The Doane Paper Ideal Journal

This is not my first review of Doane Paper, and it probably wont be my last, because the product and customer service are excellent.  I originally learned of Doane Paper through The Pen Addict, where Brad always uses this paper to do his writing samples.  This new Idea Journal from Doane Paper is a new product caught my eye the first time I saw it, so I finally broke down and ordered one a few days ago.  I think the thing I liked most about the notebook most was the plain yet appealing visual, with its sturdy (and 100% recycled) chip board cover and the stark contrast of the black text on the light background.

Inside the Doane Paper Idea Journal

The most unique thing about Doane Paper is the design that provides the writer with both grid and ruled markings all on the same page.  The grids on this paper are .125″ x .125″ and are surrounded by slightly thicker ruled lines.  One of the things that I was not thrilled about with my original Doane Paper notepad was that the back side of each page was blank.  With the Idea Journal (and a few of their other products) this is no longer an issue, as the grid marks and ruled lines appear on both sides of the 60lb brite white paper.

Doane Paper Idea Journal Folded Over

Another really nice thing about the Idea Journal is that because of the sturdy double coil binding, it is easy to fold over the cover…and unlike the comb-over, a fold-over with your notebook is definitely cool.  There are a ton of things to love about this notebook, between the fold over, the double-sided Doane Paper format, the thick and high quality paper, and the durable feel of the cover and coil binding, this is really an awesome notebook.

Doane Paper Idea Journal Writing Sample Front

Now that I’m set with a Doane Paper notebook where I can write comfortably on both sides of the paper, I wanted to do a more complete test to see if the ink would show through on the other side.  As you can see from the writing sample above, I tried many different fountain pens/inks, gel ink pens, Sharpie pens, and a standard roller ball pen and all of them wrote very smoothly with no feathering.

Doane Paper Writing Sample Show Through

The true test came when I flipped the paper over to see what, if any ink decided to show through to the other side.  The only ink that even slightly showed through on the other side was the Levenger fountain pen ink, and even that was incredibly faint, and would not bother me enough to notice when writing on both sides of the paper.  I’m definitely lookin forward to using this notebook whenever I get a chance, which means Ill probably be doing some of my pen reviews with this soon too, which is good because my Red ‘n Black notebook that I’ve been fond of for a while is almost used up.  Definitely check out the Doane Paper Idea Journal (there is also a smaller 5.25″ x 6.875″) and pick one (or some) up if you are looking to add some high quality notebooks to your inventory of home office supplies, you wont regret it.

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