XaiJu
cheyenne barton
cheyenne barton

patreon


process: designing notebooks!

hiiiiii!! i've spent the morning trying to work out some notebook designs — i can't decide if i want to do a repeating pattern type thing (i'm really drawn towards doing something "garden toile" -esque, which is the second image, but making it a bit more my style and a little less frilly and romantic), a little illustrated scene (like the fika one above), or just making a printed version of my handpainted rainbow "oh no" design. how do y'all feel about having little nameplates for your notebooks? do you like having a place to write in a title for your journal, or do you like it better when the front is finished and complete?

also, yes i realize the toile pattern sketch is very rough and not lined up properly at all lolol i just wanted to block something out to get a rough feel for it

i'm torn!! i want to do an A5 design, and an A6 design — i'm thinking that a scene might work best for the A5 design and a repeating pattern could work nice on the smaller A6 size. i'd love to hear y'all's thoughts!!

process: designing notebooks! process: designing notebooks! process: designing notebooks! process: designing notebooks! process: designing notebooks!

Comments

Nameplates are awesome and I feel incomplete without them. I'm also very partial to A5 size books but whatever you choose will be great!

Madelyn Smith

i love the rainbows and the one of you and sophie the most!

Olivia Cobb

Love the pattern one! ^_^ The nameplate also fits really well into that one, though it feels a bit more out of place in the scene one.

Malin B. Ung

I LOVE the one with you and Sofie! 💜 It feels a lot more personal 😊

Mandi Farrell

I love the first image! I really like the pink and the flowers on it. Name plates are cool, but I would prefer having the front finished and complete. I think A5 size is a good size, not too big but not too small. Whatever you decide, I'm sure it will look awesome! I would totally buy :)

Paola Romero

that's a fantastic idea!!!

Bucky

i'm thinking of actually turning the cute fika scene into a notepad! that way it makes good use of all the negative space up top !

cheyenne 🌠

I think a great option would be sending them with a blank nameplate sticker! That way the customer can decide if they want to label it or not :)

Taryn

They are all so lovely <3 Personally I prefer the illustrated scene and the rainbow one (I loved your handpainted notebooks so much, I would be so happy to have a printed version *^* ). For the format, I generally use A5 but A6 can also be a nice format, to change a bit !

chupp

The more I think on this, the more I'd prefer A5 over A6, but its ofc up to you!!

Sharon Hollenbach

I love nameplates on my notebook and the toile design is beautiful

Lauren

the a toile is sosososo cute and would be great especially on an a5. also- the nameplates are GREAT

Aynsleigh Escher

I think the garden pattern design is the winner here, with the clouds “oh no” a close second. The scene is cute and would look great on a postcard, but for me personally I prefer a notebook to have a “fuller” design that can fill out the front and possibly continue onto the back (the way you’ve done with your patterns! So nice!) You seem to have a lot of feedback from us so I hope it’s helpful 😊

Abi

i am OBSESSED with the oh no type patterns! and personally i don't find a nameplate a necessity - sometimes i don't like writing the name myself bc i feel like it makes it abt the title and takes away from the art of the cover!

olivia nievera

i really like all of them! the toile would be really beautiful and more "neutral" in a way. otherwise i prefer the rainbows one! space for writing on the cover is good!!

Nina

they are so cute ! I prefer the en toile type covers, so pretty

nina

I love all of them! Personally I love toile and I think it'll be beautiful in your style. The name placement is great too, as long as it's blank. 💙

Catherine Zocco

personally i really love the first one! however, i was wondering if it would maybe be possible to have the fika scene printed on the inside cover? that way you wouldn't have to choose between the designs! idk, just a thought! i hope this helps 💛

Bucky

I want them all T_T

Marissa Watson

Oh my goodness! I love all of those ideas! I would totally buy the “oh no” design 👌🏼

Marlee

Personally I love the “oh no” design BUT toile is so cool and I’d love to see it adapted to your style. I think if we saw a finished look some may switch over 😉

Kari Smith

both sizes are so so cute!!! i love the look of a fully finished front and the hand painted rainbow “oh no” design on the front is my favorite too!! definitely wanna get my hands on these!

yulip

oh my gosh theyre all so cuuuute!! my favourite is the first image, with the little repeated flowers! I think a nameplate is such a cute personal detail! Kudos!! Great work friend!!!

sageybug

I like the 1st one with the name plate. I was trying to picture the finished product with all the finished lines. It made me excited to think what kind of colors you would use. The rainbow one is predictable. I mean it’s rainbow colors and blue sky etc. The one with the table is nice but I already picture happy party colors. I like the first one cause of so many possibilities. It kept me intrigued and wanting to see more of it. Even in different color schemes.

