We recently got interviewed by Natalia Botero of the the El Colombiano newspaper in Medellin.
The artwork is by Tim Baynes. Sorry but apparently there's no online version.
Update: 4.6.08
Natalia sent this link. Muchas Gracias!
Last night, I was watching the Project Runway Finale on Bravo. And lo and behold the judges; Michael Kors, Heidi Klum, and Victoria Beckham, were taking notes on Moleskine!
Luke S.
[Also, Danielle S.]
[Thanks Kathryn!]
Courtney Reimer wrote on Newsday:
"Kevin Johnston is a self-described "tech-geek" who takes pride in being among the first to buy the newest Apple gadgets as soon as they hit the market. But much as he's obsessed with all things digital and of-the-moment, Johnston has equal passion for a decidedly retro piece of "information technology": the Moleskine notebook.
Moleskines (pronounced (mol-a-skeen-a) - the matte-black hardcover notebooks their makers say mirror those used by Hemingway, van Gogh and Picasso - are a favorite among people like Johnston, who say they appreciate design and quality as much as functionality.
"It's about feel for me. Just the feel of the high-stock paper, and turning the page and pressing it down into the spine. It just feels important," said Long Island-bred Johnston, 33, who pays regular visits to his family in Kings Park and Garden City when he's not plugging away at his writing career in Manhattan. "It makes my writing feel more important than it probably is."
Photo: "0.3..." by grum
© All rights reserved
The Namesake describes the struggles between two first generation Indian immigrants, from West Bengal, to the United States, Ashima Ganguli (Tabu) and Ashoke Ganguli (Irfan Khan), and their children, Gogol (Kal Penn) and Sonali (Sonia) (Sahira Nair). The featured locales are Kolkata, India, Queens, New York, and the New York City suburbs of Nyack and Oyster Bay.
The story begins as Ashoke and Ashima leave Culcutta and settle in New York City. Through a series of miscues, their son's nickname, Gogol (named after Ukrainian author Nikolai Gogol), becomes his official birth name, an event which will shape many aspects of his life. The film uses Gogol's struggles over his name as a jumping off point to explore large issues of integration, assimilation and cultural identity. The film chronicles Gogol's cross-cultural experiences and his exploration of his Indian heritage, as the story shifts between the United States and India. Gogol eventually meets and falls in love with two women, Maxine (Jacinda Barrett) and Moushumi (Zuleikha Robinson), while his parents struggle to understand his modern, American perspectives on dating, marriage and love.
More at WIKIPEDIA
[Thanks Johnny]
A nice post at the Chicago Center of Literature and Photography's website:
Of all the interesting mid-sized creative companies out there right now, few I think have done as good a job at painting a delicate and complex portrait of itself to the public than the makers of the Moleskine blank paper notebook. Originally a small family-run operation in Italy, their extra-strong covers and beautiful minimalism made them an object of fetish for now-famous artists as Hemingway, Picasso and more; when the company was started back up in the last decade by a now much larger corporate group, they wisely realized that the objects themselves and their fabled romantic history would sell Moleskine better than any modern marketing campaign they could come up with. (And of course its accidental embrace by the massive Getting Things Done time-management cult/community hasn't hurt things either.) And that's why as part of their marketing efforts, the makers of Moleskine sponsor such things as gallery displays of artwork found in their notebooks, and even an entire blog called Moleskinerie that features nothing but artistic and cool things their customers are doing with their own notebooks.
More evidence that pen and paper are "back":
"It's the world's simplest interface: pen (or pencil) and paper. Bind a few sheets in notebook form and you've got an effective and easy-to-use information storage and retrieval system. Add a bookmark as a placeholder, slip in some tabs as markers, select blank or ruled pages (you can also choose pages with a grid) and voilà, you've got a powerful tool that won't shatter if it's dropped and has zero power consumption issues.
Did you notice the terminology in that first paragraph? You've read all those words before but in reference to your computer. That's because the vocabulary of computer interfaces comes from paper. In fact the whole move from command line interfaces (e.g. The Blinking C:/ prompt in DOS) to graphical user interfaces (GUIs) evolved from a design that used paper as its paradigm (hence black text against a white background, and elements such as folders and a desktop).This concept emerged in the 1970s at the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), the famed facilty belonging to Xerox, the document management giant that started, not surprisingly, as a paper company."
