Ninth Wave Designs

NEW: Moleskine 2007 Planners

Modo & Modo is increasing the number of options available for 2007 Planners, with six new planners to choose from bringing the total number of options to ten.  Before I describe the new planner formats I think it will help avoid confusion if I make a list.

As in previous years, the following four planner styles will be available in 2007:

• Pocket Daily Planner (1 page per day)
• Large Daily Planner (1 page per day)
• Pocket Weekly Planner (1 week per 2 page spread)
• Large Weekly Planner (1 week per 2 page spread)

From what I can tell, the Planners in the above list, what I will call the Classic Planners, will remain the same in 2007 as the 2006 versions.

New to the Moleskine Planner line for 2007 are the following six planner styles:

• Soft Cover Pocket Weekly Planner (12 Months)
• Soft Cover Large Weekly Planner (12 Months)
• Soft Cover Extra-Large Weekly Planner (12 Months)
• Soft Cover Pocket Weekly Planner (18 Months)
• Soft Cover Large Weekly Planner (18 Months)
• Red Hardcover Pocket Weekly Planner (12 Months)

The planners listed in red are the ones I have actual samples of.

The 18 Month Planners begin on June 26, 2006 and run through the end of December, 2007 (actually until January 6, 2008, since that is how the page layout worked out).  The 12 Month Planners run from January 1, 2007 through December 2007 (also ending on January 6, 2008).  The Pocket, and Large sizes are the same as the classic Moleskines, with the Extra-Large being the same as the XL Cahiers.

The new Weekly Planners in the second list have a new page layout format.  The left hand page is divided into unlined slots for each day of the week, and the right hand page is a lined page, the same as a classic Moleskine ruled notebook.  This format is the same for all six of the new planners, with just the number of months and the size of the planner being different.  The only other distinction is that the first 5 on the list have a soft flexible cover, and the last one listed has a classic Moleskine hardcover done in red "Moleskin".

About the covers:  Modo & Modo appears to have resurrected the Volant in its choice of cover material for the new soft cover planners.  If you are familiar with the Volant then the material will seem similar, although the planner covers are put together in a sturdier fashion than the Volants were.  For example, the Soft Cover Pocket Weekly Planner (18 Months) is thicker than a Volant, actually closer in thickness to a classic hardcover Moleskine, but also comes with an elastic closure, a ribbon marker, and an inside back pocket, all features that were not part of the Volant line. The elastic used for the closure is thinner than the type used for the classic notebooks.

The one hardcover version that is new for 2007 comes in a rich scarlet red "moleskin" oilcloth cover.  It is the basic Moleskine black but dyed red, the US release of the special edition Feltrinelli Planner available only in Italy in 2006. The page format is the same as with the soft cover planners and comes in the 12 month format. The elastic closure, ribbon marker, and the gusset for the inside back pocket are all a matching shade of red.

So that's the low-down on the new Moleskine planners for 2007, at least an early peek at what is coming.  I expect the new versions to ship in late April, so I hope to have them available in May.  The classic planners usually ship in late summer for August availability. 

I will have more pictures and analysis in my next post, so come back for updates!
   

Quotes For Your Notebook: 2006 Moleskine Pocket Weekly Diary

The page layout for the 2006 Moleskine Pocket Weekly Diary has had me thinking since I first saw it back in August.  The format of short lined segments broken down into individual days, organized succinctly across a two-page spread containing a week at a time, has been begging for a creative use beyond the obvious schedule planner.  I don't keep a schedule, it's one of the joys of self-employment that I don't have many appointments to keep, no meetings to go to, and few reasons to mark a calendar beyond what my wall calendar can handle.  I really have no use for a Moleskine Weekly Planner in the traditional sense, but the format is so compelling I was determined to find a reason to keep one.

My first thought was that it would make a great short-form daily diary, with entries of just a few sentences each along the lines of "did this", "went here", "saw that".  The one problem with that idea is that there is very little of doing this, going there or seeing that in my day-to-day life, since I basically spend my day in front of my computer. 

Then the idea struck me: A diary of quotations.  So I have begun recording a quote per daily slot, with the goal of filling the whole diary by the end of the year with quotations I gather from my reading from 2006.  It will be a kind of perpetual quote-a-day diary that I can refer to over and over again, and will at the same time be a reflection of the reading I did in this year.  The space allotted per day calls for the kind of short and pithy quotes I tend to love. So far this has been a great project, and in addition to the individual quotation I am recording the book from which it originated, in case I want to re-visit it sometime in the future.

I will leave you with one of the first quotes I entered into my Quote Diary:

"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth." - Albert Einstein.

Click on picture for a larger version.

Bellyband 2006: A Gorey New Year.

I recently picked up a copy of the book Ladies of the Gothics: Tales of Romance and Terror by the Gentle Sex, selected and introduced by Seon Manley & Gogo Lewis.  I found it used at the Salvation Army, with a tattered but interesting dust jacket by my favorite illustrator Edward Gorey.  It is a 1979 library edition of the 1975 original, a library discard, and as such, even with an Edward Gorey dust jacket it was worth less to a collector than the small sum I paid for it at Salvo.  It looks like a great bedside table book though, with selections by the likes of Ruth Rendell, Emily Brontë, Ann Radcliffe, Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, and Isak Dinesen, among others. I'm looking forward to reading these stories - this is the perfect collection for those nights when sleep is elusive.

