Ninth Wave Designs

Cutting Corners: Moleskine / Battlestar Galactica Hack

I made a customized Cahier for a friend who is off to college for the first time.  He was kind enough to lend me Battlestar Galactica Season One and Season 2.0 on DVD to watch, so I was inspired by the stylized effect of the books in the show to create this Moleskine / Battlestar Galactica hack.  It is quite literally a hack, in that all I did was cut off the corners of a pocket and large size black squared Cahier using an X- Acto knife.  I added a sticker I made from a promo image from the show featuring the BG logo.

The use of cut corners throughout the BSG world is an interesting stylistic effect, being employed for all forms of paper, print media, picture frames, computer screens - you name it.  My friend is studying computer game programming, so I thought this Moleskine hack would give him some extra geek cred among the other programmers at his school, or at least provide a conversation starter.  Hopefully he will think of me when Season 2.5 becomes available too!

UPDATE 9/27/06:  Someone has recommended this post on the Frak Party blog, for possible party favors for your BSG season 3 launch party.  The rollover in the blog banner is worth the visit alone, but also be sure to see how to host your own Frak Party on the main website HERE.

Ideas Won't Keep: Cahier Idea Notebook

The title for the post comes from the following quote by Alfred North Whitehead:

"The vitality of thought is in adventure. Ideas won't keep. Something must be done about them."

This is a combination post of "Quotes for Your Notebook" and "Moleskine Creations" themes, brought about by my need for a notebook to have handy to toss various ideas into.  I generally use my Moleskine Pocket Daily Diary to record stray thoughts and brief ideas - of the more random and passing nature of made up movie titles or simple plot outlines for stories I will never get around to writing.  I also needed a notebook that would provide the space for larger ideas, where I could write several pages compared to the several sentence lengths in my daily diary.  I chose a Moleskine large kraft Cahier with squared pages, but since I have several of these floating around for different uses I wanted the idea book to stand out from the others. 

I started by making the painting of the light bulb in my pocket size Moleskine Watercolor Reporter notebook.  I used watercolor colored pencils and Pitt brush markers to paint the image, and then removed the page from the notebook.  I cut a hole in the cover of the large Cahier in the shape of the light bulb, and then used a combination of glue stick and tape to secure the watercolor page inside the front cover.  I am happy with the results, and it is easy for me to find this notebook among the clutter on my desk.

If Alfred North Whitehead's words are to be followed, then something indeed needs to be done to keep our ideas - and the pages of a humble Cahier might be just the place for those vital intellectual adventures to work themselves out.

Moleskine Cahier Notebooks

In an earlier post I marked the passing of the Moleskine Volant notebook line.  In today’s post I would like to examine more closely the notebook line that replaces the Volant, the Cahier. Their name comes from the French (pronounced "kayé") meaning "paper book, exercise-book, or copy book". Their styling evokes school composition books from earlier times.

I get a lot of questions about what distinguishes the Cahier from the Volant; they are similar in so many ways that it is not immediately apparent what differentiates one from the other. The most noticeable difference is the material used to make the covers.  The Volant has the same material on the cover as the classic Moleskine, the black synthetic "moleskin" oilskin that defines these notebooks.  The Volant cover is a thin paperback cover compared to hardbound classic notebook. This makes it slimmer and more flexible, and gives the cover a similar quality as a passport.  This notebook is for going places, thin, light, and able to go anywhere.

Moleskine Cahier notebooks in black and kraft covers.

The Cahier line has a cover made from a light weight cardboard and is available in black or "kraft" (natural) colors.  The feel of the cover is like a file folder only thicker, and it has a nice toothed surface that a file folder lacks.  It reminds me of paper we used in school when I was in elementary school that was called "oak tag".  There isn't anything that immediately comes to mind on the market today that I can think to compare it with.  This heavyweight paper cover lends itself naturally to a number of creative labeling and embellishing methods, you can see a few examples of what I have done HERE.

The Cahier features a pocket inside the back cover which the Volant does not have.  This is not the same accordion-style pocket that the classic Moleskine notebook features. Instead it is made from a piece of the same cover material glued around the edges to make a small pocket.  It doesn't offer much in the way of real storage space, especially in the pocket size Cahiers which can hold only a few small slips of paper.  I have found after very little use that this flap-pocket comes unglued.  I have found it necessary to use tape around the edges to keep the pocket attached to the back cover.  All the advantage of the addition of a back pocket in the Cahier is lost in my mind due to the fact that the design is less than functional.

The paper inside the notebooks is an equal comparison, with the same creamy acid-free paper that is used in all Moleskine notebooks.  Both the Volant and the Cahier feature the detachable pages in the back section of the notebook, and both are available in ruled, plain or squared page styles.  The Volant has cardstock end papers that have a place for the trademark "In case of loss please return to:" name and address, which the Cahier lacks.  The visible stitching on the outside of the Cahier doesn't require the use of endpapers in the binding process.  The Volant notebooks are stitched together in a method similar to the classic hardbound Moleskine, with pages grouped into sewn signatures.  The sewing on the Volant notebooks doesn't seem to be quite as sturdy as with the classic Moleskines, but I have never had a problem with the pages coming loose from the binding.

The exposed stitching on the spine of Moleskine Cahier notebooks.

