Designworks Ink Journal
Bullet Journal Notebook Review
Key Features:
- Size: 8.5″ x 5.8″ – true A5
- Cover: hardcover, chipboard with cloth binding, floral with gold foil embossing
- Binding: sewn
- Pages: 192
- Additional features: it’s got pink lines!
- Page styles available: lines only
- Paper Quality: ~110gsm
- Ghosting? minimal ghosting
- Bleeding? no bleed through
- Feathering? no feathering
My Review:
I found this journal at Target. In fact, the first time I found it I didn’t buy it, but then I couldn’t stop thinking about it and had to go back a week later to pick it up. The cover is so sophisticated with its beautiful floral motif and the subtle gold foil additions. Plus, it’s got pink lines inside — who can resist pink lines?
The cover is made of a thick, heavy-duty chipboard with exposed edges that give this notebook a slightly rustic feel to it. The blue cloth binding along the spine feels good in my hand and also provides a strong binding system for this journal. The spine itself is also a piece of the same chipboard of the cover, but there’s a gap between the cover and the spine to create a sturdy hinge. The binding is sewn which allows the notebook to lay flat and stay open when lying on the desk.
The paper is here a beautiful cream against the pink lines and has a smooth writing surface. The paper is heavy at approximately 110gsm (my best guess since the weight is not officially stated anywhere). Along the top of each page is a thicker double line with “subject / date” space above that line. There’s minimal ghosting – hardly any except on the wettest inks such as the Bic rollerball and the Pilot Fountain Pen. No bleed through at all.
Overall I really like this journal. It’s nice to have a local journal option if you’re looking for something tactile and classy to carry with you every day. I think I was most drawn to the rustic elegance of the cover, but the paper inside stood up well to the testing. I can’t remember the exact price of this but I believe is was around $9-10 and I found it in the notebook section at Target.
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