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Baron Fig Mastermind Desk and Week Pad

Adding Analog to the Digital Desktop…

Baron Fig Mastermind Desk

There are a thousand things I could point out in the picture above, from the insane Logitech G910 keyboard that lets you change the color of each key individually, to the fantastic Wacom Intuos tablet – both were great upgrades to my design workflow process. What Baron Fig has created is a perfect compliment to the digital desk – a way to track quick ideas and reminders when you don’t need 35 more Outlook alerts that day, or want to quickly sketch, but don’t need the permanent confines of a notebook or Photoshop.

Baron Fig Mastermind DeskThe Mastermind Desk Pad uses a dot grid and measures 12″ x 8″ – pairing perfectly with my Wacom for jotting down quick doodles and ideas before going digital. They use a glue binding along the top edge so you can easily tear off sheets as you go. The pad contains 35 sheets and comes two per pack at $15.

The price here is higher than off-the-shelf jot pads from the usual office supply stores, but the difference is in the paper. As mentioned before with other products from Baron Fig the paper quality is quite superior – and deals well with all types of pens, markers, fountain pens and even my Ecoline brush pens failed to bleed through.

Baron Fig Mastermind Week PadTo partner up with the Desk Pad there is the smaller Mastermind Week Pad – a cool 11″x3″ weekly calendar pad. Like the Desk Pad it uses a glue binding for easy removal and comes with 18 sheets per pad – with 3 pads per pack for $9 (enough to get you through a full year). Monday through Thursday sections measure 2-3/16″ x 2-3/4″, with Friday-Sunday splitting the last column in a 70/30 split with  Saturday and Sunday grouped together.  The only minor issue here is if you use this for more of a personal/home use and are busy on the weekends. If your target use is the office M-F then it shouldn’t be much of an issue. One other minor issue I found is the binding glue – I think it could stand to be put on slightly thicker as one of my pads came split about half way down the deck. Again paper quality is top notch and responds well to everything I have thrown at it, from fountain pen ink to colored pencils.

So the Mastermind twins are what I have come to expect from Baron Fig, with a focus on great paper in a practical format for daily use. I am a few weeks in with both of these and love that – for me at least – they are a great way to extend my workflow. I didn’t expect to replace my outlook calendar with the Week Pad, but instead have found it’s great for quick notes and reminders where using outlook would have taken longer and probably have been overlooked. If you want to check out the rest of the lineup head overt to BaronFig.com.

P.S. LEGO makes for some fantastic wall art!

 

Full Disclosure: The notebook was sent my way at no charge by the folks at Baron Fig for review purposes.

3 thoughts to “Baron Fig Mastermind Desk and Week Pad”

    1. Yep – I already had a lower quality notepad I was sketching on but it allowed a lot of bleed through so this is a step up for sure. As for the calendar, it’s going to work where it will be more useful (the lack of weekend space made it less than ideal for the home office, but fine for work.

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