SWAG / NOTEBOOK & JOURNALS
The wonderful, versatile, customizable… notebook!
No matter where you work; in the office, at home or on the road, a good notebook is always handy. It may be the ultimate swag in terms of use-fullness.
SWAG / NOTEBOOK & JOURNALS
The wonderful, versatile, customizable… notebook!
No matter where you work; in the office, at home or on the road, a good notebook is always handy. It may be the ultimate swag in terms of use-fullness.
Why Notebooks?
People like notebooks. They’re handy. They’re fun. They’re like your own little world for notes, doodles, and mind maps. From a brand standpoint, there’s a ton of real estate on that cover to make it look great and communicate your message. And if you take advantage of custom insert pages or packaging, there’s even more opportunity to include detailed info. Not many merch items can do that. So, grab a pen and, ahem, notebook, and let’s make your dream journal come to life.
64%
of consumers own promo desk accessories
13 mo
How long consumers keep notebooks (on avg)
2,300+
impressions generated over it’s lifespan
Why Notebooks?
People like notebooks. They’re handy. They’re fun. They’re like your own little world for notes, doodles, and mind maps. From a brand standpoint, there’s a ton of real estate on that cover to make it look great and communicate your message. And if you take advantage of custom insert pages or packaging, there’s even more opportunity to include detailed info. Not many merch items can do that. So, grab a pen and, ahem, notebook, and let’s make your dream journal come to life.
64%
of consumers own
promo desk accessories
13 mo
How long consumers
keep notebooks (on avg)
2,300+
impressions generated
over it’s lifespan
64%
of consumers own
promo desk accessories
13 months
the average time a
consumer keeps a notebook
1,450
impressions generated
over it’s lifespan
IDEAS
New Hires
A well-planned journal is part of the perfect new hire kit and elevates the first-day experience. Pairing perfectly with orientation, notebooks are a great way to encourage increased participation and knowledge retention.
Give them swag they can use at their desk, in their car, or on a mountain. Good ideas come from everywhere, have notebook – will travel.
Conferences
At conferences, attendees are engaged and excited. Take advantage and put your brand front and center. If it’s not your brand, they’ll be taking notes on someone else’s.
Consider the impact of a 3-day event with 4 hours of seminars a day. That totals 12 hours of engaging with your brand PLUS the relationship you keep post-conference.
Work From Home
You don’t need to be in the office to take notes! A remote world requires more notes. In lieu of impromptu meetings and face-to-face, we’re going through notebooks like never before.
Whether it’s an employee, someone you’re trying to sell to, or someone you’re sending a gift to, your brand will be front and center on their desk all day.
Giveaways
Finally, don’t forget giveaways. You should always focus on giving items that will actually get used, and a notebook is a perfect combination of utility and style that is bound to last.
Give an amazing first impression with a notebook like no one has ever seen before. Now is the time to up the wow factor with customization and unique touches.
1. Choose your notebook binding
The binding on a notebook plays an important role in its functionality. We’re here to help you choose a binding that best suits your needs!
See more notebooks →
Bound Notebook 
The most popular option and what most people are looking for. We love the retail vibe making it a great option to give out or sell and if you were shopping for us, we’d prefer the soft cover to a hard cover.
Most common size:
– 70-100 sheet
– 5×7, 5.25 x 8.25
Spiral Notebook 
This is the classic notebook that can be dressed up or down, but may not have the retail look a bookbound notebook does. Though it’s dipped in popularity as of late, it’s actually by far the easiest to use as the pages flip so nicely. We bet if you looked at what people actually use you’ll find this is most people’s favorite from a practical standpoint.
Most common size:
– 100 sheets
– 7×10, 8.5×11
Stitched Notebook
If you’re looking for a notebook to giveaway, that’s great for a single use and is budget friendly, this is the perfect binding. They are light weight and compact making them easy to hand-out, but are fun and creative at the same time.
Most common size:
– 28 sheets
– 3.5 x5
2. Design your cover
Next, what kind of print are you looking for? One of the amazing things about notebooks is the ability to for you to add just your logo, a logo plus graphic or print on the entire page. It’s paper printing, the options are endless.
