So fire away and we will collectively try to answer your questions or offer opinions.
We still have plenty of places available for the Manchester Meet Up, please get in touch if you would like to come along. Full details here
10 September 2013
Free For All Tuesday No. 136
So fire away and we will collectively try to answer your questions or offer opinions.
We still have plenty of places available for the Manchester Meet Up, please get in touch if you would like to come along. Full details here
Do you know if filofax have stopped selling their personalised photo diaries? I can't find them on the new website :( I hope they have not discontinued them as I love them!
ReplyDeleteI've just tried out the Franklin Covey compact size and I totally love the inserts but totally hate the binders. The reason I wanted to try the FC compact was because of the size - my A5 is becoming a little clumsy for everyday carry around.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I find the Filofax personals just too narrow, although someone kindly suggested that the Malden would hold the FC pages (is there a conspiracy to sell a Malden to every Philofax devotee?).
If anyone from Filofax reads these comments perhaps they could raise the idea of a new paper size, instead of endless cheap 'fashion' filofaxes each season. Personally I like the B6 size I found in Bangkok (see www.diarylover.com - they call it 'A6' but it's closer to B6 - 122 x 173 mm). I have one of their planners but Filofax still wins the quality stakes and that is my bottom line.
So how about it Filofax - a wider personal size with wider inserts?
I find FC inserts and binders to be extremely practical and well designed, but just unappealing. I hate the green ink, hate the look of the binders, hate the inelegant fonts, etc. I continue to use FC because it really works splendidly but I take no pleasure from carrying a franklin planner around. A vintage filofax is much better. And while many phILOFAXers seem to find them too plain, I love the look of the stock white inserts with their tidy black print. It is an aesthetic slam dunk and has a professional polish totally unavailable from any competing ring bound product.
DeleteI have used the Filofax white week on two pages insert (blank space for each day) for several years. I also like the clean and simple look. I have used Dayrunner Wo2P insert which is nice. I am now using the Filofax cotton cream Wo2P insert for the first time, and I have the subject dividers and address tabs with the brown font in my compact Filofax. I prefer the brown font over the black one. The cotton cream inserts look great. I have always liked the plain Filofax subject dividers. I had to remove a homemade pocket folder and some other items because of the smaller space. I have thought about a different Wo2P layout but it will require that I make this insert. I probably will try to make this insert but for now the cotton cream one is fine.
DeleteI agree about the standard (personal) pages being too narrow, but that's a quirk of history. With 5 different page size ranges already (plus 2 discontinued sizes) to manufacture and for retailers to stock, I think the chances of a further size is somewhere less than zero!
ReplyDeleteDesigning new short-run binders is easier than a whole new paper range. Personally, I'm still waiting for a proper slimline A5 binder (not much bigger than a Flex)
There is still a huge number of manufacturers making wider page binders and inserts. As well as Franklin Covey, Time Manager and Day Timer spring to mind. If you missed it, a pretty comprehensive list appeared last October. Here's the link http://philofaxy.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/ring-bound-organisers-other-brands.html
They could always design a wider binder for use with other company's refills - that makes about as much sense as not selling some of their own refills on their own website which is my current bug bear. Fortunately e-bay provided eveything I needed and Filofax lost out on well over £70 worth of diary sales for my 2014 refil. (Well,I suppose they sold the diaries wholesale in the first place but they missed out on the consumer end. I even tried to order from Filofax France who dd stock some of the ones FF UK did not sell but then did not sell others that FF UK did sell. In any event they were all cheaper on ebay!
DeleteThat's a great idea! Many firms have better quality and better sized inserts than Filofax but are using up stocks of very old and tired binders. Time Manager (TMI) is a good example. They've not produced a new binder for over 20 years! The biggest problem would be hole compatibility as brands use different configuration. Again, a quirk of history!
DeleteHello; am I to understand that the Pocket size hole punch works for the Mini? Also, does anyone have experience with the pocket portable punch--is it any good? Thanks from this newbie.
ReplyDeleteI use an adjustable hole punch with 6 holes. No problem in using this for Mini. Set it to Pocket size and the last hole is outside of the Mini paper.
