Rhodia Bloc No.12 review

Posted: February 9th, 2010 | Author: Thomas | Filed under: Ink & stationery, Reviews of all kinds | 4 Comments »

 

The Bloc Rhodia “N°12“

 

1) Model & specifications

 

 

The Bloc Rhodia N°12 is the ubiquitous pad for the discerning creative, its unapologetic orange veneer is tantamount to being bitchslapped and challenged to scribble down something truly special, which of course is what this pad is all about!

Scribbling.

Its dimensions are a usefully diminutive  85 x 120  (3 3/8 x 4 ¾ “) which is perfect for shoving down the back pocket of your favorite corduroys on your way to an adventure.

80 pages.

80g weight.

Blaze orange.

Epic Vellum paper.

 

2) Size, Feel & Appearance

 

 

Its small, minimalistic and orange which is all that needs to be said!

Speaking of orange, while Rhodia does manufacture this pad in the boring, uncool black that your math teacher probably uses I would advise you to purchase the orange one.

Orange is a controversial color, it does not flinch and will not bow down to social custom or expectation, orange does not say sorry; it either punches you in the face or makes you grin from ear to ear!

I like love orange.

So of course I am biased towards Rhodia pads & the orange ones in particular, (and should Karen from Exaclair not tire from my overly poetic ramblings on her companies products and thus wish to send me more Rhodia samples then orange>every color ever envisioned).

 

3) Features

 

 

One awesome feature of Rhodia pads is that they come with a seam/crease pre-fabricated into the blaze orange card cover which makes them easy to just fold back and write with.

I have always hated reporter style pads in which the cover seemed to ostentatiously slam down on your hand as you are writing.

Not fun!

With the Rhodia this problem is non existent, the cover protects the paper (and attracts the fairer sex with that powerful orange aura) when not in use but other than that it does not interfere what so ever.

 

 

The sheets of delicious 80g vellum paper are individually perforated which allows them to be tugged free with no asymmetrical undoings!

Hurray for OCD people the world over!

 

4) Writing Performance

 

 

The 80g vellum paper is smooth however as you can see it does feature just a touch of texture which is just lovely and as a matter of fact I prefer it to the super glossy Clairefontaine paper thats the true benchmark for fountain pen aficionados.

It just seems to want to be written on with the way it bites in and guides your writing instrument, the quality of the paper is superior (from what I can tell and based on my tastes) to the Journal 21 daily planner that I reviewed last week.

I tested the paper using a variety of writing mediums from fountain pen ink to Sanguine oil pencils & as you can see the only pen that bled through was the permanent marker (surprise surprise!) I was not really shocked, Rhodia paper is known for its resilience so I expected it to pass with flying colors!

 

5) Conclusion

 

I will say straight up that I am a Rhodia fanboy, I have been a firm proponent of the brand since I first utilized it in science class while at school at the tender age of 7..or 8.

I would pick a Rhodia pad or notebook over the more prestigious (and expensive) Quo Vadis range simply because to me Rhodia personifies the freedom to write without constraint and it evokes a childish streak within me (my Rhodia pad has a whole page of me scribbling “Kaboom” over and over again using a purple crayon!) that is so often forgotten in today’s 24/7 corporate lifestyle.

Rhodia is the trendy, quirky side of Clairefontaine, its fantastic paper without the pressure to write down a flawless piece of literature from a  Triomphe pad.

Rhodia pads just dont judge you.

I can write 80 pages of complete bullshit using a Bic 1 day and 80 pages of heart wrenching Harry!Romance Fanfiction using my Waterman LeMan the next day and the Rhodia would just give an uninterested Gallic shrug and point out that it does what its designed to do.

A chic, unrepentant orange slab of emotion.

 

A+

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