German notebook manufacturer Leuchtturm 1917 has just released some brand new colors for their notebook-lineup: “army” (green) and “new pink”. While the pinkish one isn’t exactly my cup of tea, I was definitely amazed by the new green notebook.
I got my hands on a Master Slim (A4+) hardcover version (121 numbered pages) of the army-colored notebook, which has, by the way, also won a 2015 Red Dot Design-Award (which essentially means that I also wasn’t too wrong by recently crowning it’s bigger sister, the Master Classic, the Queen of Notebooks).
The Master Slim is about a third more lightweight than the traditional Master Classic, but also A4+ in size, which means it is larger than A4 and can hold loose A4 sheets in between the pages. Here come the specs (taken from the company website):
- 121 numbered pages
- 8 perforated and detachable sheets
- Gusseted pocket for A4 sheets
- Blank table of contents and numbered pages
- Page marker
- Elastic enclosure band
- Thread-bound book opens flat
- Ink-proof paper (100 g/sqm)
- Sticker for labelling and archiving
- Dimensions: 225 x 315 mm
I do absolutely love the elegant understatement of the army green. It’s just right there! Here’s a color comparison-shot to a traditional black notebook (not a Leuchtturm, though).
I got the Master Slim-notebook in a lined ruling, which will be a pleasure to write on when those vast blank double-pages unfold. The ruling is 6mm apart. So it is a pretty compact ruling. You can either fit the letters within one line (which is how I prefer using the notebook), or alternatively go overboard and use two lines for capital letters, for instance. The Master Slim has two page markers, one in green and one in green/gray.
The 100 g/sqm-paper comes with the common rounded edges and Leuchtturm’s off-white/ivory color, which – this is a bit hard to see on the pictures – fits really nicely with the army green of the notebook. The ruled version of the notebook offers a dedicated space for pinning down the current date of an entry. On top of that, it comes with a side column on the outer sides of each page. This comes in really handy for additional thoughts, remarks, corrections, and so forth.
The big plus of the Leuchtturm-notebooks are the numbered pages that all of their notebooks have. To me personally, they do make even more sense in the ruled version of the Master Slim, which almost asks for being used for definite text-writing, which is what I will be using it for. Like I do not intend to take everyday-notes in this beauty. It is way too precious for that. I plan to use it for word art, poem-writing, short story-development, and the like. This is also when, again, the columns and date-option will be super practical.
Especially in combination with the numbered pages that I mentioned above, the blank table of contents in the beginning will be extremely practical to sort of keep track or an overview of the creative output. Like topics I dealt with and so on. The Master Slim has three blank contents-pages with 43 lines each (yes, I counted them). This is plenty of space to keep track of even the shorter writings. Do the maths, and you’ll arrive at 129 possible entries in the table of contents with the notebook having 121 pages. Perfect, I would say. If this is still not enough, you may well divide the page in the middle and double this.
As with any Leuchtturm notebook, the Master Slim also has a back-pocket for keeping like snippets or loose notes. And look at this one – it really is spacy. I can’t wait to fill it with snippets of inspiration for creative writing that I might come across.
And because I was just really amazed by how big that back-pocket really is, I could not resist to try fitting that other black notebook you saw above into it. Worked! The pocket of the Master Slim is definitely “bold enough to even swallow a competitor” (pun intended).
Oh yeah – and last but not least: This time I did not forget to post the saying that’s always in the brochure that comes alongside the Leuchtturm-notebooks. Each time I read it in a new notebook, I want to take a picture of it and post it. But I always forgot. This time it became a reality. I think that little statement is just so true. It at least totally nails the reason to why I love using notebooks.
Which do you prefer, the Master Classic or Master Slim?
Well, a bit hard to say. Essentially, it really depends on what I would want to use them for. Like if it really is a topic bound notebook, a notebook for collecting all sorts of stuff, and so on. Personally, I use the Master Slim (a ruled one) to collect quotes, inspiring text snippets, or nicely written poems I wrote myself. The Master Classic is used for my PhD research. It contains ideas for analysis, chapter structuring, literature to read, and so on. It lives on my desk only basically. This is one thing that I would consider: if you have to take the notebook with you frequently (e.g. on a daily basis for lectures or work) I would not get a Master Classic. It’s just really a heavy hell of a notebook. It’s great, but I consider it really a desk-book basically. The Master Slim, however, is easy to take with you and might make a great notebook for lecture or meeting notes.
Thank you so much for that insight. I was actually thinking of getting either one for a Masters course I was considering doing.
Definitely food for thought, considering my work handbag is already heavy enough with food, accessories and my A5 Leuchhturm. If I was to study again it would most like mean my MacBookpro would be thrown in too at times plus which ever textbook I would need to read/study. So a brick of a notebook might not be the way to go there.
Thanks again for the feedback 🙂
Most welcome! In that case, them Slim is most likely the better option :-).