At first I was intrigued by the name, Kwaderno. The last time I heard this word was in Filipino class in elementary school when teachers (or mga guro) would deliberately use kwaderno to refer to our notebooks and aklat to refer to our books. 😅
I was impressed by how thoughtfully they packed my order, and I couldn't wait to give a review. Let's begin! ♥︎
THE LAYOUT
The Kwaderno Classic A5 Journal Notebook is a locally crafted journal that aims to connect the person to their values. This is beautifully encapsulated in their tagline, "A piece of you in a notebook." I bought a dotted one in Midnight, and this journal features the following:
- Soft-bound velvety vegan leather cover
- 112 leaves, or 224 pages, of 100GSM cream paper with colored paper edge
- Dotted or blank paper variants available
- Rattan notebook sleeve with elastic enclosure band (which can be used as pen case too!)
- 1 ribbon bookmark with a pendant on tail (super nice touch!)
- available in midnight (black), deep forest (green), light ocean (grayish blue), shadow (gray), walnut (brown)
- smyth sewn, making it possible to be laid flat open
SAMPLE PAGES
Since this is a first-impression review, our sample pages are unfilled. But I'll have this baby filled up as my 2022 bujo! 🤗
THE PEN-TO-PAPER TEST
(Will update this once I finally use the journal! 💗)
THE YELLOW LEGAL PAD TEST
pros
- The dots are barely noticeable, which I am obsessed with! They've gotten these in what I think is the perfect dot shades.
- I love the little details they thoughtfully incorporated in the notebook⏤the bookmark charm, the colored page edges, the brown pages on the front and back, ahhh. Thank you, Kwaderno team! ✨
- The paper quality is superb! I love that my Uni Pin Fineline pens do not bleed and barely ghost! For whatever technology they owe it to, *bows*
- I appreciate the cover finish. It's matte and velvety, and it's overall lovely. (But I listed one con on the cover below too!)
cons
- I'm kinda unsure with the notebook sleeve. The sleeve isn't adjustable, so I'm a bit worried it won't serve its purpose in the long run. Don't get me wrong⏤it's tots adorable, but given that I like to add ephemera on pages, making notebooks bulky, I don't think it fits for how I'll use it.
- I noticed that first line of dots were printed so close to the edge. I'm not quite sure if it was intended but there was sort of an imbalance where the dots are placed on the paper. I'm hoping I just got one from a bad batch and that when you buy yours, they're clean and centered.
- Their description says the notebook cover is soft textured leather, but to me, it feels more velvet soft... rubber? My Victoria's Journals Smyth Flexy's cover is soft leather, and it doesn't feel any close to it. Anyway, I mentioned this because I noticed how the cover edges are somewhat easily distorted. I had my journal tightly kept it its sleeve, which has the knot of the elastic enclosure inside, for my trip back home to Cebu. When I got the journal out, that part where the knot hit the journal was distorted :(
- It's only accessible via their Shopee app ☹️ (If you find anything on Lazada, you'll notice it's overpriced and sold by different *weird* shops. Be careful!)
VERDICT
price point
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durability
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paper quality
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design
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accessibility
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final rating: 4.4 / 5
RECOMMENDATION
In all fairness, if you're looking for a fuzz-free and simple journal that does the job, Kwaderno is a brand to look out for! I would recommend it to anyone starting out bullet journaling (well, even those who've been journaling for quite a while, frankly) and those who want to support small local businesses. ✨
QUICK LINKS
Where to buy: Shopee
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