This notebook caught my eye and looked simply like a well-made premium notebook. I wanted to look more into it and after I opened it up and found all that it has to offer; I am so excited to share this with you! The folks over at Thinkers Manifesto have built an amazing system behind this notebook to help you create, capture, organize and share ideas.
Warning: this post is going to be a lot of fan-boy hype, but I remain independent of this company and truly believe this is a great notebook/system.
THINKERS NOTEBOOK
Let’s start with the notebook. This is the second version of the notebook and compared to the first which was a ring-style notebook, this new edition is a stitched binding and looks great!
The specs on this are:
Size - 6.5" by 8.67"
Pages- 256 numbered pages with a 5mm dot-grid layout
Paper - 120 gsm bright white uncoated paper
Weight - 22.9oz (it feels heavy, but not overbearing)
Exterior - Made from recycled leather, the cover is matte black and the trim has a black to orange gradient that makes this a great looking notebook.
Price - At $29.95 This is a premium notebook price.
Made in Germany, this notebook looks and feels great in the hand. With the slightly larger than A5 size, it works well for writing and sketching. The light grey dot grid is a nice layout to use and I believe they used offset printing so the ink does not sit on top of the page, affecting the pen ink.
One area I had trouble with was when using fountain pens on the paper. It feathers slightly and is a rough texture that was affecting my TWISBI nib and not allowing it to flow correctly. I know this is a personal thing, but I prefer the smoother paper for my fountain pens and this is being picky.
Notice there is no QR code for scanning…this is what makes this notebook system so great.
THINKERS APP
Going beyond the notebook, there is a whole system in place to help you create and organize your ideas. The team at Thinkers Manifesto based in Dallas TX has built an incredibly flexible app to help store and organize all the parts of your idea. The best part is that you don’t need to use their notebook to capture the page images. Any notebook, picture, website, even video can be added to their app. The app is free to capture images out of the notebook, but to get the full benefit of the service, you do need to pony up $10/Month or $80/Year.
I can appreciate paying to use this service because it means that they don’t need to share my data to support their company. As we all know by now, if we aren’t paying for a product, we are the product.
I have been using the app for several weeks to help keep track of my notes on my new folio case project, the Topo Folio. The app quickly scans my notes and images for keywords and is very good at character recognition. I can’t tell you how many notes I have scattered around on this project as things keep coming to me and I am not always carrying the same notebook.
They use their own AI for transcribing the text and it does make finding notes easy. I have used Rocketbook in the past for this same thing, but I didn’t like being held to their folder organization or being forced to use their notebook.
THINKERS WORKSHOP
Included in the price of the notebook, is the connection you get with the founders, Sean and Jerod. This is like a masterclass for business creatives. You also get access to like-minded individuals. I admit I am still exploring this area and finding out more. The main idea for this site is that it is a resource and education tool.
You can also join the Thinkers Mighty Network to join other ‘thinkers’ and round out the experience. As this community grows, it looks like it will be a good place to hang out and network.
THINKERS PODCAST
A bonus to this whole system is the podcast they developed which is narrated by the Founder Sean Jackson. There are currently two seasons and each is built to help you think…better. Sounds general I know, but the whole first season is an introduction into how to create ideas and think in productive manners. Season two is the story of how the founders started the company and overcame setbacks to build a great idea/company.
The podcast feels a little too well produced at first. It doesn’t include that learning period that amateur podcasters have which helps build trust/community. However, the more I listened, the more I enjoyed it. The science-backed thought processes and interesting stories help make this a good addition to your listening library. This is also a great podcast for entrepreneurs or small business owners. Sean is a great speaker and he offers some good advice in building a company.
Q&A WITH THE THINKER TEAM
As I learned more about this notebook and the team behind it, I was happy to meet Mica Gadhia, the moderator of the Thinkers Workshop. She offered some great insight into the company and explained just how much care went into every detail.
1. Can you tell us more about how you got started making the Thinker Notebooks?
Mica: Creating a great notebook is a balance between art and functionality and our team really took that seriously. We had many meetings and even had a brainwriting session to make sure we were all heard and our ideas were woven into the end design.
First, we decided on the aesthetic issues around paper quality, cover material, sizing, page quantity, and cover design. All of these are important since a notebook is a direct reflection of the person using it. Our focus was that we create a notebook that "feels" substantial and can reflect the unique character of the owner.
We reached out to Brandbook in Germany, makers of the extremely popular Nuuna notebook line, to obtain their help in creating the notebook. They share in our passion for quality and uniqueness and collaborated with us to create a notebook design that evolved past their Nuuna designs to something truly extraordinary. We continue that collaboration today as they are incorporating our suggestions and feedback into improving our notebook as well as their Nuuna line.
The functionality of the notebook was also key but often we felt it was either functionality or aesthetics... we worked hard to have both with a lay-flat design.
We opted for a 5mm dot grid pattern as this design has a high degree of functionality for our customers (note, the Nuuna line uses a 3mm pattern). In addition, we included a bookmark ribbon that not only helps mark your page but also assists in the page capture process using our app. We included a smart box at the top of the page so that our app could automatically recognize text within that box and convert it to the title of the note in the app.
2. Why orange? I see that your whole brand is based on this color and I was curious about how this was picked?
Mica: We researched the psychology around colors, especially in retail/consumer environments. We determined that this color of orange embodied the emotions of our brand; enthusiasm, creativity, and optimism. Once we decided on orange, we wanted it to be like the dawn of a new day.
3. How did you all come together and know each other?
Mica: After Sean sold his previous technology company he began working on the concept of how to merge writing and technology together. He was influenced by the work of Kahneman, Thaler, and other behavioral psychologists. He felt really strongly that writing by hand is a crucial component of improving a person's cognitive skills and the challenge became how to incorporate this into the way we work in the modern world using technology.
He recruited Jerod Morris, who was his previous VP of Marketing, as a co-founder due to their shared passions around servant leadership and personal development. Jerod's skill in developing online communities has been an essential ingredient of the type of company we wanted to build.
They started our collaboration around the first season of the THINKERS Manifesto (https://www.thinkersmanifesto.com/podcast) articulating their beliefs about what it takes to become a better thinker. The second season of the podcast does a deep dive into our companies history.
Along the way, Sean & Jerod recruited Daniel Reiling to lead our development effort. Like Jerod, Daniel was drawn to the mission of the company; so much so that he left college (with one semester left) to join in our efforts! We are so incredibly fortunate to have a really kind, easy-going team that shares a common vision and values.
I came along because they had too much work to do! I had worked for the same company Sean sold and I was invited to be the "heartbeat" of the company, essentially helping with the daily maintenance of the support desk, Knowledge Base upkeep, social media images and posting, THINKERS Workshop discussions and postings, former affiliate program, and pretty much anything that I can help with to make life easier for the team. :) Sean and I also had some fun many years ago doing a podcast about LinkedIn.
The latest version of the notebook and app reflects two years of research and development in pursuit of our goal of helping improve the way people think. We know there is more to be done and that our journey together is always just beginning.
GIVEAWAY TIME!
UPDATE: Sharon S is this week’s winner!! Congrats Sharon and please check your email.
As always, I purchased these notebooks and wasn’t asked by the company to write this review. My thoughts are my own.
Cheers,
Mike