Roseann Rosillo

omg these are so lovely!!! my favorite is the gray-green-ish garden / repeating pattern. I like the little blank name plate and then a pattern for the rest of the cover personally

Emma

So awesome!! 🤗

Maaike van den Top

I really love the first one! It's beautiful!

Elle Steward

I love these so much! Either or both would be awesome! 🥰🥰

ErinAMurph

Personally, I prefer the last 2. As for the name plate, I don't mind if it has one or not, if I do want one I tend to put a sticker or paste craft paper and write on that. Generally I'm not bothered about them though. I love all the designs, but especially the last 2. 😍♥️

Kelly Wallis

I really like them all. Is that a Totoro reference thrown in their.

Melissa guy

i love the fika one! the cat is epic. i personally prefer a finished cover, no name plate ☺️

Sif Zander Smit

I really like the “oh no” design if I had to choose between one but they’re all are gorgeous and I would love any of them. I personally don’t really use a title for my sketchbooks. I either get one with a cool design on it or a plain one to put stickers on, so a name plate would probably end up getting covered depending on how it looks.

Callie

The second garden scene design is absolutely GORGEOUS!!! I love it so much! As for the nameplate i prefer not to have them because I hate writing on the cover notebooks

sophie

It’s beautiful! I especially like the floral one

Shali S

I love the first and third options best!

Kelsey Cone

I like the pattern, but I LOVE that table scene SO MUCH!! also, I prefer no front label but it’s still nice!

Michala Henderson

I really like the garden toile one! I usually don’t write stuff on the front of my journals, but a nameplate is not a dealbreaker.

Caroline Moira

They're adorable! Love the rainbows and the flower designs!

Pip

I absolutely adore your rainbow note books!!! But I think the idea of a floral ish repeating pattern would be very cool! Especially with your colour palettes!!!

Posie Sheriko

The one with rainbows is the best!

Kinga Pawelec

i love the repeating design and i’m a big fan of the little blank name plate on top! when i finish a journal i go back and think of a title for it, even if it’s just the year(s) it took me to write in it.

makenzie

I love all of these but if I had to choose, it'd be a repeating pattern

Meredith Monroe

I can never bring myself to actually write on the front of notebooks, so I'm more than happy not to have that space. I ADORE the colonial-esque floral first image, and the one with the girl & nameplate could even go on the inside front/back if that's something available? and I'd would be thrilled with any size! (I'd be even more thrilled if you could source recycled paper or something for the contents🤗❤♻️🥰)

Sharon Hollenbach

I love the pattern!! but all the other ideas are also really cute (which i'm sure doesn't help with your decision making, lol). I do spy a lil totoro which I'm very very into! and personally I don't like nameplates on the cover cause I don't wanna mess up the pretty cover design, lol what if you did a scene that the pattern tied into for the A5, and the pattern for the A6? that way it would be a cute set but not totally identical to each other!

Cecile Lu

I love love love the garden idea, and I could take or leave the empty nameplate at the beginning. A5 notebooks are a personal favorite, but I'll probably get it no matter the size!

Monica Pierce

Personally, I don’t need a space on the front to write anything! All my notebooks are unique so I know what’s in each and don’t really need a label. Each design of yours is so cute! Can’t wait to see more. ❤️

Hannah Horinek

i love a front that is finished bc i do all my decor/naming on the insides! i love all your designs and think they fit perfect in your art wheelhouse! the repeating on the a6 is a great idea bc that’ll be perf on the small boi notebooks, and the scenes on the big one is delightful ✨

eden rae

I really like them all; however, the flower design is definitely my favorite

Vi Hoang

Omg I’m so excited. I LOVE the top design, that one is probably my favorite. But all the others are a close second 😬. As for sizing, I vote for an a6 size. I like how cute and little it is 💞

Lauren

as for nameplates, I’m personally more drawn to when they just have a space without it being defined. Like an open space in the pattern

LilyNzst

For myself, I prefer with no name plate at the front. I usually use the first page to write what the notebook is.

Mercury Lemon

personally i never use the lil name plate things unless it’s a larger size (A4 i think?) that i would use for a subject at uni. but i really love all of these designs! especially the more floral/botanical one!

Natalie Whitmore

I personally like it when the front is finished since I don’t normally name my journals, but I love all of these designs!! ♡

ShySprout

I gasped out loud at the first image 😍 Love!

Tessa Maye

They’re all gorgeous! I love the garden design and all of them are rad.

LilyNzst


More Creators