The Science Blog
[via Steve Ruddell at Moleskinerie/Facebook]
Photo: "Violence and variations" by Olivier Laurent
Cuatro Tipos is a Spanish design and culture blog. They featured Gaby Campanario and lots of other Moleskine links recently.
"Cuando se escapa de la redacción, a Gabi también le encanta dibujar las calles y la gente de Seattle. Escenas de la vida cotidiana del noroeste de los EEUU, donde se cuelan sus hijos, sus excursiones de fin de semana y el paisaje urbano que contempla cada día desde la ventana de su mesa en la redacción."
There has never been anything quite so personal as writing in a journal, diary or notebook, especially in today's look-at-me blogosphere.
Writing in longhand is a private communion, and a personal bulwark against all things digital. Handwriting is the perennial link to your youth, as a student and dreamer, just you and your thoughts as best your hand can inscribe them between covers. And it's the forever connection to the great writers, whose initial notes for their works are no less skeletal than your own. Notebooks bring out the journalist - or at least the secret journal - in everyone.
By Juan Rodriguez
Read the full story at The Gazette
Photo: Russell Hemsworth, owner of the Nota Bene on Park Ave., describes the wares his shop sells "as stationery for active minds." Below: a sampling of the writing products Nota Bene sells. Photograph by : ALLEN MCINNIS, THE GAZETTE
[Thanks Chris]
Reader Bella writes: "who would have thought the rustle of a notebook was sexy...?"
"When singers don't live in their country of origin, there's a temptation to assume that they couldn't hack it at home.
But Brazilian electro diva Cibelle (pronounced See-bell-ee) is here because she loves the bracingly adventurous spirit of Britain today. Since relocating to London in 2003, the São Paulo-born singer, model, actress and poet has taken a deliberately experimental route.
Her recently released second album, The Shine of Dried Electric Leaves, combines bossa nova elegance with a wayward "collaged" approach to sound, drawing found textures - from the rustle of Moleskine notebooks to the rattle of sugar cubes and coffee spoons - into fragmentary, sensual soundscapes..."
Hot Ticket: Cibelle
BY Mark Hudson
Telegraph.uk
I think I've spotted a Moleskine in a music video. The music video is "Big Girls Don't Cry" by Fergie. you can see it on YouTube here.
[Thanks to Angela in Canada]
Other recent sighting:
"Criminal Minds" via surfbits
Discover and join our Moleskine communities on LiveJournal, MySpace, Moleskinerie FLICKR and Meal Moles. Get out - have a life and write about it. See you on Monday.
Colleen Werthmann rates the 2006 Pulitzer Prize winners in her own quirky, notebook-ey way:
CRITICISM
Jonathan Gold of the LA Weekly
"We love mischievous teapot-toting Bedouin food critics, but we love them even MORE when they sport a jaunty Dodgers cap! Black-shirt woman with glasses, get out of our way! 4 out of 4 Moleskines!"
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING
Brett Blackledge of The Birmingham (Ala.) News
"We'd like to investigate HIS story, given his distinguished salt-n-pepper beard and affable demeanor! Not your typical heartthrob, but like ZZ Top said, every girl's crazy 'bout a sharp-dressed man. Rating: 2.75 out of 4 Moleskine notebooks."
FEATURE WRITING
Andrea Elliott of The New York Times, "An Imam in America"
"Jennifer Connelly in Blood Diamond, watch your back! This freckle-faced hottie won for her insightful portrait of "An Imam in America". And the Preppy Handbook style? Genius! 4 out of 4 Moleskines."
"Gravitas-Challenged Pulitzer Prize Winner Hottie Rundown!"
Visit our partner site
Notebookism.com
"We felt that it was important for our brand to connect with the blog world," says Fabio Rosciglione, vice-president of marketing and sales, via phone from the Milan-based office of Modo&Modo, itself owned by SG Capital, which bought it for €66 million ($89.3 million) in 2006. "This is a new kind of marketing policy and we wanted to be a part of it: These blogs are a way to connect the worldwide community to the brand through both the collection of notebooks and the Web."
A Fact of Fiction
And, as Rosciglione points out, Moleskine already had a sizable, unmonitored community of fans online. "If you Google 'Moleskine' you can see that we have more than 6 million pages," he says (it's actually 4.95 million). "We support this activity on the Web and wanted to encourage it even more with the City Notebooks, which we see as an analog version of a blog." So really, rather than ceding control, this points to an attempt by the company to take back control of its brand, or at least focus its consumers on a forum of its own creation. "We're starting to connect to all the Moleskine communities, also to authoritative city blogs in every place," adds Rosciglione.
