Selecting a notebook to capture your ideas is a highly personal decision.

Your ideas may take numerous forms, from bullet points and notes to diagrams and sketches. That means you need to give a bit more thought to finding a notebook page format that accommodates your personal creative style.

Here are some tips on selecting the right type of page layout to capture your ideas in their full glory:

Page types

Lined or ruled notebooks are designed primarily for writing. This is the traditional notebook paper design. If you’re mainly going to be taking notes, this is the one for you. However, if you plan to draw or sketch in your notebook, then you’ll probably find that the horizontal lines get in your way.

Quadrille notebooks feature a pattern of light colored squares on the pages, suitable for engineering drawing and other technical uses. If you plan to draw or sketch, the quadrille pattern will probably be too distracting.

Blank pages: If you tend to think in pictures, then blank pages should work best for you. They’re literally a blank canvas, waiting to be filled with your visual musings. Use this type of notebook if your output is primarily drawings or sketches.

Dot grid pages are a valuable hybrid page type that is equally well suited to words and sketches. The dots serve as a grid to help you keep your lines level when you’re capturing notes. Yet they are light enough and widely spaced enough that they are not a distraction when you’re writing.

For drawing or creating diagrams or charts, the dots also serve as an alignment tool. I like this design the best. I primarily write ideas in my notebooks, but I also like to be able to create simple mind maps, diagrams or charts. Occasionally, I also draw.

I first learned of the dot grid notebooks through Behance, a creative outfitter and online community. I was immediately intrigued by the idea, and was compelled to order one to see what it was like in real life. When I got my notebook in the mail, I was immediately impressed and found it to be a very versatile notebook in the field. Since then, numerous notebook publishers have launched their own versions of the dot grid notebook,

Here are some of the advantages I’ve discovered from using dot grid notebooks:

• The light geometric dot matrix serves as a subtle guide for your notations and sketches.
• The dots give enough of a framework to write neatly. They also allow me to make easy tables, and yet if I want to sketch something out they seem to fade into the background.
• From using the dots to create boxes for to-do lists, through to adding tables and charts and logs, the flexible nature of dot paper is perfect for any kind of thinking.
• The dot pattern on the pages is light enough that you can write normally but you can also use it as a guideline for creating simple drawings and charts in the pages of your notebook.
• The pattern on each page serves as a constant reminder that I need to consider sketching or diagramming my ideas – not just writing them out longhand.

What makes capturing ideas different than writing notes?

Many people buy these notebooks to simply use them as a journal, in which to do their writing. Others buy them to take notes during business meetings. But capturing ideas is different then these other two uses in several fundamental ways:

Ideas may be represented by just a few words, a diagram, a sketch or a few scribbles. The nature of your creative output can vary widely; you need a tool that is adaptable to your ever-changing needs.

Your mind may unconsciously limit your idea by the palette you use to record it. For example, an idea that you want to sketch maybe become stunted when you try to record it in a ruled notebook.

Ideas need a blank canvas.

Size matters

If you want something that is incredibly portable, a pocket-sized notebook may do the trick. But more often than not, your ideas and the ways in which you want to express them on paper will be more extensive. In cases like these, a larger page size is better.

Conclusion

Based on my experiences, a dot grid notebook is the style best suited for capturing a variety of creative ideas. It provides enough of a blank canvas for you to expand your idea to the size of the page, while also providing enough visual structure so you can use it for conventional writing and note taking.

To view the best notebooks and journals on Amazon.com for capturing your ideas, please click here.