Choosing A Cover Page for Your Journal & Lined Pages vs Unlined, Blank Pages

Thing of Beauty: A Unicorn Cover Page
Cover pages are, of course, an option, however, they can make opening your journal inspiring and motivating with the right combination of images and words. The cover page can also set the theme for what you plan to use your journal for. We have created dozens of cover pages, which are permanently glued in using bookbinders glue (the way professional cover pages are set in) using about a 1/8 strip of glue and pressing the folded cover sheet, image and wording facing front, all the way back against the spine. This allows the page to open, but it's not to be written in. You could glue or tape an envelope inside your cover page for photos, receipts, small notes or hidden keepsakes if you wish or leave it be for decoration. 

Every one of our 8x5 journals comes with a golden $100 bill for prosperity and good luck. You will find your bill placed in between the folded cover page. The photo shows an example of a cover page made for this specific cover design. It's the image of a unicorn with most of the same colors found within the abstract, colorful cover art. Underneath in blue it says, "Thing of Beauty." You'll find more examples below. 

Choosing the Best Cover Page for Your Journal

Cover Page & Lined Pages
When selecting a cover page, you want it to at least somewhat match the journal's leather print. It doesn't have to have the same image, but the colors should be similar so that it looks clean and well designed. For example, if your print is a deep teal and gold abstract pattern with no actual images, you could go with ANY image on your cover page that resonates with you. You could choose from one of our hundreds of commercial graphics such as:
  • Teal and gold flowers
  • A cat with a teal and gold collar
  • A golden witches hat with teal accents
  • A skull with teal flowers around it
  • A golden colored horse with blue roses around it's neck
  • A gold cauldron full of a teal colored brew
  • Turquoise or Chrysocolla crystals
The possibilities are limitless! If the primary colors of the cover page image stay within the colors of deep teal and gold, and the lines of your pages are teal, gold or even barely there gray, your journal will look as if it were designed by a professional. For the unicorn cover page and the matching colors within the leather, we chose pink and blue lined pages. Each signature is either bright magenta or deep blue and are put together with the colors dividing the journal into multiple small sections of 40 pages if desired or just placed in the order above for a creative look. The corners of our journals, both the cover and pages, are slightly rounded. Maybe it's my autism or OCD, but I cannot stand pointed or squared off corners. Rounding them gives the journal a softer look anyway, which I much prefer. 

If you choose to go with blank, unlined pages, don't worry about line color. You can still choose a cover page however, or go without one and draw your own!

Lined vs Unlined Pages
Another example could be, if your cover page has a beautiful witch wearing a dark blue dress and a dark blue hat with dark blue roses in hand, yellow lines probably wouldn't look as put together as dark blue lines to match. It's your choice however, and if you want hot pink lines and an orange and black cover page with a green leather cover, that's exactly what we will make for you!

​Scroll down to see some examples of old cover pages as well as cover pages with a variety of images to fit many of the deigns we have available along with a selection of fonts and possibilities for naming your journal or you can add your name, your children's names or who the journal belongs to if you wish. 

If you choose not to have a cover page, your first page will be like every other page in the book. Whether you choose to include a cover page or not is totally up to you and there is non extra cost in choosing one. Don't see a cover page that you like? Let us know what you'd like and we will do our best to create a cover page that matches what you have in mind.

Examples of Old Cover Pages

Current Cover Pages with Space at the Top for Your Words