It's not the first time that Moleskine has come up with a creative marketing strategy. In fact, you might argue that its entire existence is based on a blend of truth and creativity. "Moleskine is the legendary notebook used by European artists and thinkers for the past two centuries, from Van Gogh to Picasso, from Ernest Hemingway to Bruce Chatwin," says the pull-out blurb inserted into the back of every notebook.
But while the wording carefully asserts that the company was "brought back" by a small Milanese publisher in 1998, the current notebooks are really in no way connected to those printed way back when by the small French bookbinders..."
Moleskine Blogs the Little Black Book
By Helen Walters
Businessweek.com
Comment here or at the article.
"Silicon Valley forecaster Paul Saffo has been tracking electronic bill-paying since 1985. He's advised some of the world's largest banks and financial centers on e-banking.
But the man who is the ultimate "early adopter," who tests out virtually every new high-tech gadget before it's released to the public, uses cash over a debit card, still writes a lot of paper checks, keeps a handwritten journal and prefers to consult a paper calendar over his PDA.
Sometimes it's just easier that way.
"I don't trust the security of the debit card system," he says. "And I like the anonymity of cash. It's not that I'm doing anything illegal. But cash serves my purpose. It matches my style."
Despite all this, not to mention his recent rediscovery of the wonders of Rapidograph pens -- the mainstay for designers before hand-drawing was supplanted by computers -- Saffo is hardly a refusenik in the high-tech revolution."
Pen and paper trump tech
In a world of impersonal gadgets, techies are turning to tactile pleasures
By MEG MCCONAHEY
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Image: ABF
"She cowrote every song on the album—and not in the sense that she showed up in a studio, changed an "ooh" to an "ahh" on some producer's verse, then slapped her name on it. "It was 50/50 or more on her end with me," says Rachael Yamagata, the indie troubadour of heartbreak, about the songs she wrote with Moore. "Mandy's not trying to be a singer-songwriter. She is a singer-songwriter." Moore spilled her guts into a Moleskine notebook. (Getting your heart stomped on by a schnozzy TV actor would seem to lend itself to journaling.) Then, in modest kitchens, home studios, and hotel rooms with some respected but little-known artists, converted those feeling into songs..."
Mandy More: Goodbye to all that
Elle Magazine
Story by Andrew Goldman. Photography by Gilles Bensimon
To launch its new U.S. City Notebooks, Moleskine has given 70 blank books to some of the world's most creative artists, architects, film directors, graphic designers, illustrators, and writers connected to New York to fill up with their daily journeys and life experiences. These notebooks will be on display at the ADC Gallery, with a special preview on May 20, during the International Contemporary Furniture Fair. The project will support Lettera 27, a non-profit organization whose mission is to defend the right to literacy and education in the world's most deprived areas.
In conjunction with the project, Moleskinecity.com is a new blog dedicated to the city, its travelers, its residents, and independent and free-thinking people. There are blogs for each Moleskine City Notebook city, and each city blog features updates, curiosities, traveller experiences, and links to other blogs and communities. Please visit Moleskinecity.com to share your personal points of view, exchange information, discover your urban path, your interests, your itinerary, and become part of the U.S. DETOUR experience in New York.
Art Directors Club Gallery (ADC)
106 W 29th St
[via Chelsea Art Galleries]
Original: Moleskine, Milan, Italy
Copy: Ars Nova, Großhandel für Künstlermaterialien, Witten, Germany
The original Moleskine notebook is said to have been used by legendary artists and writers such as Matisse, Picasso, and Hemingway. The plagiarist had no qualms in saying their notebooks were, too. “Don't forget you can copy the romance behind a product,” says Christine Lacroix, the museum's curator.
"Stop Faking It"
By Rachel Tiplady
Business Week
[Thanks Chris!]
"Reporters' notepads are necessary but obvious. The classic upgrade is the Moleskine, an infamous exercise in clever marketing. The ad copy is ghastly and pretentious, and so are we when we buy them, but they are the best money can buy. They'd better be, too, at a stunning $10 or so per notepad.
Instead, try the Xonex Ru notebooks, available at stationers or direct from a representative. They're similar to the Moleskine, with an elastic strap, rear-cover pocket, durable covers and plenty of style (both pictured here: snap!). But at half the price, it's a much easier sell.
