I promised a review in the last post and a review you shall have!
Ok, it is now near the end of the year so it's fitting to do a review on the
Quo Vadis Exacompta Space 24 Calendar I won in a giveaway last year! I've been using it nearly every day in the past year and it's looking pretty good with the cover. Just a note: These photos were taken part way through 2012 while I was using it.
This paper wrap dictated the information of the journal and pretty much sums up the planner. It was wrapped around the front part of the cover and it works.
The paper is a yellowish-green color which isn't too displeasing to the eye despite the strange color combination. Not quite yellow, ivory, or cream. I got used to it and kind of like it. Maybe I'm biased as my favorite color is green. Still it's pretty warm and doesn't glare in your eyes in bright light compared to other colors. It doesn't get in the way either when you write. I'm not sure if lighter colored inks would be visible but I don't like light colored inks when I write.
As you can see this paper is fountain pen friendly. No feathering! I love the smoothness of the paper, so silky smooth! I love it. This was written with a Lamy Safari with Noodler's Lexington Gray.
Lays flat right off the bat. No need to hold it down or anything! That's just awesome.
So I won another planner from Quo Vadis this year! (I know I'm lucky X3) Here's a comparison side by side. I'll do a review on the other planner later but do note that I could fit the scholar planner in the same cover.
Just wanted a picture of what it looked like with the planner in the cover. Not exactly an attractive binding edge but not ugly either. Round is probably better than squared. I have to admit I really like the size of this planner! It fits in a bag and if I need to shove paper for something all I need to do it fold the letter size in half and stuff it in the planner. I tend to lose sheets of papers sometimes so this really helped keep me organized in projects or notes.
The type of cover I selected is a Black Soya cover because I preferred the smooth feeling over the textured Club cover. It was just a preference of mine. I really liked the cover, it was sturdy and protected my planner from any unfortunate food and drink accidents. The only slight downside is that it also felt a little plastic-y. Not a bad thing, but I was expecting a more supple smooth cover but this wasn't bad. I ended up liking it a lot despite that.
The inside cover, pretty standard. The inserts are refillable which is great and eco-friendly. :D
Various front pages that may or may not be useful to you. I didn't really use them but if you travel a lot they may be useful to you.
The Semi-annual part of the planner was interesting. It gives you a slot for every day of the year which is convenient if that's how you plan things. Unfortunately, I didn't use this as I don't plan ahead that far but it's pretty neat if you need it. There's a second part that has the rest of the year that I didn't picture.
I loved the Monthly view. I used this a bit for half the year before realizing I was falling behind on certain weekly items. Then I just stuck with weekly the rest of the year. Still I have some family members who prefer solely using the Monthly view which I'm sure there are others out there that prefer the monthly view.
Something to note that you might want to know is that the monthly section is collectively together before the weekly part of the planner starts. Some calendars put the month view right before the first week of that month. Just something to mention. :)
Now the weekly view. I love it for the most part. Plenty of space on the right side for notes. I used that mostly for To-Do lists, homework, or random notes I needed to remember. It was extremely helpful. I do like the 8am to 9pm schedule but I use it more for than work. I use it for life projects/events so I would prefer if the time slots ended a few hours later, such as 10pm or 11pm. Nevertheless, I made due, it wasn't a huge hindrance.
I also didn't really use the week count at all. I'm not sure what you'd use it for exactly...If you know please enlighten me. :) You can also tear off the corners at the bottom of the planner to allow easier access to the current week. I didn't really use it. I don't like tearing the pieces off and wasting them. I actually had little trouble flipping to the current week because of the wear I had on the planner. Unused parts stayed together and often defaulted to flipping to the current week or so automatically. Overall, I really liked this weekly view. A few times I did use the 3 calendar view under the notes but not too much.
Oh yes, you can also plan ahead in the next year! I didn't use this at all...I don't plan that far ahead but it's useful to copy down in the future new planner. :)
So, there is a travel expense record that you can use. It'd be useful if you travel a lot but I don't so I didn't use it at all. Any notes I needed to make I'd make it in the notes section. I don't think there would be enough slots to use this part of the planner efficiently. Most people would probably write it in the notes section too or use a dedicated notebook for this type of notes.
On the right is the removable address book insert. Unfortunately, I didn't really use it either. Although if you like to catalogue your addresses then this would be great for you!
There's a slot for an address, home phone, cell phone, fax, and email! I love that it's removable so you can use it in another future planner so you don't have to rewrite all the information.
In conclusion, I've grown fairly fond of this planner. It's super convenient to carry around and perfect for a bag. The paper is fountain pen friendly which means generally all ink friendly as long as it dries. It has all the bells and whistles of a typical planner and a little extra. There are some aspects that I didn't use but each person has their own needs. This one definitely won't let you down. I only am sad that it's going to end already and that it wasn't a 2-year planner.
