Only one 'check'
Uhh...let's see, my calendar 'check', my job notebook 'check', my YouTube notebook 'check' ....uhhmm. Oh yeah, my freelance notebook 'check'. My daily routine before I can head out the door AND the space I always have to reserve in my bag, but no more!
It was a regular work day, I was sitting at my regular table in one of my favorite coffee shops where an acquaintance saw me writing drily in all my various notebooks. "Hey Kevin, know what you should be looking at? Greenbook. A handy erasable notebook, that saves lugging around notebooks again."
I immediately went online to check Greenbook and yep, made the purchase that very afternoon. But why?
Concept
Only an erasable notebook had not convinced me, but Greenbook "the concept" did. The fact that you can compile your own notebook with what you need convinced me. The design of the pages is nice and clean and looks calm, if that is not enough you can also choose between different designs! For example, the calendar which is available in multiple formats.
Greenbook is suitable for everyone given the diversity of the page types. Are you from mathematical calculations, accounting ...in short arithmetic and tables? Then you have the "diamond" page for that. Do you like drawings? For that is the 'blank' page.
It even goes so far that you can even track your special diet and workout schedule with the 'habit tracker' and 'find your rhythm' page. Really awesome!
Ow and by the way, did I mention that it is fully detachable and attachable! A super system that allows this one notebook to keep going ...even if your life, your interests, your work, your diet etc. changes.
In short, it just screams sustainability. This is something I stand for and as a vegan, this appeals to me a lot. Includes vegan accessories and paper packaging.
Quality
Then comes the next thing, you get the package home and then it's seeing if the quality is as good as that Greenbook indicates. I can actually be very short on that. It really is high quality!
By this I mean both the firmness of the paper and the "quality of erasing. The paper is nice and firm making it easy to loosen and tighten (repeatedly) and erasing is easy by just using the cloth. And should you need to erase a lot of text, illustrations, calculations, etc. that you have already left for at least a week you can use the included liquid.
Note! Are you really fanatic about illustrating or bullet journal, then you must remember that if you press hard then even after erasing you will continue to see a slight print when you hold it at a certain angle against the lies(see image above). However, the print is otherwise not visible at all when you look straight at your paper. So no problem for me. I write very lightly so no print is visible, only when illustrating I lightly see the print.
Important to mention is that the company also wants to be able to continue to guarantee quality, so sometimes a product is not available for a while because the quality does not conform to the Greenbook concept. So this gives assurance.
My workflow
Well as you read I'm quite excited and that's because besides being a product, it just fits my workflow perfectly.
For example, I chose the A5, gray cover that I put together entirely by myself. Just putting it together is all the fun beforehand! Thinking about how you will use it, the layout, the pages needed, the pens, etc.
Now the thing is, I have organized my GreenBook so that I have my job, my freelance/workshops, my YouTube and my calendar in one simple notebook. Arranged exactly according to my workflow, my way of working. So love to use checklist within my project, but also space to notebook and sketch. So this is all possible. I am nice and organized with this, this gives peace and focus...wonderful.
Service
The organization behind GreenBook is also really good and together that makes it a nice whole. If you have questions or anything like that you can email, call and app with Janice. YES YOU READ THAT RIGHT. Janice. So I have another contact in my Whatsapp chat list. The contact is as if you are apping with a friend. Personal and fast. This is super, especially at a time when companies are increasingly hiding behind an email address.
Conclusion
So it's no surprise, the product and service are top notch. But is it so ready and final?
No I don't. By this I mean that the company and the products are in flux and of course I still have a few things on my personal wish list ...hoping they will be produced. Fortunately, you are allowed to submit product improvements, they are open to that ...so who knows, maybe soon it will be exactly as I would like it to be. But for now I say 'good job'.
Kevin Van Dienst is a photographer and videographer. He shares his knowledge through his YouTube channel and teaches courses. Check out his work here.
