Midori MD Notebook - A5 Grid Paper

Product Information

Note: this notebook is the same as the Midori MD Notebook with model number 15003006, except for the paper band design. I went on to try a number of different calligraphy inks in the MD Paper notebook. It turns out that the Dr PH Martin metallic inks worked particularly well thought they take longer than usual to dry.

I wasn’t doing anything special. I treated my notebook the exact same as I would any other. But this cover ended up looking far shabbier than I would expect. This is especially annoying since I had to buy it separately. The ribbon marker was in the notebook at an odd angle and bent, but eventually straightened out. Actual Use

B2B Customization

Midori MD notebooks are very fountain pen friendly and are not very difficult to find. While they don’t show as much sheen as Tomoe River paper, they do show as much as many other high-sheen paper options. Midori MD notebooks are probably one of the most well-rounded options available today thanks to their features, great ink-handling capabilities and decent dry times. Regardless of your needs, you’ll have a hard time finding a better notebook than a Midori MD. Bungubox Omotesando Blue: Is a moderate sheen Sailor ink with little shading that is quite dark and moderately saturated that is very wet and can show dual sheen;

For a long time, the Leuchtturm1917 was my favourite A5 notebook. I even wrote a blog post about how it was the best A5 notebook you could buy. Well, it turns out there is a new contender and it might be even better than the Leuchtturm. This is quite surprising for a number of reasons. The main one being that I didn’t like the MD Paper notebook when I first saw it. Midori is a Japanese brand, which makes the MD Paper notebook is slightly harder to come by. If you’re in London take a trip into London Graphics Center. You’ll find the MD Paper notebooks along with other hard to find stationery brands like Field Notes.

Paintable Stamp

The MD Notebooks come in two types of paper. The MD Paper Cream and MD Paper Cotton. When the MD Paper range was originally created the notebooks were only available with white paper. This was the same paper used with the Midori diaries. Midori I remember as the original company that brought us Traveler’s Notebooks (I still have a Midori branded Traveler’s Notebook) but in 2015 Midori spun out their Traveler’s Company brand. Indeed, Midori was the original name with the company starting in 1950 as Midori Shokai Co., Ltd. where it made courier, letter and notebook products (so it hasn't strayed too far from its origin). Today the Midori Brand and the Traveler’s Company brand are subsidiaries of the parent company. The parent company went through many name changes before arriving at Designphil Inc. today and the name is portmanteau of “design” and “philharmony”. Designphil’s other brands are Knox, Plotter, Touch and Flow, Custom Made Letter, Innovator, and Watashi Dayori which all come under it’s “Lifestyle Design Business” (they also have a commercial side to the business where the products are created and branded for specific external companies). Nearly all of these subsidiaries deal with paper stationery products or the leather cases that surround them. In general Designphil’s philosophy seems to be around using traditional techniques and modern techniques of manufacture. The outer design of the notebook is very simple with the binding visible on the spine. I think there is something quite pleasing about these design choices. It enhances the simplicity of the notebook rather than adding embellishments to the cover.

Montblanc Irish Green: This is a drier ink with low moderate saturation that can show with good shading and generally no sheen (apart from on the swatch); Overall it’s an attractive and well-proportioned design, but it’s worth noting that the MD is a small pen, short, slim and light at 15g all-in.

World’s Best range

This recently released Midori MD Fountain Pen is definitely designed as a pen for people new to fountain pens. It is affordable, designed to be light ‘like a pencil’, has a "happy medium” nib, and nib design that absorbs pressure if you are used to pressing hard (as if they are anticipating those coming from ballpoints). Indeed, Midori’s own literature starts by assuming they are talking to someone new to fountain pens: