Review of the Animaland 2013 Diary

Today, I'm going to review the Daycraft  Animaland Diary 2013. You can find my reviews of the Executive Diary 2013, and the DayCraft Expresso Notebook in other posts this week.  

Since most of my readers are American, I want to point out that the Animaland Diary is a daily planner.  I know for some the word 'diary' is associated with a book where you keep all your secrets and thoughts.  The Animaland is week-at-a-glance planner meant for brief notes and appointments.

The weekly lay-out is European, starting on Monday rather than Sunday.

The Animaland Diary comes in 8 styles, each with a different illustrated cover and colors.  I received one of the Elephant versions.

Specs

No. Pages: 216

Size: not quite A6 (106x150mm / 5.8 x 4.1 in) 

Page color: Cream w/black print, and a top border strip that changes color for each month

Paper weight: 60 gsm/40.536 lbs

Cover: Laminated Pearl paper (hardback)

Layout: 71 week planner from Aug 27 2012 thru Jan 5th 2014

Extras: Color co-ordinated ribbon bookmark

Page of stickers

Whimsical illustrations throughout

Year-at-a-glance for 2012, 2013 & 2014

International Holidays for 2012 & 2013

Table of Food Calories

4 pages of Nutrition & Health information

Gift Ideas

3 pages for entering special dates 

Year Planner for 2012 Sept-Dec

Year Planner for 2013

Year Planner for 2014

2 pages for Income & Expenses

4 pages for Main Contacts

4 pages for Notes

1 page for Personal Memoranda

4 sheets of illustrated and perforated memo stubs

The Animaland Diary is a planner that would delight a child (but if one tried to take mine, he/she'd have to pry it from my cold, dead hands, lol).

Look & Feel

The  Animaland  Diary 2013 will be too cutesy for some, and just adorable for others.  Most people are going to smile when they see it.   The illustrations are done in a colorful, primitive style and there are lots of them.  

Each day has a 2 page spread with a little doodle(same doodle for the entire month).  The first day of the month has 11 lines for notes and the month-at-a-glance and the weekly planning pages have six lines per day.

Each of the perforated memo stubs has a doodle, as well.  I couldn't get them to scan very well because they are in a light gray ink. 

A sheet of stickers for marking special dates is included (although, since there is no back pocket, I suspect I'll lose the sheet before using all of the stickers!).

The first day for each month of 2013 has a full color drawing, and let me note, that although the illustrations may seem adorable at first, there is a little bite to them.  To the observant, they might be saying something.  It isn't always clear what--but that's the fun!

The cover is a pearly yellow with matching inside covers and ribbon bookmark.  The cream color of the pages is perfectly color-coordinated giving a pleasant lemony look to whole planner. It's probably just me, but I think lemon verbena and wafer cookies every time I open the book, lol.

The pages are very thin and smooth, but not slick.  I'm not sure if the paper qualifies as onionskin, but it is close.   I wish the planner had an elastic closure.  I'll have to find a pocket to keep the diary in when carrying it in my purse, because I worry that the pages will most likely crumple and tear if left to bounce around loosely.

I did apply the test where I hold the book by the corner of one page and shake vigorously.  The corner dimpled but there was no tearing or creasing in the pages.

The binding is sewn and the pages lie flat without having to fold the book backwards..  

The Animaland isn't the lightest planner I've ever had, but it is light, and I have no problem with making this my carry-in-the-purse planner.

Performance

I used a wide specturm of pens to write in the Notes section. The Fountain pens showed through, with a little spotting and the darker inks showed through.  I was expecting far worse given the thinness of the page.  

I decided that I would mostly be using gel pens and rollerballs in this planner, because that's what I carry in my purse, so I used a Zebra® Jimnie® Gel Ink Rollerball Pens, 0.7 mm for my Zentangle®-Inspired art, knowing it would saturate without actually being wet.  The pen has a nice dark ink (blue, in this case). 

There was no bleed-through, but the show-through is worse than it appears in  the scan, almost like a watermark on the page.  

Conclusion

The Animaland Diary 2013 has a whimsical theme with illustrations that will appeal to children and many adults.  Some will find it too cutesy.  Whimsical or not, it is functional--thin but tough paper, sturdy binding and plenty of informational pages.  It's light-weight, but could do with an elastic closure.  There is room for daily notes and reminders, but it won't be too useful for someone with many appointments each day or the need for long notes.

Though it is small enough to fit in a pocket, the hard cover isn't flexible.

The sheet of stickers is a nice touch, allowing you to place reminders for special dates and events, without taking up writing room.  

Show-through and bleed-through isn't bad for such thin paper, but if you are someone who wants the back of the page to be pristine when you write on it, you'll need to choose your pen carefully.

Personally, I love it, and it's going to be my purse planner. 

I am grateful to Mr. Foreal Lee for giving me the opportunity to review this Animaland Diary. 

The Animaland Diary 2013 can be purchased at Daycraft.com.hk.   Two things to Remember!  The Diary/Dayplanners at Daycraft come in more than one language.  Be certain that you choose the version you can read, lol.

Secondly, remember that the prices are in Hong Kong dollars.  You can find programs online that will convert prices to the denominations used in your country to get an approximate price.  If you use Paypal, it will automatically convert according to the current  going rate of exchange.