is intended to be a bridging pen between the ABC, a beginners' favorite, and the more sleek adults' favorite Safari pen. I have more than a dozen Lamy pens in my collection now, mostly Safaris, but would I get another Nexx? You bet, I will! I want one of each in red, blue, and lime!

Lamy Nexx pens are widely available in reputable pen sellers worldwide. For a global search of Lamy sellers worldwide, follow this link. In the Philippines, it will be available in stores around March.

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Quo Vadis Habana Notebook: A Review

Here is the Quo Vadis Habana notebook from the kind people at Exaclair, Inc.

Those close to me know how much I love pens and notebooks. I always have a lot of both – in my backpack, on my office table, on my work table at home; even my closet has pens and notebooks inside! I think most of my backpack’s weight is not because of my laptop and its accessories but because it’s always full of pens and notebooks. And like most notebook enthusiasts, I currently have a number of notebooks in use – and four are in my bag. One of them is a black 6”×9” Quo Vadis Habana notebook.

The Quo Vadis Habana notebook.

Karen Doherty of Exaclair, Inc. has kindly sent me a large Quo Vadis Habana notebook in September. I kept my Quo Vadis Habana in its plastic wrap until I was ready to write the review because I was scared of any damage or dirt getting in the notebook. The first thing I did when I took out the plastic wrap was to smell the Habana's paper. Oh, yes I did that! I always do that to my notebooks, especially the newly opened ones. I do that because I love the smell of new paper, and partly because I also want to assess its quality. And yes, nothing beats the sweet smell of clean, new, non-acidic paper!

The Habana's bright white pages stay flat when the notebook is open.

The Quo Vadis Habana’s cover is made of black leatherette that gives it a subtle elegance. Wrapped in this leatherette is a thick but flexible board. I’m sure one can easily bend the covers, but I won’t risk doing that to my notebook. As I ran my fingers on the Habana’s front and back covers, it felt soft and smooth. The pressed QV logo on the front’s lower right corner and at the back signifies quality to me. My work background tells me these logos come from high quality leather pressing/embossing.

Elegant pressed QV logos on the Habana's front and back covers.

Inside the Quo Vadis Habana notebook are 80 sheets of acid- and chlorine-free, bright white, premium 90g Clairefontaine paper. Think of all that paper goodness! I am so amazed with the brilliant white pages and their smoothness. The lines are widely-spaced, and this is good news for me because of my fondness for wide strokes when writing. The notebook’s pages have round corners, and for me, this is a thoughtful gesture from QV for their notebooks’ users because sharp page corners not only tend to curl up, they can also cut into people’s palms.

Round page corners on the Habana's pages.

The Quo Vadis Habana notebook’s binding is another plus for this notebook, because it allows the pages to stay flat on their own while the notebook is open. This is shown in the photo above of the open notebook.

Notebook abuse? Nah. It was only a test that the Habana gracefully passed.

Finally, we come to the best part: the writing samples!

Because all the reviews raved on the Quo Vadis Habana’s ability to hold fountain pen inks, I tried all my wet nibs on it. I wrote with all my italic/calligraphy pens, some o f my medium nibs and two of my wet fines. The results? Amazing!

I started write-testing the Quo Vadis Habana notebook using my italic nibs. Then I used three Parkers inked with highly saturated inks: Private Reserve Copper Burst and Avacado. Lastly, I wrote with my other inked pens, starting with my Retro 51, which is a wet medium inked with a wet ink: Waterman South Sea Blue. I tested my other mediums, the Parker Rialto and all three Schneider Base pens, the first filled with CdA Saffron and the others with either J. Herbin Bleu Pervenche or Rouge Opera. I also tried the bold Pilot 78G and two plastic pens I got from Daiso, both with scratchy nibs but gives out very wet ink flow. All writing samples looked beautifully, all ink samples dried fast, and because of the Habana’s white paper, the colors all looked so bright! My momentary surprise was cut short when I remembered I had to check the Habana for two more things: feathering and bleed. There is absolutely no feathering on the Habana from all the pens and ink colors I used. Hurray! Bleed? It’s almost as if I held my breath as I turned the page over so I could check for bleed. And… voila! Absolutely, definitely, certainly no bleed at all! Hurray! This means I can forever use a fountain pen to write on my Habana notebook, right?

Pen and ink combinations

Schneider Creativ 1.5mm italic nib and PR Avacado; Lamy Joy 1.5mm nib and CdA Saffron.

Lamy Vista (1.9mm) with Bleu Pervenche, Lamy Safari (1.1mm) with Rouge Opera and Lamy Joy (1.5mm) with CdA Saffron.

3 Parkers: Parker 25 (M) and Parker Jotter (M) with PR Copper Burst, and Parker Vector (wet F) with PR Avacado.

The rest of all the pens and inks I tested on the Habana.

But, wait! I’m surely happy and excited to use the Quo Vadis Habana notebook for journaling, but there are two things I hope the people behind QV will consider: the elastic closure and the page marker ribbon.

The elastic closure for me seems too narrow for this notebook size. Some users may like thinner bands such as the one on the large Quo Vadis Habana notebook, but I would have liked mine to be a little wider. Perhaps this size is good for smaller notebooks, but for a 6”×9” leather-covered journal, it looks a bit awkward for me.

I feel the same for the Quo Vadis Habana notebook’s page marker ribbon: it is too narrow/thin, and too short for the 9” page size. The ribbon is a bit short for me that I cannot tie its end to prevent fraying or I will shorten it even more. But that’s just me, and that doesn’t mean I love the Habana less. :)

The Habana's page marker ribbon which I feel is too thin and narrow. Again, that's just me! :)

The Quo Vadis Habana is a great notebook, and probably the best I’ve ever tried. It’s already friends with my fountain pens, has excellent paper, looks great, what more could I ask for? (Just a wider elastic band and longer page marker ribbon. LOL!) Perhaps a notebook for each available color? Or one of each size? The Habana is available in four colors: black, which is the one being reviewed here; blue, red, and taupe; and in two sizes: large (6"×9", with 80 sheets of 90g paper), and pocket (4"×6", with 96 sheets of 64g paper). Hmmm... Lots of notebooks to choose from! More information about Quo Vadis Habana notebooks is available at the QV site.

Lastly, I’d like to give Mr. Pythagoras a bit of a show-off here.

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