What's in The Analog Desk guide?

Four desk essentials: the Ugmonk Analog Starter Kit in Walnut (card holder + 3 packs of cards), a Mod-D Fountain Pen with a Bock 180 EF Nib, a Kizara Japanese Red Pine Memo Pad (4" x 6"), and a Toyo Steel Stackable Storage Box T-150.

Who makes these products?

Ugmonk is a design studio in Pennsylvania run by Jeff Sheldon. Mod-D makes machined modular fountain pens. Kizara produces wood-sheet memo pads in Tokyo from sustainably sourced Japanese red pine. Toyo Steel has been pressing steel storage boxes in Japan since 1969.

How does the Ugmonk Analog system work?

The Analog system uses a walnut card holder and simple index cards sorted by urgency — Today, Next, and Someday. You write your tasks on a card each morning, keep it visible on your desk, and move things forward as you go. No apps, no notifications, no syncing. Just a card and a plan.

I've never used a fountain pen. Is this one beginner-friendly?

Yes. The Mod-D comes with the Bock 180 EF nib pre-installed plus a hex tool, converter, and ink capsules in the box. You can start writing immediately. The modular design also means you can swap components later as your preferences develop.

Screens Optional

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Your New Desk Setup

Four Products. Zero Screens.

Ugmonk Analog Starter Kit — walnut card holder + 3 packs of task cards, made in Pennsylvania

Ugmonk Analog Starter Kit | Walnut $118.00

Mod-D Fountain Pen with Bock 180 EF Nib — machined, modular, includes converter and ink

Mod-D Fountain Pen | Bock 180 EF Nib $153.91

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Kizara Japanese Red Pine Memo Pad — wood sheets shaved from a single block, made in Tokyo

Kizara Japanese Red Pine Memo Pad | 4″ × 6″ $14.00

Toyo Steel Stackable Storage Box T-150 — pressed steel, enamel coated, made in Japan

Toyo Steel Stackable Storage Box T-150 $34.00

A desk setup for the part of your brain that’s tired of tabs. No chargers. No notifications. Just thinking, on paper.

Intentional Over Efficient

Every piece in this guide slows you down just enough to make you think about what you’re doing. Writing with a fountain pen on pine sheets isn’t faster than typing. That’s the point. Your best ideas don’t come from your fastest tools.

Made by Obsessives

Ugmonk designed the Analog system over years of iteration. Mod-D machines every pen to spec. Kizara shaves wood into paper in Tokyo. Toyo Steel has been pressing the same boxes since 1969. These are people who could have simplified their process but chose not to, because the result wouldn’t be as good.

A Desk That Means Something

Walnut, steel, machined aluminum, Japanese red pine. Every item on this desk has a story, a maker, and a reason for existing beyond “it was on sale.” Put them together and your workspace starts to feel like it belongs to someone who thinks about things. Because it does.

The Case for Thinking on Paper

Jeff Sheldon built the Ugmonk Analog system because every productivity app he tried eventually became another thing to manage. The idea is almost aggressively simple: a walnut card holder sits on your desk, you write today’s tasks on an index card each morning, and you look at that card instead of your phone. Today, Next, Someday — three categories, one card, no syncing. It’s the kind of system that works because it has nothing to break. Made in Pennsylvania.

The Mod-D fountain pen is here because if you’re going to write by hand, the pen should matter. Machined, modular, with a Bock 180 extra-fine nib pre-installed. Everything you need is in the box — hex tool, converter, ink capsules. It’s built for people who take writing seriously without needing it to be precious about it. The Kizara memo pad takes it a step further: each sheet is shaved from a single block of Japanese red pine, wood thin enough to write on with its own grain pattern. About 50 sheets per pad, sourced through sustainable forestry in Japan, made in Tokyo.

And then there’s the Toyo Steel box. They’ve been pressing these from single sheets of steel in Japan since 1969 — originally for craftsmen, now for anyone who wants a place for the small things. Ink cartridges, pen nibs, paper clips, whatever. The lid locks into the next box’s base so they stack without sliding. It’s 6″ × 4″, spring-loaded latch, enamel coated. Technically storage. Emotionally, a tiny Japanese safe for things you care about.

“The Analog system works because it has nothing to break.”

— The Rarely Team

Questions

The Stuff You Want to Know

What’s in this guide?

Four analog desk essentials: the Ugmonk Analog Starter Kit in Walnut (card holder + 3 packs of task cards), a Mod-D Fountain Pen with a Bock 180 EF Nib, a Kizara Japanese Red Pine Memo Pad (4″ × 6″, about 50 sheets), and a Toyo Steel Stackable Storage Box T-150. Everything you need for a desk that thinks instead of syncs.

I’ve never used a fountain pen. Is this beginner-friendly?

Absolutely. The Mod-D comes with the Bock 180 extra-fine nib pre-installed, plus a hex tool, converter, and ink capsules all in the box. You unbox it, click in a cartridge, and start writing. The extra-fine nib is forgiving and precise. The modular design means you can swap parts later if you want, but you don’t have to. It’s as complicated as you want it to be, which is to say: not at all, at first.

Wait, the memo pad is made of wood?

Yes. Kizara shaves individual sheets from a single block of Japanese red pine — wood thin enough to write on, rigid enough to feel substantial. Each sheet has its own grain pattern, so every note looks different. They source the pine through surplus tree thinning, which is a sustainable forestry practice. About 50 sheets per pad, made in Tokyo. It smells faintly like a forest, which is honestly worth it on its own.

What does the Toyo Steel box hold?

Whatever you need it to. Ink cartridges, extra nibs, paper clips, stamps, a spare Analog card, your emergency chocolate stash — we don’t judge. It’s 6″ × 4″ × 2″, pressed from a single sheet of steel with an enamel coating. The lid interlocks with other Toyo boxes if you decide one isn’t enough, which historically is what happens.

Go Analog. Stay Focused.

A task system, a fountain pen, a wooden memo pad, and a steel box

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