Baron Fig Apprentice Notebook Review

The Baron Fig Apprentice and I got off on the wrong foot. I had a remote writing session planned, taking the kids with me to Starbucks on a Saturday and hoping to knock a few reviews out. I grabbed a handful of pens, some paper, and grabbed one of the new Apprentice notebooks Baron Fig was kind enough to send me fresh from the 3-pack.

We settled in at Starbucks, me with a tall coffee and the kids with awesomely overpriced cake pops and Sanpelligrino. But hey, it's an outing, and I'm glad to get out of the house for an hour or two and write and draw with the kids.

I was anxious to spend some time with the Apprentice, so I cracked it open and started testing a few different pens and inks on the back pages, as you do. I immediately noticed that the pages and covers wouldn't stay flat. Then I took this picture:

Not a happy maker. See how the stitching is crooked and almost wraps around the binding? That causes the inside pages to lay awkwardly and makes for an strange writing experience. If the stitching was straight - no issue at all.

Customer service in an always online world is a funny thing. It's hard to get right, both from a customer expectation standpoint and a business standpoint. Everything Baron Fig did to correct this was fantastic. Let me give a few tips on how both consumers and businesses can work together to come to a happy resolution:

1. As a customer, don't be an asshole. Mistakes happen, problems arise. I was not happy with my notebook, and while I wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, I wasn't a jerk either.
2. If you are going to call out a company on social media, have the stones to include their handle so they may see the problem you are having. If you are going to blast someone and not link to them somehow you are giving the company less of a chance to make things right.
3. As a company, own the problem. Most customers are understanding and appreciate the honesty and two-way conversation.
4. Have a solution, and deliver. Any company worth their salt should be able to explain how they will handle the issue clearly and directly.

To their credit, Baron Fig did an amazing job following up with my issue. I tagged them in my Instagram pic and they responded before I had even left Starbucks. And they didn't just respond, they owned the issue, made me smile, and emailed me right away stating a replacement was on the way.

That is how you do business.

I wanted to go through this entire scenario because sometimes first impressions cloud our judgement. We are all guilty of this, myself included. But first impressions can be changed, and that all depends on how you and the companies you deal with handle problems.

That huge digression aside, how is the Baron Fig Apprentice as a notebook? It's good. Not exceptional, not awful. But good, and that is ok. This is a notebook made to be used and abused and it is perfect for that. The cover feels sturdy enough to take a beating, and the paper handled most inks I threw at it, with the exception of a few of the inkiest fountain pen and marker inks.

The main difference between the Apprentice and many other similar notebooks are the dimensions. A standard memo book runs 3 1/2" x 5 1/2" while the Apprentice runs 3 1/2" x 5". They call this Smart Dimensions to make the page more breathable, but to me it feels stubby and less breathable. It is more pocketable this way though, but those who like to use specialty covers with their notebooks may have a little extra wiggle in the fit.

At $9 for a 3-pack, I think the Apprentice will do very well for Baron Fig. The Confidant has a large and loyal following and the Apprentice is a great compliment to their product line.

My thanks to Baron Fig for sending me BOTH of the 3-packs of Apprentice notebooks for review. Be sure to check out the excellent interview with the gentlemen behind Baron Fig at Tools & Toys.

Baron Fig Confidant Review

It's safe to say that if you haven't yet heard of the Baron Fig Confidant notebook, you've been living under a rock for most of the year. A lot has been said about these new notebooks in that time, but I've held off on talking about the book for a while because I wasn't really sure. Now, halfway through the book, I have more solidified opinions.

Baron Fig started on Kickstarter, was massively successful, and launched a store shortly after. A heartwarming success story to say the least. But, since this is a notebook meant to be written/drawn/sketched/painted(?) in, how does it hold up? Not so bad. It's a great middle-of-the-road notebook.

Briefly, let's go over the specs. The Confidant is available in one color: light gray. You have one option, and that's the paper type: plain, grid, or dot grid. One notebook will cost $16, but you get a small discount for buying more than one at a time. The size is a bit smaller than A5 at 5.4 x 7.7 inches. The notebook is wrapped with fabric, which gives it a unique and pleasing appearance and touch. 192 thick pages (12 of which are perforated), and, of course, a yellow ribbon marker.

