over 9 years ago from Moaaz Sidat, Designer & Dev
For those of you who still love the feel of a pencil/pen and a paper to sketch out your ideas, what is your choice for a sketch book/pad?
I'm looking for something that is easy on the budget, something that's bigger than pocket-sized and allows me to remove pages(perforation/spring binding), which doesn't deteriorate its binding. Suggestions? Thanks!
I just bought this Sketchbook this past week and am loving it: Baron Fig
Only $16 dollars and free shipping in the US. Although it might not have all perforated pages the last 12 pages are perforated. The best feature for me is its ability to open entirely flat and stay open without having to bear down on it. You get to utilize the entire page and it encourages you to use both sides of the page (which I sometimes forgot or found it too uncomfortable in my old Moleskine.)
You can also purchase it with Bitcoin and save $1!
Agreed on the Baron Fig. Also, if you have any feature suggestions (like a version with more perforated pages, for instance), they're really proud of their community-driven design and tend to ask for suggestions.
Plus the cover feels nice. It's the little things.
Definitely going to look into Baron Fig. Yup, the delightful details matter...
I love my Baron Fig!
Yeah, this is a really good notebook, and I cant stress enough how useful it is that it lies flat when open (this is the reason I bought it).
The paper is pretty good quality (I prefer Rhodia's paper), and holds ink well. I mostly use a gel pen with mine, but it also works well with a fountain pen.
The main complaint I have seen about it online is that the ribbon frays really easily (you can see it start in your image), but I just figure that that gives it character.
mike
Another +1 for BF. Love mine!
Also LOVE my baron fig. I took it everywhere for my travels. One thing I had suggested to them was to perhaps add an elastic band or an envelope at the end like the dot grid notebooks
This looks like a sweet product. Thanks for the suggestion folks! Definitely going to see if I can get my hands on one and test it out.
I usually just keep a stockpile of blank printer paper on hand. I love moleskine but it feels silly to use them for sketching — they're tiny.
Yeah I used to do that. Then started to use a pad with easily tearable pages. I find that it becomes disorganized very fast in case of loose papers....
I used a LEUCHTTURM1917 spring-back binder to keep loose pages organized and I loved it (until I broke it).
They're really hard to find now though. I'll probably get one of these to replace it... but if anyone knows how I can get a LEUCHTTURM1917 version, please let me know :)
Yeah, came across a spring-back binder to compile those pages recently. Wasn't too sure if it'd be robust enough. Thanks for the suggestion though!
The Dot Grid Book by Behance is pretty killer and is decently priced at $16. I always have a cheaper "no-grid" sketchbook too for the "napkin sketches."
This looks pretty awesome...
It is! I've been using these for 3+ years (9 books full and counting). The light gray dots are perfect, light enough to not interfere with illustrations, but helpful when you want to wireframe/sketch. I also love the texture of the cover.
Yeah, the Behance books are great. I use the Dot Grid Journal.
A variety of Moleskine, but I also make my own.
Rhodia DotPad is great: well priced and holds up over time. The light dots are great for UI design as well
http://www.jetpens.com/Rhodia-DotPad-Notepad-Black-5.75-X-8.25-80-Sheets-5-mm-Dot-Grid/pd/6552
I've looked at Rhodia before and have been really tempted to try it out. Might do that now...thanks for the suggestion! Yeah, dot grids are super sweet for UI design.
I primarily use white printing paper (A3 & A4) to be able to throw what's not needed, stick it on the wall for team discussions and refer later.
That said, I do have a sketch pad I always carry along for ideas that hit me in the wild. http://www.ryman.co.uk/ryman-soft-cover-sketch-book-a4-110gsm-80-sheets-160-pages
On my fourth one now. Works with thick / thin pen, retains ink on both sides of paper without ruining, easy to carry and paper feels great. I use coloured index tabs to organise it.
They do have a perforated version but I haven't used that one. Thanks.
Yeah I find loose paper makes it easier to throw stuff away. It's harder to me to put pen to paper in a sketchbook because I feel like what I sketch has to be more "perfect."
Agreed, A3/A4 works well for sticking up on the wall which is kind of why I wanted a pad that would allow me to tear off pages.
The Ryman looks neat for the price. Thanks a bunch for the suggestion!
http://dotgrid.co This is the best I've ever used but it's too expensive if you live outside of the UK due to shipping.
The Behance Dot Grid Book is pretty awesome, but kind of large and the paper is soft so some pens (fountain pens) bleed.
Currently I'm using two notebooks from Muji: a Dot Grid and a plain notebook.
Dotgrid and Behance's Dot Grid Book look pretty sweet. Usually use a pencil or a liner, so probably won't have a lot of problems with bleeding.
Muji's looks pretty awesome for the price. Thanks for the suggestion!
For Muji I'd recommend A5, 72pages. Great for quick notes, not for sketching.
Rhodia Dot Grids. Big boys for at work, little bound notebook for on the go and at home.
Only hearing good things about Rhodia... :)
A big pile of Staples paper, cheapest I can get it for.
Yeah, the freedom offered by the large stock of cheap blank papers is quite comforting...though loose papers get a bit too disorganizing ...
They aren't cheap, but the Whitelines Hard Wire A4 Squared notebook is my favorite notebook ever. It has rigid cover and a LAMY Safari pen fits perfectly in the coil.
I love Canson sketchbooks (usually carry both a4 and a5 sizes in my backpack) http://www.artsupplies.co.uk/item-canson-xl-sprial-sketch-pads.htm
I use a BF for day-to-day notes but keep a Tufte 11 x 17 grid pad at the ready for large-scale wireframing. Extra thick, high-quality paper and the scale lets you explore a long thread of ideas within a single frame.
Patiently waiting on delivery of my https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/timtwo/sketchynotebook
Large Moleskine with blank pages. I've tried out types/brands/sizes and this one feels the best.
I have a thing for panorama format notebooks. I've been using this 5x12" Copic notebook for the past four years. It's a very simple spiral-bound notebook. I like that it lays flat and the paper is a thick stock that is feels sturdier and more opaque than most.
Muji notebooks (http://www.muji.us/store/stationery/notebooks/recycled-paper-note-double-ring-b5-plain-80.html), or whatever piece of paper is closest at the moment.
(although while on the Muji site, I found this: http://www.muji.us/store/stationery/notebooks/recycled-paper-magazine-notebook-mini.html -- Which COULD be fantastic for quick wireframes...)
If my sketch book is too nice, I get precious about drawing in it. I carry around a gridded plain brown kraft paper cover medium size Moleskine Cahier for day to day notes, etc. I carry around the small grid or blank version for sketching ideas. It forces me to stick to thumbnail size so I don't get too overwhelmed planning a composition or idea. If I actually want to draw, Moleskine's watercolor notebooks are pretty great, heavy paper vs. the garbage paper in the actual sketchbooks. Holds marker well.
Strathmore premium recycled 9x12
It's a classic! Love the texture and weight, plus I can slip in letter sized paper if for some reason I was doodling or tracing on loose leaf.
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