Alternatively, of course, just grab a stack of index cards and a bulldog clip."
WIRED Gadget Lab
[Thanks Chris and Ioannis in Greece]
"Over the Christmas holidays, I put down some cash and bought a new personal data assistant. The geeks among us call that a PDA - the fancy acronym given to things like a Blackberry or a Palm Pilot.
My new toy, though, isn't flashy; it doesn't come with an MP3 player, it can't take pictures and it doesn't even have buttons. In fact, it's made - with the exception of two thin ribbons - entirely out of paper.
Moleskin_planner Rather than upgrade my handheld (a Palm Tungsten), I went back to the future and bought an old-fashioned data manager: a slender, clothbound book that has a week-based calendar on one side and sheets for notetaking on the other.
It's sleek, though, and even has a chic appeal - maybe even enough to compete in a brand-conscious age where young consumers ditch their cellphones when a slimmer, cooler model comes along. My datebook is made by Moleskin, the trendy company which manufactures notebooks that are as elegant as they are pricey. I've even had a couple of friends ooh-and-ahh when I've whipped it out of my pocket..."
John Gushue
Visit his blog.
Photo by wsarettaw @ Moleskinerie/FLICKR
© All rights reserved
[via Tina Chaulk]
Who would have thought? In this era of PDFs, email attachments and instant messaging, it looks like plain old paper is making a comeback. Stationery stores report double-digit increases in the sales of writing journals and paper planners.
DIYplanner.com, a website devoted to "paper-based productivity" promotes the virtues of note-taking and diary-keeping, with ongoing blog postings about buying the best chunky pens and finding the "most smooth and delicious" vellum papers. ("I've had a lifelong addiction to office supplies," one blogger confesses.)
On the bus and in the metro, people with iPod buds in their ears and laptops in their briefcases are scribbling into little notebooks.
The Moleskine, a black bound journal just like the one Vincent van Gogh kept in his pocket and reproduced by the Italian company Modo & Modo, has become the latest fashion accessory among a new generation of sketchers and doodlers.
Claire Bennett, a 22-year-old fine arts student at Concordia University, has just filled hers, mostly with to-do lists and plans and reminders of movies to see, books to read and sketches for her art projects.
It's being heralded as the "back-to-paper movement."
"On the paper trail: Not everything is better with a BlackBerry"
SUSAN SEMENAK, The Gazette
LINK
Photograph by : PIERRE OBENDRAUF THE GAZETTE
[Thanks Joyce!]
These photos are taken with my Treo at the "My Favourite Moleskine" exhibition in Singapore.
Gremlink @ Moleskinerie/FLICKR
© All rights reserved
Also visit Moleskine Asia
-------------------------------------------------------------
- Two-Sided Journal
- Starting a new journal
- Why doesnft anyone use the pen or pencil anymore?
Today on Notebookism
Вещь Homepage
[Dyakooyu Galina!]
Guillermo del Toro been keeping a notebook of doodles, ideas, drawings, and plot bits for just about 20 years and it's provided inspiration for all of his films, from Cronos and Mimic to Blade II and Hellboy, and now for his latest film. Pan's Labyrinth, which Premiere's Glenn Kenny gives an enthusiastic four stars, sends a conflicted little girl down the proverbial rabbit hole to face the surreal, supernatural, bizarre, and brutal on a magical quest to complete three tasks in the tumultuous world of 1940s Spain. Here, del Toro shows and discusses some of the sketches that made it from paper to screen.
Interview by Cristy Lytal.
To listen to del Toro's descriptions, go HERE.
Read the movie review by Glenn Kenny
[Thanks Jessica!]
Phil Keoghan of Amazing Race was a guest on today's Rachael Ray show
She asked him about the things he always takes on trips.
#1: Passport & #2 Moleskine diary!
-Jane R.J.
Related links:
The Amazing Race
The Rachel Ray Show
Chris Gray sent us this link to the Radiohead's blog.
LINK (Click on 1st photo of the December 4 post)
© 2006 Radiohead. All Rights Reserved.
"I think record taking and journalism encourages people to document their lives," he says. "Now people are making scrapbooks, collecting various stuff and gluing it into their Moleskines, tickets and stuff. My basic motivation is to encourage people to document their lives. It's good for the soul to look back."
There is an irony here, too, in that people are using technology to encourage people to forego technology. A common theme in the posts on Moleskine fan sites is the distrust of the digital.