I have asked an avid Moleskine notebook user to give me his review of the new Cahiers after having some time to test them “in the field”.  Let me introduce Bill Brandon, Editor of the eLearning Developers' Journal.  Bill uses a wide selection of Moleskines, as can be seen in this picture HERE of his notebook labeling system.  Bill was kind enough to provide me with a detailed report on his use of Cahiers over a few months time, and I include the following excerpts from his evaluation.
Bill had this to say about the durability of the covers:

“As you may recall, I carry my working notebook around in the back pocket of my jeans. The Cahiers fit much better than the pocket-size Moleskines, of course, but I was concerned about those paper covers. As it turns out, the paper covers are perfectly adequate for the 30 to 60 days of use each notebook gets. The kraft covers get a little scruffy-looking (well, ok, they're ragged around the edges) but they hold up and do not fall off. The black covers seem to be less affected by wear, but of course they show the wear too.”

Bill agreed with me on the durability of the back pockets:

“The little pocket on the back cover wants to come detached at the lower edge, even if there is only a single sheet of paper in the thing and even if you protect the Cahier inside a pocket briefcase. . . . I found that if I bind the long edge and the bottom edge of the pocket with 2" reinforced package tape (Scotch "Duck" brand), the pocket lasts as long as the notebook."

Bill had this to say about using fountain pens with the Cahier:

“At the desk, I usually write in the Cahier using a fine-point Chinese "Hero" pen and Noodler's Legal Lapis ink, although whatever comes to hand first will do just as well. Away from the desk, I carry a Kaweco AL-Sport fountain pen in my pocket, with a Private Reserve Midnight Blues cartridge in it. The Kaweco point is broad and puts down a lot of ink, but the paper in the Cahier does not have a problem with 'showing through.' "

And he summed up his review this way:

“So people should be confident that the Cahier line is very durable and very practical for everyday use. Cahiers are not quite as "tailored" and elegant in appearance as the Moleskine journals, and on the other hand that may make people less afraid to write in them.”

Thanks to Bill for his detailed evaluation of the Cahier notebooks he uses as part of his daily work routine. 

Overall I feel that what the Cahier offers to the classic hardcover Moleskine user is a more casual notebook for everyday use.  I have heard from many Moleskine notebook users that beginning to write in a new Classic notebook can be very intimidating.  The Cahier is a less serious Moleskine, and as Bill noted above, not as frightening at first when confronted with empty pages to fill.

Le vrai Moleskine Volant n'est plus.

I want to take a moment to mark the passing of the Moleskine Volant.  Modo & Modo, the Italian maker of Moleskine notebooks, announced last fall that they were discontinuing this line of notebooks in anticipation of the release of their new line, the Cahiers.  I stocked up on all of the Volants I could get at that time and now I am nearing the end of my supply.  This may seem like a small thing (as I commented on another blog recently) but for a company such as Modo & Modo who has made a name for themselves rescuing a notebook from obscurity, discontinuing one of its line does seem a little counter to their mission statement.  The title for this blog entry is a bastardization of a line from the insert entitled The History of a Legendary Notebook included with all Moleskines. In it they include the quote "Le vrai Moleskine n'est plus", the response given to Bruce Chatwin from his Parisian notebook supplier when he tried to buy up all their remaining stock.  Now Modo & Modo can reply likewise, in Italian this time, to those still looking to buy Volants.

In my next entry I will compare and contrast the Volant with the new Cahier.  Please check back soon!

Updated on 9/9/05: You can read the Cahier posting HERE.

Cahier Arts & Crafts

Moleskine released the Cahier line earlier this year as a replacement for the Volants.  The Cahiers are the first notebooks to be made without the "moleskin" / oilcloth type cover material that is so recognizably "Moleskine".  The heavy paper covers of the Cahier create a completely new feel to these notebooks, and also provide an opportunity to break out from the basic black color with the introduction of "Kraft" as a cover choice in all sizes and page styles.  This notebook line is styled after European school copy books, and the visible stitching on the spine is a similar construction to the black and white marbled school composition books more familiar to American students.

The light cardboard covers on the Cahiers lend themselves to personalization and labeling in a way that the formality of the classic Moleskine binding material resists.  It is a natural progression to write or draw on the covers, add collage elements, or any number of creative applications to make a distinction from one notebook to the next.

Below are a few examples of Cahier covers that I have added images to:

I use this pocket size kraft Cahier as a book wish-list to carry in my backpack.  I added a picture of lavendar fields that I cut from an advertising post card printed on glossy card stock.  I peeled the glossy image away from the surface of the post card to make it thinner, so that it would glue down easier and not be as bulky.  I cut out the image using an Exacto knife and attached it to the cover material using an Avery acid-free glue stick.  The title "Livres" was added using rubber stamps.

This large size black Cahier is embellished in a similar way.  The image came from a greeting card that I peeled the glossy part away from the rest of the card stock.  I first made a band from metalic origami paper and attached that with the glue stick.  I cut out and attached the central image in the same was as above using a bone folder to get all the little edges down flat.

Since the Cahiers have fewer pages per notebook than the classic Moleskines they lend themselves to specialization.  I keep several on hand for different types of notetaking  so these additions to the covers make identifying one from the other much easier