Atheista -

I read a post at Pinoyexchange boldly proclaiming that some publishing house had the planner could ultimately trounce the Starbucks planner. The press release was a bit off-putting due to its seemingly targeted and boisterous nature but I decided to give it a go anyway. I had nothing to lose and planner to gain.

Speaking of lofty promises, the cover definitely follows up on that very off-putting premise. I don’t anyone who would proudly take this planner around and claim that it can go to toe-to-toe with a Starbucks planner. Why will it change your life? According to the content, all proceeds for this journal are going to the building of wells and schools, and the  planting of trees all over the world.  It sounds well-meaning and noble but when you factor in how cynical this generation is and how we all clamor for transparency in everything that we’re involved in, the message is quite vague. The URL of a site is supplied but it’s hardly the reputable charity or organization that would command instant credibility. While it’s not really a knock against the planner, what could have been a strong selling point for the product was lost due to insufficient substantiation and the use of motherhood statements.

THE COVER

I’m not really a planner person (I don’t own a Starbucks planner) so I’m pretty much unbiased when it comes to these things. One thing that strikes me about the Starbucks planner though is that there’s an attempt to make it look like more than your average notebook – the use of cowhide as a cover for instance adds some pretentious air to the overall look and feel of the planner. Despite the immense popularity of the Starbucks planner the journal still looks relatively discreet. Last year’s journal only featured a pressed emblem of the coffee shop instead of a very visible insignia.

As you can see  on the picture the above, there is no effort from the journal that will  actually change your life 2009 planner. Instead of going classy and muted, it goes for the jugular – heck, both jugulars in making it known that the planner was significant to the entire human race. Even if you wanted to help the cause, you might just end up donating money to some charity instead of having to carry this journal around. The cover is the only part of the planner that people see and sometimes, people do judge things by the cover. And worse, people will judge the owner of the planner with the atrocious cover.

Rating: 1/10

CONTENT

The dates are divided into weeks with ample space to write on. It could double as an organizer for schedules and appointments as well as a journal for the emo kids out there. Important holidays (ok, and not-so-important ones too like Drop of Water Is a Grain of Gold Day) are also noted. At the end of every week an emo mood chart can be found so you could track how many times you’ve been ecstatic, over the moon, so-so and dark… very…very dark. I’m not making this up! After which is a page for “Strategy”. What is it for?  I’m thinking it’s for the things you want to tell yourself.

There are also some neat trivia inside but most of them are just downright unnecessary – it almost makes you feel that it’s just stealing writing space. There’s also a short bit on conversion tables (most planners have a more comprehensive list on this) and a weird compilation of flags. I would think that they would include countries that would most likely be of interest to people but weirdly enough, a lot of not-so-familiar countries made the list. Of course, me being the geography that I am would be able to label these flags easily but come on, do we really need to see the flag of Turkmenistan, Chad, Virgin Islands and Guinea-Bissau. Also off-putting was the addition of TIBET which isn’t even a country.

Rating: 4/10

OVERALL

If I were to use a planner (and I don’t see myself using one for 2009), I’d want something that I could carry around without much fanfare. This just doesn’t cut it. Maybe it would be appealing to some but as for me, they lost me at the cover. Thanks for the free planner though.

P.S. My brother likes it and he’ll get it from me. I’ll ask him to write his review.

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