Anyone that knows me knows that I use a planner every day. My planner - or agenda as I grew up calling them - goes with me everywhere. It is filled with notes, to-dos, appointments, books to read, songs to listen to, films to watch, etc. It has a multitude of markings in different colours, random legends, and other doodles. I don't keep track of my diet or other things, it's purely appointments and things to remember. Sometimes there are notes from lectures, meetings, or scribbled information. Stickers are usually adorned on the front or back, but never within the pages.
For 2015, I was looking to step away from my usual
Leuchtturm 1917 which I've been using for two years (2013 was hard cover A5 weekly and 2014 is an A6 soft cover daily). It has served me well, but I wanted a change. Previously I used
Moleskine, but found something irritating about them. Leuchtturm has been solid (despite the elastic giving out this year), but I wanted something more minimalist, but not super expensive either. I set out on the hunt and found that Japanese planners were ones I've yet to try. I was interested in the
Hobonichi Techo since I read about it but where it's available in London it's £35. Ordering online may prove difficult as customs and vat charges might make it more expensive.
I found a
B6 mark's storage it daily which was similar but not available in the UK and the web shop is in Japanese
(good review of it here). Then I found it on some online shop based in Italy, but after everything it was €38! Too bad...it was perfect. The ones available through Bureau en Direct were weekly and aesthetically didn't appeal to me.
It seemed to have everything I wanted in a planner, and with a decent price to (£16.50).
Before having the chance to visit the shop, I stumbled on a
Japanese shop in London which sold Midori while walking aimlessly in Central London. These seemed like the perfect mix, even though the paper and aesthetic of the planners weren't convincing. Thinking my mind was set, I headed over to Present and Correct the next day, to get a feel for the products. After debating for about twenty minutes, getting upset over some translation issues in some of the planners, and discussing with a semi helpful shopkeeper (you'd think he would be more interested since I was the only customer there), I decided to go with my initial choice from Delfonics. The brand has a minimal aesthetic, although there are a few things that, as a designer, get to you. I realised after I purchased this that I had a folder from this brand which I bought years ago at the ACE hotel in NYC.
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| Weekly pages - horizontal |
The planner itself is basic and it has all the essentials: monthly view, weekly view, and notes pages. On the monthly views, there is a section for a to-do list, which is great. In the back, you'll find some maps of metros - Paris and Tokyo. The cover is in German so it's weird that Paris is there. One issue is that it has those removable edges rather than a bookmark, and those remind me of planners from elementary school days. The Japanese like their cases - and this one comes with a plastic case. Now it's not the most pleasing looking thing, but I've decided to keep it on the lenin cover because it has pockets to put stuff in and a pen holder (super helpful). This is great because it's all added extras with the Midori. I've given it a try - re-entering some 2014 appointments (it starts October 2014). The paper is nice, but thin, which means rollerball pens bleed over. What I like about it is that it has a monthly overview (Leuchtturm and Moleskine only have the 'at a glance'), and just tiny conveniences spread out through the planner. The weekly pages are horizontal, but they have planner (
this one) where it's vertical.
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| Back blank notes pages - square |
So far, I think I'm getting readjusted to the whole weekly thing after a year of Daily. I'm also getting adjusted to the hardish cover, being used to the soft leather like one from my previous diary.
For about a year I've played with the idea of developing my own, but my issue is production. Both blurb and lulu can be potential options, since many printers in London would cost a fortune to produce one. Maybe once I get some more time, I'll be able to really work out a design that's absolutely perfect for me.
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| Metro maps in the back |
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| Scheduling the first few months of 2016 |
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| Yearly schedule (2015) at a glance |
