I had seen Story Supply Co on Instagram and Twitter, but hadn't yet taken the opportunity to try out their notebooks. They were kind enough to offer me up a pack to review here on the blog, so a special thanks to them for sending a set my way.
The first thing that stands out to me about the Story Supply Co notebooks is their very simple, but classy looking covers. The set I received is a dark, matte blue with a contrasting cream/ivory colored logo. Nothing too fancy, but nicely done.
Before getting into the notebook a bit more, the company was founded under the idea that everyone has a story to tell. Hence, a little pocket notebook to carry with you to jot down your meaningful experiences, ideas, and maybe even your grocery list, but somewhere to intentionally capture your thoughts. Their mission to spread this idea around is translated into one of their business choices: to provide a kid in need a "Supply Kit" to tell their own story.
A snippet from their site that I found a bit inspiring:
Stories matter. They help us connect and empathize with others. They make us a little bit more human. But most of all, stories, and the ability to tell and share those stories, give us a voice.
Well done, Story Supply Co. Super cool.
Even with all of the motivational feel good stuff, these notebooks are actually solid performers. I put one of mine through a gauntlet of different writing choices and it came out pretty well on all accounts.
Palomino Blackwing 211 -
What I found was that the paper didn't have very much "tooth" so it didn't eat through a pencil, even on softer grades like the limited Palomino Blackwing 211. The notebook cover stock is pretty thick which made for a solid writing surface. It wasn't flimsy or flopping around.
The paper they provided me is the blank (which is a little outside of my comfort zone I might add...) which is also nice and sturdy. I believe their only option is more of an off-white, ivory colored paper, but it fits nicely with the branding colors and aesthetic.
LAMY Al-Star Fountain Pen -
Pocket notebooks are traditionally hit or miss when it comes to fountain pens, but I found that the Story Supply Co notebook performed pretty well with the new LAMY Al-Star (recently acquired from Appelboom) that I tested on it.
As mentioned, the paper is a bit thicker and it seemed to have a bit of "grab" on the nib. LAMY nibs tend to be a bit glassy, so this could be part of it. I found the grabbiness of the page tended to result in some occasional skips with what has been a traditionally wet writer.
From a performance standpoint, the lines had very little feathering which is always the problem. I mean, was it "amazing" around feathering, not perfect, but passable for everyday writing for sure.
The nib I used is a fine (German, so around a medium in most Japanese brands) and bleed through was minimal. That being said, if you're thinking you might want to go BB on the notebook, prepare for some significant bleeding onto the next page.
Uniball Signo UM-151 0.5mm and Schmidt Fineliner -
The last tests I did on the book were with more of your normal, everyday writer type of pens.
I chose a more fine-ish gel pen as well as a porous, felt tip pen as these are some of my favorites when not using fountain pens.
The gel wrote about as expected (great) with no problems, but I found that the Fineliner ended up even better. I really enjoy the more expressive lettering that comes with felt/plastic tipped pens, and the Story Supply Co book performed fantastic. I'll probably make this more of my go-to.
Special thanks again to Story Supply Co for sending me a pack to sample and review and, in conclusion, I was quite pleased with the product and results.
Take a moment to check them out and give them a try.