Custom Notebook and Journal Buyers Guide

Custom notebooks and journals are among the most popular corporate gifts and promotional products around. You would think that the rise of laptops and tables would have taken some wind out of the sails of custom journals as promotional items, but it turns out that most people still like to take notes the old fashioned way. Here are some tips to help you pick the perfect personalized notebooks for your business.

Popular Custom Notebook Brands

We're all about delivering the best brands in the world to choose from, no matter what the product is. When it comes to custom notebooks that means offering top of the line products from industry-leading brands like Moleskine, Castelli, Post-it, and other household names.

Personalized Notebook Styles

Hard to believe that there's so many different kinds of notebooks when they're essentially all designed to do the same thing! Whatever you need custom notebooks for, we've got the perfect style to fit your needs.

Custom Hard Cover Notebooks

Hardcover notebooks might not have been what you were raised on in school, but they're the typically the go-to choice for business applications. Hard cover notebooks tend to be smaller for easy transportation, and are more durable than soft cover notebooks.

Custom Soft Cover Notebooks

These custom soft cover notebooks are probably the style you're most accustomed to. They're extremely popular for teachers and students because they're lightweight and usually more affordable than hardcover notebooks.

Custom Spiral Notebooks

Spiral bound notebooks are the traditional notebook construction for education purposes. That's in part because pages are larger, so there is more room for notetaking, and because pages are easier to tear out of the notebook if you need to turn something in to a teacher.

Custom Padfolios & Leather Portfolios

Custom leather padfolios with a debossed or embossed logo are the perfect way to class up your note taking. They're especially ideal for interviews, meetings, and conferences. Plus, you can replace the pages in most padfolios, so you can use these for years!

Custom Sketchbooks

Let your creative side out and doodle away in these custom logo sketchbooks. They may look like standard notebooks on the outside, but you'll notice that the pages inside are unruled so you don't have to stay within the lines.

Custom Notepads & Stationery

Cross off your to-do list with these personalized notepads and post-it notes! These make great promotional products when you add your custom printed company logo too!

Custom Smart Notebooks

Everything is "smart" these days, isn't it? You've got smartwatches, smart speakers, and now smart notebooks that automatically digitize your notes. Click into the images below to learn more about these fancy gadgets!

Custom Wood Notebooks

Not only are these wooden notebooks extra sturdy and durable, they also look amazing with an engraved logo or custom design. Custom wood notebooks are perfect as corporate gifts around the holidays.

Applications for Custom Notebooks

We aren't suggesting that you don't know what a notebook is used for, we wouldn't insult your intelligence like that. However, here are a few savvy ideas on how to use customized notebooks to benefit your business!

Promotional Products & Trade Show Giveaways

What makes custom journals ideal promotional products? The long and short of it is pricing and functionality. Custom logo notebooks are typically pretty cheap, so you can distribute them in large quantities and trade shows and corporate events. Plus, they give your colleagues something to write down information about your business in.

Corporate Gifts

Hook up your clients, colleagues, and customers with some personalized notebooks for some sweet corporate gifts that also grow your brand. Custom notebooks make ideal corporate gifts and holiday presents because you don't need to track down personal information about your recipients, like size and gender, ahead of time.

Gifts for Teachers and Students

Distribute custom logo school supplies on the first day of school at your private school or at orientation for your university! School logo branded merch is a surefire way to drum up some school spirit to kick off the semester!

New Hire Onboarding Gifts

Chances are your new employees are going to have a lot to learn in their first few weeks on the job. Lots of learning typically means lots of note taking, so it's always a good idea to include a custom notebook in their onboarding packages. Plus, they'll immediately feel like they're part of the team repping your logo on day one.

How to Customize Notebooks with Your Company Logo

Our product decoration pros over here at Merchology are experts in the art of customization. In fact, they can add your corporate logo or custom design to products using more than 10 different personalization methods! Here are the ones that make the most sense for customizing notebooks and journals.

Pad Printing Notebooks

Custom pad printing is the most common decoration technique for notebooks, journals, and other hard goods. The main benefit of pad printing as a customization technique is that it can be performed on just about any shaped surface. For promotional purposes, custom pad printing is often utilized on custom notebooks, drinkware, pens, and electronics. Learn how pad printing works here.

Debossing Notebooks

Debossing can be thought of a a way of heat pressing pressing your logo onto an item. Debossing is typically done on exclusively leather materials like wallets and padfolios, but can be performed on many notebooks as well! You can find out how to deboss or emboss products right here.

Foil Stamping Notebooks

Foil stamping is our only decoration method that's done exclusively on custom notebooks! In the foil stamping process a metallic foil is heated and then stamped onto the surface of the notebook with enough pressure to seal a thin layer of the foil to the notebook. Learn more about how foil stamping works here!

Next Steps

Well, there it is, all the info you need to pick the best personalized journals to promote your business! So... now let's start shopping! If this guide helps answer your questions or helps you make a decision, don't forget to check out our other product buyers guides. Finally, don't hesitate to contact us with any questions about ordering your custom notebooks!