The folks at Field Notes released "Ambition," their latest seasonal COLORS edition, today. They've come back down to earth a bit from the fall "Unexposed" edition with a classic styled release with both familiar nods to past Field Notes favorites and some new flourishes.
All COLORS releases seem to generate heavy debate among fans, but early sentiment on social media seems very positive.
My first impression of "Ambition" is very similar to my take on the Field Notes "Arts and Sciences" release: it's quite lovely, but it's not for me.
I'm not really a fan of Field Notes packs with mixed paper ruling. In this case (unlike "Arts and Sciences"), two out of the three ruling options work well for me. But I'm not interested in the planner option, and I think it will be the least desired on the secondary trading market.
The gilding effect that is used for the first time on "Ambition" is very cool and very reminiscent of the old school calendars and memo books of my childhood. While I bow to its coolness, it's not a style that appeals to me.
These are minor nitpicks on what is an excellent edition overall, but I'm going through a bit of a simplify and standardize phase right now. Plus, nitpicking about pens and paper is kind of what I do here.
One aspect of the "Ambition" release that I'm really intrigued by is the introduction of a new body paper: Cougar Opaque 50#. I don't have any direct experience with it, but I'm really excited to see whether the Field Notes gang showed fountain pen fans some love this time around. The online specifications look encouraging. It looks like it's made to take some ink.
I'm going to pass this time, but this is a great edition that I'm sure many people will enjoy. I'm also really excited for some fountain pen fans to put the new paper to the test and report back.
