Starbucks “Capitol Hill” Edition is the 3rd collaboration between Starbucks Reserve and Field Notes Brand, following the Roastery Edition from 2014 and the “Coffee Origins” Edition from April 2015. It’s named after Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, where Starbucks Reserve Roastery & Tasting Room is located, and the rainbow colors of the set can easily be attributed to the neighborhood’s counterculture and LGBT communities.

Capitol Hill, just like the previous Roastery editions, was made to be an exclusive, in-store item at the Starbucks Roastery. It came out in late 2015, either late November or early December. I was in Seattle in late November and had just missed it! Judging from the fact that the Roastery still had the first two editions in stock then, I felt it’d be safe to wait for another chance to visit in the future, instead of relying on the secondary market. And my patience paid off. During my recent trip to Seattle in July, I was finally able to get my hands on Capitol Hill. Fortunately, they still had a bunch left, albeit in a drawer (they’d just forgotten to restock the shelves). The first two editions were surprisingly still available as well.

I’m glad to say, I like Capitol Hill more than I thought I would. There are many details in it to appreciate as a Field Notes fan, so I will list most of them here, with my thoughts mixed in.

Disclaimer: The neon colors were nearly impossible to photograph. I tried to represent all five colors as faithfully as I can but know that the magenta book and the salmon book were especially difficult and that they can look different from what my pictures may suggest. The salmon one is definitely more fluorescent and lighter in real life.

Things to note

Capitol Edition is a 5-pack, with 3.5" x 5.5" memo books in 5 different colors. I have no way of verifying all the branded Field Notes ever made but I have never seen a 5-pack before. The 5 colors are, as best as I can describe: salmon, magenta, yellow, light green, and navy blue. You might describe them differently but this is how I see them. All are very saturated colors, with salmon and green being neon. They hurt my eyes. It’s interesting that they went with 5 colors, instead of 6, which is the typical number of colors in a pride flag, and we’ve seen a few 6-packs of Field Notes before, e.g. National Crop (Spring 2012) and Workshop Companion (Summer 2015). Maybe 6 would’ve pushed it over their desired price point?

Covers are embossed with a polka-dot pattern, meaning the dots are raised up. Again, I’ve never seen this in Field Notes before. I haven’t written anything on the inside covers yet but when I do, I’ll have to watch out for these dots! Why polka dot though, I am not sure. Perhaps another reference to the Capitol Hill neighborhood? The embossing is done around all the text on the front and back cover, by the way.

White staples. An excellent choice for these fun, bright colors and the white text. The previous Starbucks edition, Coffee Origins, is also bound by three white staples.

The body paper is the white Finch Paper Opaque Smooth 60#T, which is the thicker version Field Notes is starting to use more these days. I really like this variation because it makes the memo book more substantial, and I can even use fountain pens in it.

Reticle grid comparison (l to r): Capitol Hill, Unexposed, and Night Sky. The gray in Night Sky is slightly lighter than the other two.

Reticle grid on the body paper of Capitol Hill is printed with Pantone “Cool Gray 2” Saphira ink. Other Field Notes editions that feature reticle grid are Night Sky (Summer 2013) and Unexposed (Fall 2014), which happens to also be printed with the same “Cool Gray 2” ink.

Texture comparison of Capitol Hill (top) and Coffee Origins (bottom).

Covers are made with Sappi McCoy Silk in 100#C. We’ve seen the same paper in the covers of Coffee Origins and Unexposed. If it weren’t for the embossed dots all over, Capitol Hill would feel identical to Coffee Origins texture-wise. Both have the same slightly rubbery, semi-glossy finish. Based on my experience, these covers are quite durable, and I like how pliable they feel. I should note, on the topic of texture, the inside covers of the salmon and the green books have almost powder-y feel to them. They’re definitely not as glossy as their front covers are, or as the insides of the other three colors in the set are. I am not sure if that difference is a function of the paper or the inks (the salmon and green ones are the most neon of the set), or if it’s unique to the set that I opened.

