If you’re looking for an affordable, functional and cute planner (who isn’t?), the Day Designer for Blue Sky collabs are a great option!

Quick facts

• Size: 5.5″ wide x 8.25″ high
• Wire binding
• Softcover
• Dates at a glance
• Colorful inside pages
• 2 page weekly spread (starts on Monday)
• 2 Page monthly calendar (starts on Sunday)
• Tabs
• Academic year (although there are many planners in this style that are available in calendar year format)

Let’s take a closer look!

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The Cover

Approx 1cm thick. The back cover feels like plastic (similar to the UnCalendar) so it weighs practically nothing.

The cover is in a clear pocket so you can remove and add your own (e.g. print a digital paper pattern).

Monthly Calendar

Week starts on a Sunday (not consistent with the weekly spread that starts Monday)

Unfortunately one major con with the Blue Sky Planners are that they split boxes into 2 rather than re-starting the dates on the top row.

Weekly Planner

Very functional design that maximises the page but still has some decorative elements.

Saturday and Sunday share the same amount of space as 1 weekday

I always do a top 3 for each week so I like that this is already in the design (since not many planners include this)

Dates at a glance

National Holidays List

Both Blue Sky and Day Designer are USA companies so the holidays are for the US (pre-printed on both the monthly calendar and weekly spreads).

Goals pages

Nice that goals pages are included… but I think they’re too brief to provide much value. There’s not much room to write either.

Notes

Tabs

<3 these colors!

Pen Testing

The paper of the day designer for Blue Sky collab planners feels the same so here is a pen test from another one of their collab planners:

The paper feels quite thin so I was surprised when there was hardly any pen bleed through – even the Stabilo Pen 68 (marker pen) which normally bleeds through or has really bad ghosting in other planners.

Back side of the pen test page.. hardly any ghosting!

Related: Day Designer for Blue Sky Horizontal Weekly Planner Review 

Pros of the Planner

• Portable size
• Very lightweight
• Pretty color scheme
• Lined writing space in weekly spread and monthly calendar
• US holidays pre-printed on the monthly and weekly spreads
• Affordable

Cons of the Planner

• Plastic back cover
• Saturday and Sunday share the same amount of space as a weekday
• Week starts Monday but month starts Sunday
• Monthly calendar splits 1 box into 2, rather than restarting the dates on the top row

Would I use this planner?

Yes. I like horizontal layouts – even moreso when they’re lined. I also always do a top 3 and this is one of very few planners I’ve come across that has that built into the weekly spread.

More planners in this style:

• Day Designer for Blue Sky Horizontal Weekly Planner Review 
• Day Designer for Blue Sky Planner (vertical)
• Using the Day Designer for Blue Sky Vertical Hourly Weekly Planner

Planning Tips:

• Best Paper for Printing Printables
• Finding planner peace: how to choose the right planner page size for you 
• Finding planner peace: 18 things to check before choosing a planner 

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