"If a PDA is a 'personal digital assistant,' " writes Joe Kissell on InterestingThingoftheDay.com. "This one certainly lives up to its name: It assists your fingers quite ably. It never crashes or runs out of power, it has a high-contrast display and its handwriting recognition is flawless, and it was even featured in a recent issue of Wired magazine as just the kind of gadget a forward-thinking geek might want to carry."
For article, make sure reader knows about: pouch at back for storing business cards, loose paper; durable cover; elastic to bind contents; pocket-sized.
For all the talk of the Moleskine's low-tech charm, it should be noted its design is rather crafty. Every excuse a writer might have not to carry a notebook -- the pages aren't flat; stuff will fall out; it's too conspicuous -- has been taken care of in an elegant fashion, freeing you to scribble away. The greatest fear -- that your private thoughts might fall into the hands of a stranger -- is even addressed on the first page of each notebook. Right beneath space for your name, address and telephone number is an "As a reward" line. The amount to fill in is a topic of much debate on Frasco's comments page.
"I crossed out the dollar sign and put in 'One pint of Guinness' as a reward," writes Arne. "I'd like to think that if I ever lost it and it was returned by a nice individual that it could lead to a nice chat over a drink from the country of many famous writers."
"The Cult of Moleskine"
By Craig Courtice
The National Post
LINK
Image: "Spiral" by Ophelia Chong
Moleskinerie/FLICKR
© All rights reserved
I am a United Methodist Pastor and a compulsive Moleskine user. Last week as I was reading through a denominational publication I saw an advertisement for a daily devotional guide tied to our denomination.
I've been reading the Upper Room since I was in high school and was pleased to see a Moleskine Daily Pocket Planner used in this advertisement. I contacted Upper Room and they put me in touch with Pure Fusion Media (www.purefusionmedia.com) who graciously sent me a jpeg of the advertisement. It's always great to see our favorite journal showing up when we least expect it.
Matthew Johnson
Mobuzzer Karina Stenquist shows off her Moleskine and talks about Moleskinerie in the October 26th edition of Mobuzz TV UK.
Watch the video.
Related link: Moleskine Halloween costume.
"Las atascadas vías de comunicación"
Iria Gallardo on MobuzzTV Spain
Video link
Related post
About Iria
"Seriously, we love these little critters. The paper, the little pockets at the back, the little history leaflet you get with everyone one. Jesus, even the nifty eleastic bit that keeps it closed in our bag. We just can't get enough.
Which is why we are currently salivating over the new city notebooks. Described as"A special guidebook...ideal for those who travel, whether to see the sights or work, as a way or organizing your trip and preserve it for your memory and your records."
This means you get all the usual Moleskine goodness plus (gasp) colour pages, maps, tabs and translucent sticky sheets. This, make no mistake about it, is stationery porn..."
Rob @ Londonist
At Fashion Week 2006 in NYC. [Photo courtesy of People Magazine].
From David Paull
Portland, OR
Our friend in Vienna, JC alerted us to this feature on the September'06 issue of the Men's Journal:
"Hemingway's Blackberry"
A notebook may seem too basic to be iconic; yet the Moleskine's combination of hefty cardboard covers, long-lasting acid-free paper , and an expanding rear pocket combine to form the same receptacle for sketches and ideas that Hemingway and Picasso carried..."
Yes, its right up there with storm lanterns, crag-climbing ropes and wooden canoes.
......................................................................
A special shoutout to our friends in
Punta Arenas, Magallanes y de la Antartica, Chile!
Douglas Johnston:" For techies who have always relied on PDAs to manage their time, suddenly switching to paper can be a ``Zen-like experience."
``It's just as much a novelty to us as it is for analog folks trying digital the first time," he said. ``It's casting out all the gunk and junk you've accumulated over the years and suddenly approaching something with an open mind or a blank page. You're able to focus for the first time."
Though regular notebooks will do, an analog cult favorite for scheduling and keeping contacts is the Moleskine notebook, reputed to be the right-hand companion of Vincent van Gogh and Ernest Hemingway. For techies the Moleskine's sleek binding, thick pages, and built-in bookmark are the antithesis to the souped-up PDA. And they never crash, don't come with a hefty owner's manual, and can be kept as long as people like..."
"PDA buffs go back to basics"
Fed-up users are rediscovering paper
By
Kim-Mai Cutler, Boston Globe Correspondent
June 25, 2006
Also mentioned in the article: analog fans Chad Adams of PocketMod, Merlin Mann of 43 Folders, our friend Mike Rohde and Moleskinerie.