Starbucks Reserve Coffee Origins (top row) vs. Capitol Hill (bottom row). In real life, the salmon book on the lower right appears lighter and more neon. The magenta book is slightly bluer.

Capitol Hill (top row) vs. Unexposed (bottom row).

Even though Unexposed has the soft-touch coating on top of the same cover stock, Capitol Hill feels very close to Unexposed in spirit because they both feature fluorescent colors and the same gray reticle grid. Except, the text on the inside covers of Capitol Hill are a bit easier on the eyes than the ones in Unexposed. *shudders*

“Pink” comparison (l to r): Unexposed, Capitol Hill, and XOXO'13.

The magenta is very, very similar to the color of XOXO 2013 edition. The colors used, as printed on their back covers, are Pantone 246 for Capitol Hill and Pantone 2395 for XOXO'13. The XOXO cover is matte though. I’m actually glad that they’re so similar because I like the color and wouldn’t mind more of these medium “pink” Field Notes. Another color that I love from the set is the vibrant navy blue. Hard to describe it but it looks like there’s a hint of purple in it, too. A unique color in Field Notes so far in my opinion. My least favorite is the salmon one, the one unfortunately packaged on the very front.

This book unfortunately had a badly cut corner.

The embossed dots are starting to rub off a bit.

Wrapping it up

Capitol Hill draws several similarities to Unexposed and Coffee Origins but its embossed polka-dot covers, white staples, and thicker body paper make it a rather unique edition. I like the inspiration behind it, too. I may not love fluorescent colors but not all are that harsh on the eyes; it has some standout colors after all. I’ve been using the magenta book for a few weeks now, and the embossed dots and edges are starting to wear down nicely, with the white of the base paper showing through. Overall, it’s a great, fun edition worth a visit to the Roastery if you’re a fan of Field Notes and are in the area. Especially if you like bold colors and wouldn’t mind running into a camera everywhere you turn. It gets crazy packed with tourists there.

All three Starbucks Reserve editions (l to r): Roastery Edition, Coffee Origins, and Capitol Hill.

The back view of the three editions. Not everything can be printed in Futura Bold! And what's with the alignment on the birch cover? — The back view of the three editions. Not everything can be printed in Futura Bold! And what's with the alignment on the birch cover?

Rainbow! Coffee Origins + Capitol Hill. — Rainbow! Coffee Origins + Capitol Hill.

White staples, too! Coffee Origins + Capitol Hill.

White staples (from top): Capsule AW2015, Snowblind, Starbucks Reserve Coffee Origins, and Capitol Hill.

Some Specs

Starbucks “Capitol Hill” Edition, November, 2015
Item number: FNSBR-03
Price: $19.95 per one pack of 5 memo books
Edition size: unknown
Cover paper: Sappi McCoy Silk 100#C, printed with Pantone 805 (neon salmon), 246 (magenta), 109 (yellow), 802 (neon green), 2735 (navy blue) soy-based Saphira inks
Cover embossing: by Nu Wave Die Cutting & Finishing, Chicago, Ill.
Body paper: Finch Paper Opaque Smooth 60#T in “Bright White”
Reticle grid inside: Pantone “Cool Gray 2” soy-based Saphira ink
Belly band: white paper with black ink
Packaging: shrink-wrapped
Staples color: white

My Favorite “Practical Applications”

#14. Brunches Brunched
#16. Pour-Over Tricks
#22. Metaphorical Fires Extinguished
#28. Cleanest Dives

Quick orange color comparison (l to r): Expedition, Unexposed, Capitol Hill, Neon Ice Pop, DDC Pop-Up, Butcher Orange. I gave up trying to color correct these. Just know that the middle four books are supposed to be “neon”, with Neon Ice P… — Quick orange color comparison (l to r): Expedition, Unexposed, Capitol Hill, Neon Ice Pop, DDC Pop-Up, Butcher Orange. I gave up trying to color correct these. Just know that the middle four books are supposed to be “neon”, with Neon Ice Pop being the least neon. The DDC Pop-Up edition is supposed to be lighter and REALLY fluorescent.

