The Moleskine Reporter Notebook.

I’d give it an A for looks an a C+ for paper performance.

I bought several Moleskine reporter notebooks in Fully Booked, the unruled version. The format interested me: compact, with the binding on top instead of on the left side. Ever since Chiqui introduced me to Moleskines, I’ve always had at least one on standby. The flavor I prefer is the sketch notebook. The paper is substantial, and has a tinge of warmth. I’ve had issues with fountain pen ink beading on the paper surface, but it has become an additional texture to my calligraphic work rather than an intrusion.

I felt let down by the flimsy paper inside, but gave it a shot anyway, creating two detailed calligraphy exercises, using nibs with high flex. As I expected, I got bleeding and feathering – but not as bad as I had feared. Ink bleeds through and makes the reverse of the page I’m working on useless, but at least feathering is kept to a minimum. So if I skip every other page, my work still looks clean.

The vertical format is good for me. My first stroke doesn’t go where I usually put it – on the upper left of the page – and that is an intriguing change.

The Reporter notebook’s paper feels like it will be more amenable to crayon, graphite and collage work. Perhaps there lies another Moleskine adventure.