Image: Chad Adams’s ‘‘analog’’ PDA uses a Flash program to spit out an eight-part planner on paper, which is then cut and creased. (Essdras M. Suarez/ Globe Staff)
"Hello little book. You are new. And empty. And powerful. You are a dream yet to be revealed. An adventure yet to be had. You are a friend yet to be made. A kiss yet to be tasted. You are a world undiscovered, waiting to be explored. You are a story. A memory. A hope. A wish. An observation. You are a life. You are my life. Waiting to unfold between the quiet, cream pages. You don't speak yet. But in time. You are my life. You are my Moleskine."
A, United States - 14 June 2006
Lovemarks, where Moleskine is currently #10 (of 200)
...
Here's a thought from Harold Thompson:
"One day while thinking about all this pen and ink stuff in the midst of the digital age and interesting thought crept into the picture. Simply it was this; when we pass on it is likely that those we leave behind will pore over our notebooks more intently than our hard drives with all those obscure file names...
"It’s the feel and the look. They’re classy and basic black. The cover and the paper feel good," says Karen Chapman, co-owner of Bloomsbury Books in Ashland. "We can’t keep them in stock. They just keep going out of here."
..."They (the smaller ones) go right in your back pocket," says Laramore, an Eagle Point resident. "I love them and use them all the time.
"I do a lot of journaling in them — also collages. They’re very popular in Europe and catching on fast here."
With Moleskines, Mullowney says he has found the perfect solution to all gift problems. He doesn’t just give one, he fills the multi-pocket versions with all manner of keepsakes, letters (from the person), newspaper articles, a poem or postcard, tickets to that special play. "It becomes kind of a mini-museum," he says..."
"THE LITTLE BLACK BOOK: Moleskine notebooks are back in vogue, re-igniting a centuries-old love affair"
By John Darling
for the Mail Tribune
[via Adam Machado's Hackerati]
Photo by Mohd Adib Noh @ Moleskinerie/FLICKR.
© All rights reserved. Used with permission.
Dan Morse has a nice article on the Washington Post today:
(Photo: Linda Davidson - The Washington Post)
I just spoke with Mr. Morse over the phone. and he needs your help:
"My name is Dan Morse. I am a reporter with the Washington Post, and am looking to speak with Moleskine users in the Metro DC area. The whole subject of Moleskines fascinates me: Sales seem to be booming; aficionados consider them better in many ways than PDA’s; users have trouble walking by a store display without buying a new one. I admit to some of these tendencies myself. I write mainly about people in Maryland. So I really need to speak with Moleskine users who live and/or work in Maryland. I’d like to hear from others in DC and Northern Virginia as well. Many thanks.
I can be reached at morsed@washpost.com or 301-934-1196."
If you live in the area, give him a call. This could be your 15 minutes.
Little Book of Dreams
The Italian-made Moleskine notebook brings writing back to its tactile,
unplugged beginnings.
It’s only a notebook.
A little black dress of a notebook.
The Moleskine is only a notebook the way a Mini Cooper is only a car.
Before we go any further: how to say it. Not “mole skin.” That’s a fake suede-type fabric that resists wrinkling, and also a thin, flexible padded substance that sticks on skin to prevent blisters. Both are soft like moles. This notebook has nothing to do with moles.
This is a four-syllable word. MOLE-uh-SKEEN-uh. The way an Italian person would say it, or a French person.
Or an American person with an adventurous life, who doesn’t speak Italian but would be able to confidently ask for this notebook if she found herself at a stationer’s in Rome.
Everyone is probably less than six degrees of separation away from a Moleskine fan. They maintain Web sites about the books. They post their drawings. They keep track of where the books show up on TV and in movies.
And many are convinced that this notebook, which retails for about $10, makes them more creative. More organized. More adventurous. More ...cool.
Continue reading "Moleskine on the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette" »
Pen and paper.
Imagine that.
Moleskine (pronounced MOLE-uh-SKEEN-uh) notebooks are the anti-PDA, simple and elegant cardboard-bound writing pads steeped in history and tradition. They allow every user his or her own personal font (har har), and they return keeping a journal to the art form it once was.
“I never leave mine at home,” said Templeton, 25, an assistant in the Office of Student Affairs at the University of Washington Tacoma. “It’s better than American Express.”
