As someone who is hyper-organized–sometimes I make lists to organize my lists–notebooks, sticky notes and legal pads are my best friends. Naturally, the type and style of paper on which I write plays a pretty significant role in my day-to-day life. Every summer growing up I would look forward to the back-to-school shopping trip that my mom would take me on where she let me buy all new school supplies, from gel pens to patterned pencil cases to the all-important notebook. Every year I would try a new type of notebook, and after trying out pretty much every type of notebook you can think of over the years–composition, wide-ruled, hardcover, spiral bound–I finally came across the perfect one. Ever since I discovered it, the Five Star College-Ruled notebook is the only type I am willing to buy. The combination of many intelligent features makes it the ideal notebook for me. Here’s why:
– I usually write using a mechanical #2 pencil. On paper that is either very thick, colored, or patterned, pencil is often too faint to read. The lines on the pages of the notebook are just dark enough that they can be made out, but light enough that pencil stands out on the page and you can draw clear pictures of diagrams without having to worry about dark ruled lines obscuring the image.
– The pages are structured in such a way as to maximize the number of suitable writing space while still adhering to traditional ruled notebook style. By this I mean that the margins are big enough that writing doesn’t extend to the very edge of the page, but small enough so that it doesn’t look like you are only writing in a column a third of the page size-wide. This makes a huge difference–not only does it improve the aesthetic of the page, but it also saves paper.
– The notebook is spiral bound. This is important because I often rip out pages. In some fancier notebooks and journals, the pages are sewn together at the binding, which leads to a jagged and uneven page edge when ripped out. These pages also have perforated guidelines for easy removal.
– Finally, the notebook overall is sturdy and durable. The cover is made out of a relatively thick plastic that doesn’t scratch, fold, or break easily. Similarly, the back is a thick piece of cardboard, and the binding is metal coil.
– The multi-subject notebooks that I usually use also come with sturdy, reinforced thick paper pockets that are bound into the notebook just like the lined paper and can hold loose-leaf paper in the front and back pockets.