Quick yellow comparison (l to r): Unexposed, Packet of Sunshine, National Crop “Corn”, County Fair, Capitol Hill, Drink Local Lagers “Pilsner”, Drink Local Lagers “Pale Lager”, and Sweet Tooth.

Quick green comparison (l to r): Summer Camp, Unexposed, Capitol Hill, Our503.com, and Shenandoah “Sweet Birch”.

Quick blue comparison: American Tradesman, Unexposed, XOXO Festival 2012, Capitol Hill, Cold Horizon, Coal x DDC, County Fair, Coffee Origins, and Unexposed.

Were you able to get your hands on this Capitol Hill edition? Which color is your favorite?

Guess what I spotted in this year's February issue of Japanese fashion magazine Spring! Field Notes Ambition! You can see it in the upper left corner in the picture above.

As some of you may know, planning notebooks and journals are a serious business in Japan. At the end of every year, department stores and bookstores dedicate huge sections of their shops for next year’s planners. Even casual fashion magazines like Spring publish a spread or two on notable journals and notebooks, too.

It’s interesting that the Field Notes edition featured here is Ambition, a past edition from a year ago (winter 2014 to be specific). I guess it makes sense, since the topic is planners, and Ambition is the only Colors edition so far to have the weekly planner format. But it made me wonder how readily available Field Notes Colors editions are in Japan and how well they sell. You know, the marketing/business side of things. Are there even Ambition 3-packs still left on store shelves there, for a mainstream magazine to feature it?

I remember a store in Tokyo (now closed) still had Day Game left back in late 2014, while another store had only the latest editions. If the online shop of Hightide, Field Notes' distributor in Japan, is any indication, there aren’t that many die-hard Field Notes collectors in Japan yet; they still have Drink Local in stock. I'm not an expert in the stationery retail industry though, in Japan or otherwise. Nor am I fluent in Japanese enough to do thorough research on the state of Field Notes in Japan. I'm merely a curious fan based in the US that came across a fun sighting because she has an interest in Japanese culture. :)

If you’re a Field Notes fan living in Japan, I’d love to hear your shopping experience and how well the Field Notes brand is received in the stationery community there!

The short blurb on Field Notes at the bottom of the page isn’t anything revelatory, just a basic intro of the brand and the fact that Ambition is a variety pack. But it was still interesting to see my favorite notebooks in a different context, for a different audience in what I assume to be a more competitive market. And I was tickled this was in a women's magazine. My impression so far is that Field Notes in America tend to get marketed towards men, or more often sold in men's shops. So to see Field Notes marketed towards women in Japan, while I'm sure they have been featured in men's magazines too, is pretty neat.

Interestingly, Field Notes Ambition is featured under the group “New-look Daily Planner” along with: Franklin Planner, Noritake, and Traveler's Company. Some included in the “Traditional Daily Planner” group are: Knox, Rhodia, Hobonichi, Hightide, Quo Vadis, and Moleskine. It's an interesting mix of Japanese brands and non-Japanese brands, with some of the names we're already familiar with.

Go, Field Notes!

PS: Hightide has their own line of stationery that are worth checking out, in my opinion. And have you seen their special page set up for Field Notes? There you'll find the list of Field Notes retailers in Japan that might help you in your treasure-hunting. ;)

PPS: In case you missed it on my Twitter last year, here is another example of a Field Notes sighting, in a Japanese fashion magazine called Sweet (published by the same company as this Spring magazine). It's just used as a prop though; judging from the texture on the cover, it looks like it's a Butcher Orange, which is quite an old one to be featured in a magazine recently.

Things to note

Wrapping it up

Some Specs

My Favorite “Practical Applications”

WELCOME

COPYRIGHT

Field Notes by Theme

Field Notes Item Numbers

LEGIT “PRESS”

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MY WISHLIST