The Journal Cover Project

It is not uncommon to find me browsing the stationary aisle in any department store. I have an affinity for print. It’s hard to pass up a cute journal cover. Back-to-school time still leaves me buzzing with a weird hyped-up anticipation and urgent need to load up on paper, pens, pencils, and organizational materials. My family laughs at my love of that Nora Ephron line from You’ve Got Mail, “Don’t you love New York in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.”

Journal Cover Project Backstory

So one day I got it in my head that it might be fun to design journal covers – *actual book covers would be fun too! Cue the brainstorming session 🧠 🌧️ I thought there’d be a dozen or so, but I came up with over 100 ideas for journal covers and notebook covers. Some cheeky (I enjoy being able to infuse humor), some less so. I have only scratched the surface of designing these ideas!

Journal Cover Design Inspiration

During my brainstorming, I did some research into how people use journals and/or notebooks and then ruminated on what might be fun to pair with different uses. Over the course of about a week, my list ballooned out of control. I may never actually create all of them, but it’s nice to have options when I am looking for inspiration.

Amassing a list of journal uses was an unintentional side effect of my deep dive. So I figured, why not share that info here for the benefit of all! If you are looking for ideas on where to start journaling, your answer might be on this list! [ Links go to journal designs on RedBubble ]

*Edited to add: Now you can also find some of my journals on my Amazon Author Profile. More options are added frequently!

What do you write about when you are journaling?

Personally, I love looking at all the beautiful ways that people journal on social. However, I tend to use mine for:

• lists – groceries, ideas, to-do, etc
• notes about work, classes, or business stuff
• scribbled “morning pages” to get my head in the game for the day
  • I draw a single Tarot card and reflect on how its interpretation might be present in my life 

How these journals are designed?

So far the designs are taking shape in both Illustrator and Photoshop depending on whether they are graphic or image-based. For example, “Hypotheses,” the image on the left, is a vector-based design so it was created 100% in Adobe Illustrator, while “Existential Ruminations,” the image on the right, has photographic elements and made more sense to manipulate the content in Adobe Photoshop. 

In every project I design the requirements of the project dictate the tools I use. Other tools in my belt include Adobe InDesign, Sketch, and Figma. Sometimes I even get the chance to dabble in After Effects or Premiere Pro.

*Designing a book cover is on my Design Bucket List, so if you have a book that needs a cover design, let’s connect!