Life

by Amanda Fleet

I am frequently bemused by things... but what I find hard to understand is why some products absolutely fly off the shelves and other, amazing products barely get any response.

I absolutely adore Clairefontaine and Rhodia notebooks, but they are often eschewed in favour of other brands. Likewise Life produce fantastic products, but haven't quite found their audience. I genuinely don't understand why this is the case, as the paper is great and the products well produced.

So let me acquaint you with some Life notebooks/pads and try to show you why they're worth your attention.

Life notebooks:

There are a number on offer from Nero, but my two favourite would be the slim versions like the Pistachio, which have 32 pages (64 sides) and beautiful, off-white, soft paper that handles all kinds of pen and pencil (including fountain pen!) just beautifully, and the larger, 100 page versions in A5 or B5. Again, the paper is suitable for pencil and any pen type. I see that stocks are low on the A5 version of Pistachio, but the Schopfer (with a few more pages) is a perfect alternative.

Life report pads:

These are great for all sorts of things. They come in A4 and B5 size, and contain 100 sheets of plain paper, glued at the top. I tend to use my B5 version for letter-writing, but it would be equally handy for keeping at my side when I'm at my desk, for general notes/scribbles.

In truth, the paper in the B5 (shown above) is less good for fountain pens - at least with my big fat stub nibs that gush out a lake of ink - as there is a little feathering and not insignificant bleeding through to the other side, but nonetheless, it makes great writing paper (and I do still write a number of handwritten letters). I haven't tested the A4 version. I think the paper might be different, but couldn't say for sure.

These are just a couple or so of the Life products Nero stocks (you can see the full range here). Give them a whirl. They're definitely worth your attention.