Templeton estimates he has gone through 15 Moleskine notebooks in recent
months. A food and wine
columnist for the school newspaper, he jots down story
ideas and sketches table- and dinner-plate layouts in his pocket-size
Moleskine..."
BILL HUTCHENS; The News Tribune
Tacoma, WA. 11.29.05
Image: "Useful Item # 3"
By phototosbyarkady @ Moleskinerie/FLICKR.
© All rights reserved. Used with permission.
[Thanks to Joy Rothke]
"During the opening sequences, four characters are gathered as a team, one of whom is a reporter. Early in the show he conducts an interview, jotting notes into a pocket Moleskine. The inside isn't shown (at least in the first 20 minutes), so I don't know what variant it is, but this is just another in a long list of Moleskine notebooks recently spotted on the small screen. Is a Moleskine becoming the standard for use on screen as a "notebook prop"?
Evan "JabberWokky" Edwards
http://www.cheshirehall.org/
"I just finished watching the third installment of the SciFi Channel
mini-series, "Triangle." In the final scene the camera focuses on the
reporter, played by Eric Stolz, typing on an Apple laptop. He's referring to his notes by his left hand -- in one of our beloved little
black books, the pages and elastic strap clearly visible. After all, in
what else would one take notes about supernatural phenomenon than a
Moleskine?"
Rana
The Triangle
SciFi.com
"In an increasingly electronic world, it's no small irony that the hot new data-entry and storage accessory is microchip-free. Meet the Moleskine: a supremely analog notebook that's redefining the term "little black notebook" - and is fast developing a cachet even among the techies...
...Moleskines have even inspired a number of blogs, as well as fan-produced T-shirts featuring a Moleskine and the words THEREFORE I AM. When's the last time your PDA inspired that kind of devotion?"
The Anti-PDA
By Paul Lukas
FAST COMPANY 10.05 Issue
[Thanks Yoko!]
Visit the Moleskinerie Shop @ Cafepress
Moleskinerie's Wandering Moleskine Project is mentioned in today's edition of NYT Thursday Styles.
"Deepest Thoughts On a World Tour"
By Stephanie Rosenbloom
NYT LINK [Registration required]
IHT LINK
We will resume listing for The Project soon. Watch for updates.
Illustration : Rita Mercedes
"Paris, été 2005. Dans les rayons d'une grande surface culturelle, au milieu des livres de voyage, un présentoir de carnets anthracite ceints d'un bandeau coloré. Sur lequel on peut lire : « Moleskine, le carnet légendaire d'Hemingway, Picasso, Chatwin ». La couverture est effectivement en moleskine, cette toile de coton revêtue d'un enduit mat ou verni qui imite le cuir. Une matière - et un mot - qui fleure bon les années 50, le luisant des banquettes de café et les articles de papeterie d'un autre âge. En ouvrant le calepin, on tombe sur une brève notice intitulée « Histoire d'un carnet légendaire » : « Moleskine est le carnet qui accompagna les artistes et les intellectuels européens des deux derniers siècles. Fidèle compagnon de voyage, il a accueilli les esquisses, les notes, les histoires et les inspirations de chacun d'eux avant qu'elles ne deviennent les célèbres images ou les pages des livres que nous aimons. » La notice cite notamment l'écrivain voyageur anglais Bruce Chatwin, évoque l'histoire d'une mystérieuse petite papeterie parisienne et d'un fabricant tourangeau aujourd'hui disparu..."
Virginie Félix
Telerama
"This silent and discreet keeper of an extraordinary tradition, which
has been missing for years, has set out again on its journey," reads
the little history brochure included with each book. It's printed in
four languages, another hint at the book's pedigree of travel. "A
witness to contemporary nomad-ism, it can once again pass from one
pocket to another to continue the adventure."
Is it just a blank book? Or is it somehow something more?"
The little blank book is a cult hit
By James Bickers
Courier-Journal
Louisville, Kentucky
...
Perrine @ Kikkerland is conducting a quick survey.
Check it out.
"I was watching the always witty and informative Alton Brown on "Good Eats" last night as he searched for the ultimate barbeque process. I've been a fan of the show for a couple of years even though I remain hopeless in the kitchen.
One shot showed Brown explaining the science behind smoking meat when he looked quizically into the distance while trying to recall some cumbersome terminology dealing with thermal processes. He produced a pocket Moleskine and his confusion evaporated as he read off terms supporting his quest for the Ultimate Barbeque from none other than the Ultimate Notebook.
