Jinhao x750 with Noodler’s 54th Massachusetts ink – this pen has a medium nib, except it seems to lay down a much heavier line than other medium nibs I have tried. So add that heavy ink flow with an extra wet ink (Noodler’s has a reputation for being very wet) and you’ve got a combination set for disaster. Yep, I did that on purpose. Archer & Olive and Scribbles That Matter are the two notebooks getting all the attention these days. Mostly A&O, right?! Paper weight has a huge impact on the overall look and feel of your print materials as well as the buying decisions of your customers. They help make a statement. For instance, you want your business cards to be professional, vibrant, impactful, and sturdy. Thus, you should use paper with a higher GSM to achieve this goal.

Gold Medal Winners – both QiHeng and Tekukor ended up with one art medium that bled through in addition to the two alcohol-based supplies. QiHeng failed with dye ink and Tekukor failed with a Sharpie Marker and both of them had a little bit of trouble with the swatch of fountain pen ink. I would give QiHeng a slight edge over Tekukor because of the way the paper performed with watercolor (Tekukor got more crinkled). In the next section, there’s a line on the chart that talks about the cover options, but I wanted to mention that in more detail here. I almost didn’t include this section because it’s more subjective than it is information based on hard-hitting research. But I’m going to chatter on anyway. Archer & Olive

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It’s clear from the standings that QiHeng is the winner in the performance categories. The construction and durability of the QiHeng notebook are outstanding and the paper is better than any of the other options.

Dylusions Distress Ink – diluted with water – same as above, but this time I diluted it slightly with water to see if that made a difference. This test includes two different factors. First I want to see how the pen glides along the surface of the paper. Is it smooth or does the tooth (texture) of the paper cause a rough writing experience? We’ve already covered the bleeding and ghosting side of things, so that’s not a factor here. Promotional discounts cannot be used on Office Papers unless stated otherwise. Due to the competitive prices of our Office Papers we are unable to include these in promotional offers or our Trade Discount. If you are looking to buy a large quantity of Office Paper we can offer pallets here.I’ve brought all of the test results together in a single list. We’ve got some patterns emerging, right? Pen Test Standings So the only way I was able to rate these notebooks from best to worst in this category was to take into account the two alcohol markers and the Noodler’s 54th Massachusetts fountain pen ink. We’ll judge those markers again in the art supply section. PEN TEST WINNER

Ahhh… art supplies! This is where things get real! You know that a major part of the marketing efforts from these companies claim that 160gsm paper in their notebooks stands up to the “no bleed” test with all sorts of pens and art supplies. Hold on there, cowboy! This nerd doesn’t believe your hype! Watercolor paint dry-ish – another application of watercolor paint but with this time with less wet and I dabbed it with a paper towel to soak up any excess water and then let it air dry I mean if I’m not wrong, the original few designs that A&O came out with are the bee, the moon and stars, and the Big Dipper, and the fact that QiHeng has an ant instead of a bee and a different constellation instead of the Big Dipper just seems to be getting into an intellectual/creative property grey area for me. QiHeng even has a squirrel design on a leather-like cover that is pretty close to the design of Dingbats notebooks. There is also an option for PU leather covers with various emblems on the front – I haven’t tested the durability of this other style but I am going to assume it’s the same as the linen cover version. Anger + Shopping = “Shopping Rage”– similar to Road Rage, but without cars, and involves credit cards, retail outlets, and excessive nerdy research.

CONCLUSION

Once I had those two art supply results covered up, the judging was a lot easier. What I came up with was Gold, Silver, and Bronze winners. Two equal winners in Gold and SIlver, one winner in Bronze. But you know me… I’m just a nerdy skeptic at heart. If too many people are all talking about the same brand of notebook, I tend to get very suspicious. Well, technically I first get annoyed, then I move into seriously pissed off… but then it usually settles down into suspicion. I’m a pretty even-tempered person but when I reach the end of my patience and I get fed up with the obsessive evangelizing, it usually results in a massive research project to uncover the truth.