Response to the M.bian Project

Remember that M. Bian concept by Patrick Ng? Somebody should fund this thing.

"Wow, the response is great, thanks you all Moleskine fans for the support of the idea. Here's some more pictures taken in 2005 to quench your thirst.

The limited edition Moleskine was bought from Japan a few years ago, you can never find them anymore. This just shows how black is not just black. With help of patterns, black is beautiful.

Yup, Reporters can be used like this, just like a Rhodia pad in a notepad cover. Although I don't like the Reporter format and prefer to use traditional pocket Moleskine horizontally, I found this horizontal pocket can be a double feature: a pocket by itself or a holder for Reporter.

Anyway, I am doing all these just for the fun of it and the love of Moleskine. Most of all, make something useful for myself. Your responses are tremendous, thanks again! My full time job takes most of my energy but I'm glad you all like it so much. Still a larger MOQ is required to get the price down to a level I myself will buy, not to mention that a product which supports a gloabl product like Moleskine will have world-wide demands I can't refuse, so I definitely won't do it in smaller quantity and limited offer, it hurts people you know :) Not a perfectionist but I still want it to have more asthetic value and material in higher quality. Takes time, which I don't have."

Visit his blog, "Scription"

Comments

[Chaim]

I *so* want one of these M.bian things. It's fantastic. I'd pay top dollar for it.

I guess it hasn't been picked up because poeple are concerned there's no market for it?

The thing of it is, I wouldn't just buy one... I'd go through them. I carry my Moleskine everywhere, and it stands to reason that an M.bian wouldn't last long worn by me. I could probably thoroughly thrash it in six months time...

[Sophie Brown]

You might want to keep thinking about this one. I'm an absolute pauper at the moment, but this is the kind of thing where you could do "quite a bit better" than at a regular job. I think this is a nice enough thing that Modo and Modo themselves might endorse it. SOMETHING. Then you let them worry about the quality of the zipper and so on. I have no idea how these things work but maybe we could get up a petition for you. I don't see any reason why this wouldn't be a really popular product. Thousands and thousands of people are into these notebooks, probably 20% would want one of these pouches, I don't know how many would buy one but an awful lot would. I'm sure someone would be willing to make a lot of money off of your sad head, so just give it some thought, okay?

[Mark]

I think that is a great case - I would definately buy one - probably more than one. It would make a great part of a gift set of a Moleskine, case and nice pen. There is a a potentially large market for this, plus the M.Bian case looks handy to carry other things, like an MP3, etc.

[Sophie Brown]

I think so too.

[Sophie Brown]

I've always suspected that men are more into the pocket sized notebooks than women (the larger ones fit very comfortably into even smallish purses). Me man, me no carry purse. I think what that could mean is that guys want things a fanny pack would ordinarily hold. And what normal man wants to be seen in a fanny pack? So this would really be a hip alternative for carrying things other than a wallet and a comb. And a "gift set" really should be hitting the stores, too. I'm actually rather shocked that they haven't made a point of marketing one for Xmas.

[Sophie Brown]

Later thought: A)Moleskine really does have only 15 people working in the factory and an expanded product line is therefore a little harder. I think I'm onto something with the fanny pack thing. Do Italian men actually carry purses? They could be like, "What's wrong with this guy? Everyone just buys a handbag..."

B)There could be corporate spies trolling this website right now, and so this could be good exposure without your even realizing it.

Best wishes.

[Patrick Ng]

Thanks really for all the supports!! I am 100% sure there is a niche for M.bian coz I designed it as a user. I'm asking a friend to help me make a leather version for my own use too, drooling right? There are some offers to make it, but there is no offer to completely take over it. Again, I don't have personal time enough to do it myself, so I will just leave it open.... keep you guys updated! Thanks a lot Sophie!!! Mark and Chaim too, Armand of course.

[Ali S.]

Oh wow! Now this is just amazing! I went to Patrick's site and was amazed by the whole idea! It's like having a man purse but not really a purse! It boggles the mind! Yet, it seems to be the perfect type of product that could allow folks to carry their moleskines, pens/pencils, iPods and other nick-nacks! As a frequent traveler this would save so much space in my backpack and pockets! :)