Review: Nuuna Glow In The Dark Graphic Notebook @BureauDirect

ABOUT

Size: A5+ 165 x 220 mm
Paper Weight: 120 gsm
FSC Paper (Swedish Munken)
Made in Germany
Color: White
Ruling: Dot Grid
Sheet Count: 96
Price: £26.00
Where to buy: Bureau Direct

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APPEARANCE

This is a solid, pretty notebook that I think looks rather impressive. The cover is white bonded leather, with rounded corners. The edges of the paper are visible - they are a baby blue that match the print on the cover 'You Make Me Glow'. The spine is rounded, as are the pages inside.

The paper is white, with a dot grid ruling in grey. It is a small, cute grid ruling that looks pretty great on each blank page. It is a simple looking notebook, but the print on the front is the most fun! More on that soon...

PERFORMANCE & FEEL

The notebook feels solid and robust. It is heavy, and I like how substantial it feels in hand. The cover is velvety smooth, and a little rough over the print. The covers are semi-flexible and flush with the pages inside. The paper is quite smooth to the touch, but it is not coated. Note: that is 120 gsm paper, uncoated.

The notebook opens easily and lies flat because of the design of the binding. I love this design. It's very convenient, especially because of how thick the notebook is. It's much easier to actually write on all sides, and on all parts of the page when the entire notebook can open up completely and lie flat on its own.

The paper performed very well with pencils, ballpoints, roller balls, and gel pens. Brush pens and markers did well, too. Nothing feathered, and only the marker really bled through. There was a little bit of show through with the brush pen filled with fountain pen ink, but no bleed through.

I actually really enjoyed using pencils and brush pens in this notebook. I don't know why it was so satisfying, but those are some of my utensils of choice.

Although the paper is heavy, it is uncoated. I found it was not entirely fountain pen friendly. I experienced feathering even with extra-fine nibs. Feathering was not proportional to nib size though. I also experienced a lot of show through and bleed through with wetter nibs. The paper did not tolerate fountain pens all that well, but it felt really nice to write on, being so smooth. I also enjoyed that, because it was uncoated, my nibs that were prone to hard starts or skips did not end up doing so.

Although particles in inks were visible on the paper, ink sheens and shading were really toned down. Really wet nibs still offered shading, but of course, that also  meant it was more likely to feather and it definitely would show through/bleed through. Drying times were pretty fast across the board, with a variety of nibs and inks.

Don't be totally disheartened. I successfully used the back of a flex nib to mimic a folded nib, and that worked really well. There was no feathering or bleed through, and the sheen on the ink showed up well. It was also a lot of fun and the dot grid was a good guide for practice. I also used brush pens and various inks successfully (such as Sailor Jentle Yama-Dori). Try out different nibs and inks - you may find something that works for you as I did.

Now, on to the cover! The print actually glows in the dark. It needs to be charged before use and it fades pretty quickly. It's a novelty, but it's fun. I love glowing things, so it was hard to ignore this. Good for a dream journal? Nighttime journal? Beside-the-bed journal?

PROS

CONS  

OVERALL 

If you only use fountain pens, I would suggest you don't invest in this notebook because you might be disappointed. If you are a mixed user, you'll probably really appreciate it. It's a solid notebook. I like having a variety of notebooks so I don't get bored with the same thing and this one ranks up there - pretty unique, smooth, nice paper, and it glows. Spice things up a bit.

I received this item free of charge for the purposes of this review. I was not compensated monetarily for my review. Everything you've read here is my own opinion.