How Would You Describe Your Perfect Notebook?

Do you have a set of criteria for your perfect notebook?

Or do you think you can’t know the perfect notebook until you find it?

Or is it impossible to have just one kind of perfect notebook?

Did you ever think you knew what the perfect notebook would be only to find out that it wasn’t as perfect as you’d hoped?

Is there a notebook available today that you think is perfect, or do you think perfection is unattainable?

If you could change an existing notebook to make it perfect, what would you do?

Please discuss!

19 thoughts on “How Would You Describe Your Perfect Notebook?”

  1. I am absolutely satisfied with Moleskine and Guildhall, and I think I will buy Behance Dot Grid Journal. and what could be amazing? Guildhall binding with Moleskine cream paper and Behance dots:D but I think its only a dream…:)))

  2. I have not found perfection, and if I did, it might change in a couple years, so I think it is a quest that will last a life time.

  3. Blueline journals are definitely my favorite. I had a former “perfect” journal that the manufacturer stopped making. The Blueline is as close to perfect as I can get, though if they had an elastic wrap, a page marker and a pen loop, they’d be pretty much unbeatable!

  4. C. R. Gibson made my favorite journals for a while. I went through four of them and then they stopped making them (I hate it when I find the perfect whatever and then the manufacturer stops making it. Seems to happen a lot these days, and not just with journals).

    But the perfect journal/notebook for me would be a classic composition book, college ruled, but without the margin line, with page numbers, a hard canvas-like cover, and higher quality paper.

    I actually found something close to this in a journal at Barnes and Noble recently. It was in the back-to-school supplies, a 9×7 journal with FREE and songbirds on the cover. The cover illustration is not my style, but the binding and paper and size were just right and so I couldn’t resist buying a few. These are probably ephemeral, too.

  5. I like grid paper with lines that don’t obscure the ink, good quality paper that resists bleeding and show-through, pocketable size [3.5 x 5 or 4 x 6], leatherish cover, marker ribbon, elastic strap, pocket is nice. The Eccolo journals fit some of these needs, although they’re not grid. I like light green or yellowish paper. In the larger size, the National Brand Computation Notebook [11 3/4″ x 9 1/4″ is quite good, like a lab notebook with numbered pages but still reasonably priced. Still searching for the ideal.

  6. One of the few notebooks I’ve ever bought more than one of (and filled more than one of!) is the Miquelrius 300-page black cover grid. Love the paper, the cover, and the size, don’t want a band or pen loop anyway, but kind of wish it could be a spiral– the kind where you only see a bit of the spiral through the middle of the binding (like the At-A-Glance appointment books). Impossible with all those pages, though, so it would have to be thinner and that could spoil the Bible-like feel of the original. I’d also like the grid to be fainter.

  7. The Perfect Notebook:

    -Sewn binding
    -Preferably hard cover
    -Narrow ruled pages
    -Not bigger than 8X10 or smaller than 5X8

    And what I would love but can never find:
    -Pen loop/ holder
    -Numbered pages

    I really don’t care if there’s an elastic closure or a pocket in the back, but I wouldn’t want any other kind of closure other than elastic (no notebooks that tie shut, have flaps on the cover, etc)

  8. It can’t be too thick/too many pages. I adore the format of a college-ruled composition book. I collage my own covers, so I could care less what they originally look like. Perhaps a wee bit better paper. And I agree with Steve on the margin line – needs to be gone. A pen loop would be nice. Page numbers – meh.

  9. – Sewn binding (need to open flat)
    – Hard cover, but not as hard as a Moleskine, the Guidlhall has the perfect flexibility
    – Blank pages, thick enough to take wet media
    – Many pages 150+ (need to be about twice as thick as a normal Moleskine)
    – Rounded corners
    – Black Cover, preferably leather
    – Elastic closure and bookmark ribbon (maybe red)
    – Pocket size
    – No back pocket
    – No comapny logo embossed on the cover

    Anyone know where to find it?

  10. I guess I’m easy when it comes to notebooks. I’ve found the Moleskines to be very durable and I like the paper. I use them for my personal ‘about me’ writing. For fiction/whatever writing I used basically whatever I can find, usually composition notebooks work best. And then for classes I use a specific brand of spiral notebook, made by Norcom Inc, but they just changed the makeup of their paper IE now more recycled and I just don’t like it as much.

  11. Right now I’m perfectly content with Piccadilly notebooks. They’re basically the only black notebook I could find that had a good price for a penniless student like myself – not to mention the fact that they are excellent, too!

    In a perfect world, we would all have Moleskine-Rhodia-Piccadilly crossbreeds – the paper quality of Rhodia, the elegance of Moleskine, and the price of Piccadilly. But in a perfect world, we could also find the other sock. So I’ll just continue using Piccadilly!

  12. I love unused notebooks (i know the irony). Having them stacked up and just looking at them in their perfect clean state. love touching empty pages.There are a couple of places which sells small A6 fancy notebooks. Artbox is one of them.

    Notebooks which are used to obvilion are also perfect. Moleskins with a well used cover makes you feel so happy too.

  13. I just started journaling last year, so I’m just at the very beginning of this process. What I look for in my notebooks is quality in the paper. I love to write with fountain pens, and feathering really annoys me. So, if the paper accepts fountain pen ink well, it’s sure to be a favourite :)

    As in size, I prefer small/medium notebooks. The reduced size allows me to fill more pages every time I sit to write, making me feel more “acccomplished” that way, lol.

  14. Gosh, that’s a question and a half!

    The closest I’ve got to perfection is the JOTTRR notebook, which I recently reviewed on my site. The only thing I’d like to change is the lack of a ribbon bookmark! I consider that fairly essential in today’s notebooks, so I was surprised it didn’t have one.

    I’m not sure there will always be one notebook that is “the perfect notebook”, for me at least. My needs change, and notebooks have to change to accommodate that. At the moment, I want thick, decent paper, a mix of plain and lined pages, a nice cover and the notebook to be A5. But in a few months I might feel like an A6 notebook, so my perfect notebook will no longer be perfect! I can be very fickle!

  15. I think that the perfect notebook must be found! I love going into bookshops and checking out what notebooks are being sold there. You never know what you’ll find!

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