Journalling: What the hipsters don’t tell you.

On Friday I found myself in the beautiful art nouveau Waterstones building in Newcastle trying to find a new Rosehip notebook. Instead I came across the new-ish Moleskine ‘Passions’ journals, ready to adorn with your recent reads, musical escapades or a film journal. At £16 these are pretty obscenely priced, but on a whim I chose to buy the film journal using waterstone card points as cash so it came to less than £12.

Now, firstly let me get this over with: I am not a Moleskine fan in general, as an obsessive journaller since the age of 8 and having literally sack loads of these books in my mothers attic, I can firmly attest: they are over priced and no the paper quality is not that great. If you’re a writer you could probably write your life story on a wet doily so the cost or brand of a journal is purely insignificant. I also find in this technological age, they seem to exist in the majority for individuals who like to photograph them on flickr and add them to their satchel along with a nice macbook pro or to effortlessly point out the brand of their new cahier or daily planner.

There are plenty of other brands out there that never seem to get as much scene points or kudos as Moleskine, and here are some of my favourites that I have personally used over the years:

Firstly there’s Ciak: for a little bit more than the cost of a large Moleskine you can get yourself an Italian leather-bound Ciak. My favourite of journals, that are built to last and will let you stick in photographs, write like a maniac and all without seeping through or creating indents onto the next page. They will probably last longer than you will. My boyfriend recently purchased a beautiful embossed antique leather Itallian leather back notebook, so the history of craftmanship you get with Itallian leather journals is something that still remains with them today.

http://www.thejournalshop.com/ is currently the only U.K supplier and you can also find them on Ebay.

Paperblanks have been making pretty beautiful journals for as long as I can remember, their paper is on par with Moleskine, but you get a far more beautiful and better quality hardcover for the same price. They also detail on the inside cover where the cover design has been inspired from and the original techniques used to create it. My favourites are the French Ornate notebooks.

Rosehip have just launched in Waterstones and for small journals from £1.50 to the large covers for £3.50 these are my new favourite to keep in my handbag. Made from recycled paper and with cute and quirky front covers they are a steal for a considerably smaller budget.

At the end of the day, it’s what you write that’s important, not what you write in.