I really have a love-hate relationship with journal shopping.
Yeah, some of you are nodding in agreement, and some of you are going "wait, what? But, new journal! How is that not utter awesomeness?"
Well you see I am a very serious and very picky journal shopper. When I get a journal, I use it until it is full (or very close), which means that a lot of my journals stick around for a long time. I've also learned the hard way that I'm much more likely to write in the perfect journal, then the 'meh' one.
I hate 'meh' journals, don't you?
For me a perfect journal has several components.
Color
It can't be too bright. I prefer dark, rich colors. Browns, blues and reds are the trend. I'm tired of brown and just had a red one, so that meant that my new one probably needed to be blue (or possibly green, purple or black).
Cover Quality
No cheap plastic or leather imitations, please.
Paper Quality
If you're not planning to destroy the journal when you're done, why would you want something that isn't going to last? I need good paper that will stand the test of time.
Cover Design
Color and quality might be met, but what about the design? Nothing modern or geometric, I prefer timeless, classical designs.
Paper Design
I like an interior that has a nice coloration and layout. Even lines that aren't too small or too large, and if there are any interior accents, they can't distract from the writing.
Size
I'm actually the most flexible on size, but it's still a determining factor. I don't want a journal that is going to take me five years to fill up. Ideally I'd love to have one page per day, but with a larger journal that means too much writing (and less incentive to write regularily.)
Price
Budget varies of course, but ideally I don't want to spend more than $20 for a journal (unless I'm doing really well financially and there is a perfect journal for $25.) However I'm also wary of journals for under $10 - they just don't meet the above qualifications.
Bonus: Ribbon Bookmark
It's easy to add a bookmark, but it's really nice to have one included.
So... did I find something workable? Yes. It was pretty difficult and I came very, very close to walking out of the store in resignation. But I finally settled on this gorgeous peacock journal. The picture in the link doesn't do it justice, it's really majestic and I love the interior as well!
What about you? Are you a member of the "Pickiest Journal Shoppers" club? What are your qualifications?
2 comments:
The peacock journal is so pretty! Very "jazz age".
I'm nearly done with a fancy black Moleskine I strongly dislike. I've had it six years, and the cover fell off last winter. The paper is unlined, which I thought very grown-up at first. However, my script became so small it was almost illegible, and I can't write straight to save my life. It's just not fun to use. Which is to say, I completely sympathize with your journal buying troubles. I go for softer blues, greens, purples. Yes to lines, no to lines so large there are only a dozen to a page.
Picky journal-ers united!
I'm not so picky about journals-- I don't do much journaling/diary-writing. I do drag around a nice spiral-bound journal (one of those $5 ones from OfficeMax) for writing down random things. What I'm picky about is sketchbooks. It must be spiral bound with a certain weight of paper and it has to have this special texture so I can use all my mediums in it.
You should share a picture of your new journal! I'd like to see what style you picked out. :)
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