Moleskine's AI Lord of the Rings collection can only mock

Moleskine, the notebook company, today announced their new The Lord of the Rings collection. Posts on their website and social media show a set of notebooks and planners, along with merchandise (pins, patches, stickers and postcards) with colourful Lord of the Rings artwork. The problem? A small disclaimer on some of the images reads, “Imagined by Moleskine, generated by AI.”

I have used Moleskine notebooks for years, since the days when the brand claimed that their legendary notebooks were once used by luminaries such as Ernest Hemingway and Pablo Picasso. Nowadays, they have tempered their statement to only acknowledge the claim without committing to it, a marketing strategy that they appear to continue using in the current AI controversy.

“The Moleskine notebook is the heir and successor to the legendary notebook used by artists and thinkers over the past two centuries: among them Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway and Bruce Chatwin.”

—”Our Heritage: The Legendary Notebook” on Moleskine’s website

Still, the word “legendary” appears on their website in abundance: from “legendary deals” to “legendary collection.”

I am also a big Lord of the Rings fan, so this collection immediately caught my eye. This morning, I saved the post on Instagram to make sure to take a look when I got home. But when I finally had the chance to browse the collection on the Moleskine website, something held me back from placing an order. It was hard to put my finger on it at first, but then, in the corner of a promotional image on the website, I saw the AI disclaimer.

By this time, Moleskine’s Instagram post announcing the Lord of the Rings collection had several comments calling out Moleskine for the AI use, to which Moleskine have not responded. In fact, none of the eight pictures in Moleskine’s Instagram announcement post, on 15 April 2026, had any mention of AI whatsoever.

There are no details about which parts of the product are AI, or how AI was used. There aren’t even any clues that one could have picked out in the earlier days of AI. And this is a legitimate collaboration, with The Lord of the Rings logo and trademark stamped on the products.

The art in Moleskine’s The Lord of the Rings collection has a flat, minimalist style that doesn’t have noisy pixels or anatomical anomalies. The designs of Helm’s Deep and Gondor are generic and lack details. Everything in the cover images is done in block colours and silhouettes. On one hand, this is a solid strategy to hide that a piece of artwork was AI-generated. On the other, there are artists out there who do use this sort of style in their legitimate, human-made artwork.

And that’s the problem: we cannot tell the difference. Without the “generated by AI” note, there might be no way to tell if the art in Moleskine’s notebook collection is AI. As of writing, Moleskine have not admitted to using AI in these cover designs, but they also have not credited an artist or provided any proof of human creation. Given that previous limited-edition collections have often been collaborations with artists and designers that Moleskine have proudly featured front and centre in their promotional material, this is troubling.

It’s even more disturbing because the Moleskine brand appeals to creatives and seems to place importance on championing creativity.

“Inspired by The Lord of the Rings, this collection reminds us that even when we feel small in a vast world, each of us has creative talents that help us persevere. By putting pen to paper, you can find clarity as you explore your own unique imagination. The way forward is at the tip of your pen.”

— The blurb beneath each of The Lord of the Rings products on Moleskine’s website

In fact, the product descriptions for the three notebooks on sale are suspiciously similar. All the locations are a “looming background”, and each product features characters that have quiet or humble strengths.

Currently, there are no regulations on AI use in products for sale. There are no requirements that a company declare AI art use in their products. The words “AI” or “artificial intelligence” don’t even appear in Moleskine’s Code of Ethics on the brand’s website. Moleskine’s AI disclaimer is only on three banner images and isn’t on any of the individual product pages, where it might be most important to inform the consumer.

One thing Lord of the Rings fans should be pretty certain about, AI was used in the promotional material. The last of eight images posted to Instagram by Moleskine in the announcement of The Lord of the Rings collection features a map in the iconic Tolkien style. But the map shows nonsensical locations like “Der Rarmorth” and “Narmimtz”.

Another map in the background of a banner on the Moleskine website shows other gibberish names of places that don’t exist in Middle-earth. This also shows an inconsistency in Moleskine’s labelling of AI, if in good faith: the first map was not marked with the AI disclaimer, but the second was.

Therein lies Moleskine’s mockery, not only of fans of The Lord of the Rings, but also of their own customers and creative humans everywhere, whom they claim to support. How many brands are now generating AI artwork to capitalise on the fervour fans have for their fandoms by mimicking an aesthetic without pouring any effort or passion into the project?

Less than a year ago, in May 2025, then-CEO of Moleskine Christophe Archaimbault told Forbes, “Our mission is to unleash human genius on paper.” After Achaimbault stepped down in February 2026, new leadership appears not to be making the “human” part of his statement a priority.

Still, in their Manifesto, Moleskine extol the “timeless power of handwriting” before ending with a pithy encouragement to “put pen to paper, and unleash your unique voice.” Generative AI cannot be unique, as it uses, often without permission, the artwork of human artists.

“The Shadow that bred [the orcs] can only mock, it cannot make: not real new things of its own.”

— J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King

As of writing, Moleskine have not made a statement about their AI use in this collection. On 17 April 2026, Moleskine posted a comment on their Instagram post: "Thank you for your comments. We just wanted to confirm that all Moleskine notebook covers are created by our designers, while AI was used to enhance the background of these images."