I'm Retiring My Moleskine Sketchbooks

After many great years of writing, drawing and painting in my Moleskine pocket sketchbook, I have decided to move on. I mentioned this a few posts ago and indicated that I was going back to my Aquabee 808, which is shown above, along with my Letts journal. The last straw was an email I got the other day from Moleskine wherein they shared about their latest passion series that includes the following subjects: babies, gardening, dogs, cats, travel, and "style".

I used to be their most ardent supporter and told all my friends how cool Moleskine was and that they could be cool too if they got one (and used it). Moleskine really had a handle on the mystery and romance of the lonely writer jotting notes from a sidewalk cafe. It has gotten completely out of hand now. I supported the city notebooks. I even liked the concept of the food, wine, book, music and movie passion notebooks, (although I still think a cigar journal is just crying for consideration). But now, everyone has a Moleskine. They are everywhere and no longer the esoteric and obscure secret for those on the edge.

I learned much from my Moleskine days: how not to treat my sketchbook so preciously; how to use it for photos, writing, and designing as well as sketching; and how to incorporate it into all aspects of my daily life not just the art ones. And for that, I am grateful to them. They created a market from nothing, and did it with style and ultimate coolness, and I wish them well.