DeleteBasically, yes. The spacing between the holes is the same but when I used a my metal Pocket hole punch the holes were 1mm higher than on original Mini insert (but I guess you can always adjust the paper in the hole punch, or live with that 1mm).
DeleteIn regards to portable punches... well, I have one in Personal and one in A5 size and in my experience only one page at a time can be punched with it (and quite often not even that - the holes are sometimes not fully punched through).
The portable hole punch is awful - it becomes dull very quickly and if you are punching heavy paper, the holes aren't punched cleanly. Buy cheap buy twice :-)
DeleteWhat concerns me is there seems an influx of people selling relatively new Filofaxes, which seems very strange... especially as the Filofaxes have only been released this year and they don't seem to own them more than the proverbial 5 minutes..... I'm intrigued...to say the least..
ReplyDeleteFashion impulses?
DeleteI think people often buy more than one thinking they will take the less loved one back and then they forget to do it and they then sell it.
DeleteI most definitely think there is alot of the wanting is more fun than the having going on. With alot of the new filofaxes I personally think once you get them you realize on the original you don't like the funky pen strap and the patent leather shows fingerprints. The calypso is a compact and try as you may your stuff just does not fit. I think all those youtube videos and hauls and FB postings of look what I got are fueling the fire. People then get them and realize
Deletethey just don't like them or need them. Just my opinion.
I tend to agree with Karen. I think people impulsively purchase binders and then realize that they don't like them much; I did that with an ochre malden, seemed perfect and when it arrived I just didn't like it. I ended up selling it about a month later.
DeleteSo could it be said if more people could see them in person people impulse buying would go down?
DeleteIs it possible to make a model archive section on Philofaxy? Pictures from front sides are usually found quite fast but insides and other details... I know there are old archive pages somewhere but I don't think these are maintained.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone else find that Filofax mini pens skip?
ReplyDeleteI know that it's the refill used inside, Filofax's own brand I guess, so what brand's refill is a good alternative for the Filofax mini pens, that doesn't skip?
Thanks :)
I believe the refill is a standard D1, I have found that, for example, Zebra D1 refills do fit the telescoping FF mini pen. I suspect almost any other refill will write better than the one FF supply.
DeleteD1 refills can be bought many places online, for example:
http://www.jetpens.com/search?q=D1
Dave.
This has probably been addressed before, but what the heck is going on with the Filofax USA site? There's NOTHING on there!!! I check back regularly to see what's available and it's less every time. Does Filofax not care about sales to Americans? I actually emailed Filofax months and months ago to ask about new binders, including the teal Malden, and was told a couple of weeks. It's been more than a couple of months and I'm wondering what's up. There's nothing to choose from.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's really bare these days. I'm not sure what is going on, but they had the A5 Malden Ochre for a week or so and I scored one. Perhaps they are waiting for their own website rehaul to really update the site in time for end of the year calendar/planner sales? Who knows. It is annoying as I am a Canadian and must use it for binders as well.
DeleteI find that Filofax customer outreach in the US to be lacking in general. Whenever I've had a problem, they always helped me. But there is virtually no advertising or interaction within the US as a whole (minus the website). FFUS used to have its own Facebook page but it was never updated, etc. I don't know if it's like that in other countries outside of the UK or if its just us. I have been of this opinion for a long time.
DeleteThey're very much under the radar. I'm 49 years old and had never in my life heard of Filofax before the last year or so. I've never seen a print ad, TV commercial. The general public has little or no idea what Filofax is (these comments apply to the USA; elsewhere your mileage may vary.)
DeleteI agree. Filofax does not seem to do a lot of advertising in the United States. I also feel like when I see pictures of stores in other countries, they have a huge selection - almost like another section of the store just for Filofax. I have not seen a big selections of Filofax in a store in New York City. I think maybe if Filofax got into a chain store in the United States like a Staples, Office Max, or Office Depot, they would have more advertising and sales. That is just a guess.
DeleteSorry about the errors in my reply.
DeleteI think Filofax is missing out on a great market by slighting the US.
Delete