Baron Fig - Notebooks That Are As Serious About Your Projects, Goals & To Dos as You Are


No doubt you have updated your technology over the years. Even if you didn't purchase a new phone or laptop, guaranteed you've downloaded new apps, changed the way you track your time and finally given into texting over calling.

So why the hell haven't you upgraded your notebooks?

You say "Why fix what ain't broke?"

Here's why:
  • Just because it's paper doesn't mean it can't vastly be improved upon. Baron Fig's stunning collection of (innovative) notebook proves that.
  • If you're still using the notebooks of your youth, you are just just capturing ideas. Which is good. You are on the right track. But you can do better.
  • If you are convinced you are completely paperless, think again. There will be times when you won't have your phone and paper and pen will have to do. If you have to write it down, do it somewhere that counts. Your ideas are worth more than just a scrap of paper.
  • You know that writing something down is more powerful than typing it out. So imagine the difference the type and layout of paper you use in stimulating your creativity and making you more efficient and productive.
  • If you don't change the system you use - however tried and true - how can you grow and improve?
You seriously need to get yourself Baron Fig Notebooks. Created by two young fellas - CEOs and Co-Founders Joey Cofone and Adam Kornfield - eager to improve on a standard.

Their simple, sleek and stylish books are easy on the eyes and the brain. They've done all the hard design work- now you just have to go and out 'me to good use.

The line began with the Confidant, a dreamy hardcover notebook that the duo took to the public to get their ideas on what mattered most.

The genius of Confidant is that it's a hardcover that was designed to lie flat. That means you can actually write in it without breaking the spine, having either cover flop over and close in on you, and be able to write something down then step away without having to prop it open in the meantime  with a stapler or something else on your desk, and have it be open, waiting for you and your next big idea without having to go to the trouble of opening it up again.

This is why so many of us have undoubtedly beautiful notebooks, journals and diaries that went unused or are only partially filled up. Unless they are spiral bound, hardcovers are hard to keep open long enough to jot anything down.

The size is perfect - not too big and not too small. Portable though with heft (192 pages with 12 perforated ones at the end) the acid-free fine grain paper means your ink won't bleed through and will also hold up over time.

Like all Baron Fig notebooks, it comes blank, ruled and dot grid formats so you can customize not just the size of your book, but the style of paper you want for the type of writing/drawing/planning you are going to do.

And If you've never tried writing or drawing on dot grids, I urge you to now. It can really change the way you think and write.

I also can't get enough of the sophisticated, elegant linen cover (available in Flagship Gray or Charcoal) with rounded corners that give it a polish that leaves most store-bought journals left behind. It's no wonder these guys  put the Confidant on Kickstarter with a goal of $15 and after  30 days had raised over $165,000, selling nearly 9,000 notebooks to thousands of customers around the world.

Vanguard Softcover comes in three sizes (Pocket, Flagship, and Plus) and two colours (Light Gray & Charcoal). The yellow stitched binding against the gray is tres chic and the textured cover is a pleasure to have and to hold. These were meant to travel but are totally okay to hang out in and around your desk and workspace. Getting three in a pack is sheer genius - you'll never have to worry about filling it up and waiting around until the next one comes along. It also means you can mark them for different purposes and goals.

Baron Fig stands out from the crowd in many ways including the design, quality of paper (just wait until you see how your pen glides across the page) and even in the colour palette of their covers. The muted, sedate greys and deep plums are stylish without being distracting, they work for either a formal work setting or something more casual, are completely unisex (it's not too often you see a male exec with a hot pink journal or padfolio), and work with every decor from cabin rustic to my kind of sleek, modern setting.

For a lot of people, a notebook is a transient place for names, numbers, ideas and thoughts to be written down and then transferred somewhere else.

For me and other creatives, it is an exciting and magical terrain in which to travel and capture the possibilities and a place to deal with life's realities. It can be about the past and present but hopefully there's a lot of room leftover for the future.

The guys of Baron Fig say, "As our name implies, we strive to balance Discipline and Impulse at every turn. Each of us must have the discipline to hone our craft and do the work, but also the impulse to play and journey down paths we have yet to traverse. Experimentation plus good old heads-down elbow grease."

These guys take the creative process seriously but know that letting go and being free on paper is as important as anything else. 

Oh, and in case all that's not enough, when you buy a Confidant Notebook they plant a tree.

Stock up not just for yourself but for friends, family, and colleagues. At first glance, they might think, "Oh, just another notebook," but once they  use it, you'll notice you'll receive a lot more invitations to events, and casseroles sent home with you as a way of thanks for such a great gift.

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