Deboss
Give the notebook that tactile touch. Deboss is the way to go if you want to have a classy but understated feel.
Color Print
If you can go color, go color, you won’t regret the bonus of an eye-catching design.
Foil Stamp
Don’t underestimate the wow factor of a little shine. You’ll get the tactile feel of deboss with some added flair. Shine on.
3. Pick a pen
Notebooks and pens go together like Peanut Butter & Jelly, Maczroni & Cheese, Cookies & Milk. They’re better together. It’s actually a big mistake to not pair these two together as it makes it more likely your fan will use someone else’s logo’d pen with your notebook. You’d be missing out on a major impression opportunity. Nearly nine in 10 consumers report owning a logoed pen, with each pen generating at least 3,000 impressions over it’s lifespan.
Extended Back with Pen Holder
Add a back to your notebook that includes a holder for the pen. This is a great option on the spiral notebook and keeps your pen secure and safe.
Notebook with Pen Loop
Add a simple pen loop to the outside of your notebook to hold your pen in place. It’s not fancy or bulky, but sometimes the best things in life are the most basic.
Notebook and Pen Gift Set
If you’re looking for a high end gift, pair your notebook with a pen inside a gift box. For not a lot of extra cost, this takes your notebook to the next level.
4. Make it even more custom
Now that you have your cover designed, let’s take your notebook to the next level. Custom Notebooks are a blank canvas. Design options are limitless!
Belly Band
When giving away something, everything can benefit from that last finishing touch. A great way to do that on a notebook is with a belly band. A belly band is simply a piece of paper that allows you to add that little extra text you want the reader to see or a that final design piece the notebook is missing.
The belly band comes in many sizes so it’s important to decide if you’re looking for something thin or thick. Either way, there is no doubt it will leave a lasting impression as your user tears it off to open up their new notebook
Inner Page Designs
Print on each page. Why brand just the front, when there is so much opportunity inside. Add motivational quotes, your brand colored lines, custom numbered pages, it’s all available.
Notebook and Pen Gift Set
Possibly the most undervalued custom option you can add to your notebook and probably one of the most useful features. Added storage is a bonus feature worth considering.
PRO TIP
Adding marketing material, a schedule for a conference, information the user needs is easy. “This is where you can take the opportunity to really stand out creatively, especially if you opt for a more subdued cover. Add in that color graphic, share that cool photo, as a designer I think it’d be really fun to have a coloring or doodle page added in” – Trish, Kotis Designer
Kits love a good notebook
Go super pro with the packaging to show how special the notebook really is. It’s a first impression that stays memorable.
Explore Kitting→
Kitting Examples with Notebooks
Cigna + Oscar Welcome Kit
BD Virtual Intern Kit
Sequoia Capital New Founder Kit
Digital Ocean - Hatch
Gremlin - Chaos Conf.
Custom Overseas
Not everything we make, okay not most of what we make, is made here in the US. Notebooks are one of those items that is almost exclusively made here in the US. Our country has great printing processes that enables the pricing to be competitive and due to the weight of paper and the customization of each item, it makes producing the product overseas not nearly as competitive. With that said, there are times that it does make sense.
Our favorite brands
There’s more
Good ol’ fashioned notebooks will never disappear. As much as we love computers, our phones and tablets taking notes or journaling with a pen is cathartic to say the least. We however have some other favorite items:
Keyboard Notes
It’s a wrist rest when you’re working away on your laptop and a handy notebook in a pinch. It includes sticky notes, ruled and dotted pages, what more could you want, honestly.
RocketBook
White lined college ruled and dotted paper allows you to write smoothly with a Pilot Frixion pen, then you can magically wipe the notebook clean with a damp cloth to reuse over and over! Using the Rocketbook app you can share notes, plans, lists, and big ideas with any cloud service for proper organization. Then, erase and reuse.
Eco Friendly Options
Kraft Paper Notebooks
Recycled Paper Notebooks
Seed Paper Notebooks
Ready to start your notebook?