1/4

MD Notebook A5 / Midori

/ / /

Affiliate link: Supply Index may earn a commission if you buy. See the disclosure.

The MD Notebook strips a notebook back to the writing surface. Made by Designphil under the Midori name, it is built around MD paper, an uncoated Japanese stock first developed in the 1960s and refined since to resist feathering and bleed while staying smooth under a fountain pen. The A5 has no printed cover: pages, flyleaf and cover are all the same paper, wrapped only in glassine to keep off dirt. It is thread-bound in sixteen-page bundles so it opens completely flat, and ships with an index sticker and a ribbon marker. The point is reduction, removing the cover, the branding and the closure so nothing sits between the hand and the page. It suits writers who want paper quality over features and add their own cover if they want one.

Design intent

Leaving the notebook coverless and wrapping it only in glassine removes everything between the writer and the paper, making the writing surface itself the entire product.
Thread-binding in folded bundles lets the book lie completely flat across a spread, so the spine never fights the hand on the inner margin.

Trade-offs

The bare paper cover offers little protection in a bag and will scuff and curl, which is why Midori sells a separate cover for it.
The light, uncoated paper is tuned for fountain pens and pencil, and very wet inks or markers can still show through to the reverse.