Not only was I pleasantly surprised to see the book, but also happy to discover that after conquering Hollywood, it has moved on to the culinary provinces of Georgia. If we can take Georgia, we can take the world!"
" Two French policemen, one investigating a grisly murder at a remote mountain college, the other working on the desecration of a young girl’s grave by skinheads, are brought together by the clues from their respective cases. Soon after they start working together, more murders are committed, and the pair begin to discover just what dark secrets are behind the killings..."
"Les Rivières pourpres"
IMDB
[Merci, L. Russell!]
From last night's WSJ Online feature , here's more Moleskine goodness at writer Jeremy Wagstaff's LOOSE wire blog:
An excerpt from:
"LOOSE WIRE By JEREMY WAGSTAFF
Turning Over a New Leaf
January 14,
2005
It may seem like a backward step, and not the sort of thing a technology columnist would suggest, but have you ever thought of ditching your laptop, personal digital assistant or smart-phone for a pen and paper?
That's what an increasing number of people seem to be doing, and, having tried it myself, I heartily recommend it. The thinking is basically this: While we have pushed hard for our computers to do as much as they can for us, there are some things they haven't been able to do, or at least, aren't very good at. One is thinking for us. Another is making us physically more attractive (unless you're into online dating and know how to digitally touch up a photo of yourself). The third is being there for us when we most need them....
...First off, the myths. The revival of the bound notebook is largely down to a Milan-based manufacturer, Modo & Modo, which relaunched a French design of oilcloth-covered notebooks called Moleskines in 1998. And while British writer Bruce Chatwin certainly used the French originals, the company's claims to be making the same notebooks as used by Ernest Hemingway, Vincent Van Gogh and Pablo Picasso have been viewed with some skepticism.
...There are Web sites dedicated to Moleskines -- check out www.moleskinerie.com, for example, which is currently sending notebooks on world tours. Hong Kong's Patrick Ng, stationery buyer for upmarket store CitySuper, is planning an art exhibition next month. The only requirement is that submissions must be drawn in a Moleskine (see www.moleskineart.com)."
The Wall Street Journal Online
Link/ Subscription required
...
Thanks to Erin Melton!
Asian WSJ 1.14.05 scan: Patrick Ng
This way to last Wednesday's 1st Anniversary post
>
"People can’t stop talking about it—it has inspired them to be more creative, forced them to examine their lives more deeply, and pushed them to see what’s really important to them. What is it? A legendary little black book, but not the kind you’re thinking of. It’s the Moleskine (pronounced “mole-a-skeen-a”) notebook, whose legend may be more fiction than fact, spun brilliantly by the Italian company that now manufactures it, Modo & Modo.
One measure of the strength of a brand is by the amount of fervor that it inspires among its devotees. “I love my Moleskines, and you can have them when you pry them from my cold dead hands,” says one anonymous contributor to the blog, moleskinerie.com, which is “dedicated to the proposition that not all notebooks are created equal.”
Cristian Salazar
on Brandchannel.com
...
Lovemarks
Saatchi & Saatchi
The Morning News
3.12.2004
The Wall Street Journal Online
1.14.05
(Subscription required)
Read excerpt.
Jeremy Wagstaff
LOOSE wire blog
Discussions on Moleskine
1.14.05
Courier - Journal
Louisville, Kentucky
5.31.05
Illustration NYT: Clementine Hope
The New York Times
Sunday Magazine
(Registration required)
6.24.05
Pen on Fire by Barbara Demarco-Barrett
Email interview 7.28.05
LINK
Illustration : Rita Mercedes
"Deepest Thoughts on a World Tour" by Stephanie Rosenbloom mentions The Wandering Moleskine Project.
The New York Times, "Thursday Styles"
9.8.05
NYT LINK [Registration required]
IHT LINK
The News Tribune,
Tacoma, WA.
12.28.05 ` 
"Little Book of Dreams"
By Laura Lynn Brown
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
1.12.06
"Putting Pen to Paper Anew"
By Dan Morse
The Washington Post
2.20.06
"This is what every blank book dreams of—brand loyalty and passionate
writers. But for the Moleskine journal, it's no dream. The small black
notebook with the elastic band was famously employed by well-known
writers and artists—from Chatwin to Picasso to Hemingway to Van Gogh—
but the entire line enjoys a dedicated following today. In this
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