Design and Build

For a notebook, it's fairly unique. The cloth wrapped cover is something I don't see very often, and I wasn't really sure if I'd like it in practice. So far, it's held up fantastically. No noticeable stains or wear, but I'm sure your mileage will vary. Mine has been carried around in a bag 99% of the time. I would imagine that harsher conditions would take a toll on this exterior.

The cover is attached nicely to the inside of the book and doesn't look like it will come undone. The spine of the book is a little lumpy, and I'm not sure why. The stitching isn't perfect or symmetrical, but it holds the book together.

True to their claims, the notebook does an excellent job of laying flat. There's a tiny tendancy for pages to stand up a bit when you're using the first or last page of a register, but other than that it does great.

But, you should know that the notebook only closes flat when it's brand new. Once you crack the book open and begin writing, the book will never close flat again under its own weight. In this case, an elastic closure would be perfect. This little annoyance used to bother me, but now I've gotten used to it. I just have to be careful about laying pens on top of the book, as they'll roll off from the angle.

And, the ribbon marker. I really like this notebook, but I hate the ribbon. Several reasons why. First, it frays like crazy at the bottom. It started this immediately out of the box, and it's not the kind of material that can be melted off to prevent further fraying. I wonder if I'll finish the book before the ribbon becomes several dozen independent ribbons. Also, the way it's attached to the spine of the book combined with the fact that it's fairly wide means it is folded and creased every time you close the book. In my OCD attempts to make the ribbon lay flat while closing the book, I wasn't very successful.

Infernal ribbon. Moving on to more interesting things.

Paper

The paper is really the only important part of a notebook – the rest is just details. In the case of this notebook, the paper is pretty good.

I've only used the notebook for writing, and mostly with fountain pens. For fountain pens, the paper is good. It doesn't compare to Clairefontaine, Rhodia, or many other Japanese premium papers. It just doesn't have the smoothness that those papers offer. However, it handles inks and nibs very well.

There's a noticeable tooth on the paper that took me a few pages to get used to. Pens that you think you know and understand suddenly feel different in this notebook. That's the main reason I took so long to formulate my thoughts. I wasn't sure if I liked the way the paper felt under the nib. After a lot of writing, I've decided I like it and I would even purchase another notebook or two after this one is done.

I chose the dot grid pattern in my notebook, and it's a subtle pattern. The ink is a bit lighter than what's in my Rhodia dotpad, but it's not an issue. I think I'll try a lined version next.

The paper is thick. 100 gsm is heavy paper, and this usually means that there isn't much bleeding and almost no show-through on the pages. This is completely false for certain pens, like Sharpies. Testing with a Sharpie meant the next page was unusable opposite the Sharpie ink. As far as fountain pens, ballpoints, gels, and liquid based pens go, it does great.

The odd dimensions of the book (5.4 x 7.7") are actually really great. It's wider and shorter than conventional notebook dimensions, and I prefer this format.

Changes

One of the things that Baron Fig mention on their site is that the Confidant is not a finished design. To me, that means they might listen to feedback and make changes in order to sell a better version of the product. This is great, and I wish more companies would do something similar.

Here's my wishlist: - Offer a paper that has less tooth. Making a notebook that does well with many, many mediums means that there are tradeoffs. Offer papers that fit niche purposes. - Serviceable ribbon. Seriously. - Numbered pages. - Different cover colors and patterns. With fabrics, there are so many creative possibilities.

Conclusion

The Baron Fig Confidant costs $16. How many 192-page notebooks with 100 gsm paper and a dot grid option can you find? As far as I know, that's rare. And that's why the Confidant is a good recommendation. The quality is not as good as other notebooks you can buy, but those other notebooks cost much more. It definitely kills the Moleskine notebooks.

There's something about this notebook that makes it easy to use and toss around. You can treat it like the tool that it is without worrying about messing it up. Maybe it's the cloth cover, the marketing, or the lightweight feel. Whatever it is, I like that quality in a notebook. Because at the end of the day, notebooks are meant to be used.

Try one out for yourself. It's a good notebook made by good people. I look forward to seeing what they have up their sleeves next.

(You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution, Twitter, and App.net.)