My new 2006 Moleskine Pocket Daily Diary was in need of a bellyband to distinguish it from its 2005 counterpart.  The dust jacket from this book was worn and tattered along the top and bottom edges, but the middle section was in good enough shape to provide an interesting band of paper to make this bellyband.  I wish now that I had scanned the dust jacket before making the bellyband so that I could show the complete artwork from the cover of the book.  In capturing this wonderful Gorey figure, a "Gothic Lady" with wistful expression and hand resting firmly on a skull, I also incorporated the text of the last two words of the subtitle, "gentle sex", as part of the bellyband design. Overall I feel this makes for an appropriately enigmatic composition, suitable for an image originating with Edward Gorey.

With this auspicious beginning I feel that 2006 is going to be a good year for my Moleskine Daily Diary.

For a good romp through some of the better Edward Gorey sites on the web start HERE at Goreography.com, which includes THIS page for people interested in collecting his books.

Click on the images for larger versions.

January 1, 2006

You may now begin!

Happy New Year to all you Moleskine notebook fans!  The wait is over - get to work filling up that Moleskine 2006 diary!

Here are the NWD Blog's New Year's Resolutions:

1. To write or sketch something on every page of my daily diary.
2. To never use a boring pen.
3. To use pencils more often.
4. To update my blog more frequently.
5. To think less and write more, in hopes of finding what it is I have to say.
6. To stop spending so much time lurking in the pen aisle at Staples.
7. To work on my grammar.
8. To read some of the books I already have before buying any new ones.
9. To listen to more new music.
10. To fix the shipping issues on the NWD store.

Thanks for all your wonderful comments and encouragement during 2005!

2006 Moleskine Diary & Planner Availability

The 2006 Moleskine Diaries and Planners are in short supply.  I was able to confirm on Wednesday that the U. S. Distributor will no longer be able to fulfill any orders for the Large and Pocket size Daily Diary format, and the Weekly Planners are nearing the end of their availability.  Ninth Wave Designs has a limited stock of Weekly Planners available in both the pocket and large sizes, but no longer has the Daily format available.  Because of the limited sales time frame for the diaries, the manufacturer, Modo & Modo of Italy, has decided not to reprint the Daily formats, so the U.S. Distributor is unable to get any more of them.

The good news is that looking ahead to the 2007 Moleskine Diaries there will be some new formats available.  There are plans to release an 18 month academic year planner in 2006, as well as a new diary format that features alternating formatted planner pages with standard ruled pages.  This format was available only in Italy this year in limited production, but will become available in the United States in 2006 for the 2007 calendar year.

A new format sketchbook will be available in 2006 as well, with pages specially designed for watercolor.  I will be testing the pages of this new sketchbook as soon as I can get a sample and will post the results here on the NWD blog. Stay tuned!

2006 Moleskine Diaries are available in the Ninth Wave Designs store HERE

And in the Ninth Wave Designs eBay store HERE.

Ring in the New Year!

It's 2006 in the Moleskine universe.  It may be 2005 where you are, but as far as Moleskine is concerned it is time to start thinking about which diary or planner to use for next year.  Back by popular demand is the original weekly planner layout of 2004 with 7 days spread across two pages in a horizontal rather than vertical format.  The layout in the pocket weekly planner in 2005 proved to be unpopular among many, leaving only enough room for the briefest of notations for your daily appointments (unless you write really really small!).  The 2006 format now makes it possible to use the planner as a diary as well if you prefer to keep a brief version of your daily doings.

Click on image for a larger version.

The large size weekly planner for 2006 retains the verticle layout of the previous year making it ideal as a desk planner to track appointments and meetings.  The larger page size provides enough space in this verticle format for it to function well without requiring very tiny writing as the previous pocket size verticle format did.

Click on image for a larger version.

The Daily Diary has the same layout as 2005 with one page per day. This makes for a Moleskine that has a nice chunky feel to it, since it has 380 pages verses the 192 (pocket size) & 240 (large size) page totals of the traditional Moleskine notebooks.  The pocket size diary is still small enough to be portable, but perhaps a bit thick for your back pocket. 

Click on image for a larger version.

The large size daily diary has plenty of room to write in, and leaves a lot of space to record your thoughts for posterity. The pages are set up so that you can keep appointments as a desk planner, or just as easily use it to write a good size entry diary style.

Click on image for a larger version.  

The greatest feature for all four of the diary/planner formats is the removable address book included with each one.  I have already sung the praises of this notebook accessory in an earlier post, but if you missed it you can read it HERE.

During the past year I have used my pocket daily diary in the usual fashion, to record my thoughts specific to the day.  I have also used it as a sketch diary, with several daily entries consisting of a small drawing or doodle that reflects my mood.  I enjoy this type of diary keeping best, being more comfortable with images than words.  Having the one page a day also sets up a casual approach to sketching, since there is an automatic expiration date to the page.  I can do a sketch, love it or hate it, and then the next day turn the page for a fresh start. As I flip through my diary I see that there are more blank pages than filled ones.  If I could just get to a place where I were more disciplined, by the end of the year I would have some 360 plus images as a record of where my mind was for the year that was 2005.  Well, I can always try and be more disciplined in 2006.  I think I feel a New Year's resolution coming on  already . . .