Erin Condren Softbound Dot Grid Notebook Review (Pros, Cons & Pen Testing)
Erin Condren are known for making pretty things, so when they came out with dot grid notebooks I wanted one!
Quick facts
- Size: 5 x 8″ inside pages (the cover is slightly more than this)
- Softcover
- Stitched binding
- Optional cover personalisation (your name in foil)
- 124 pages
- 80# (120 GSM) paper
- Choose between dot grid or lined inside pages
Price $14 USD (+$5 extra if you opt to personalise the cover)
Let’s take a closer look!
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See the rest of my Erin Condren haul in this post.
The Cover
The cover is soft and bendy – that vegan leather material. The corners are rounded so it shouldn’t get damaged.
Love that silver foil edging on the pages!
Approx 0.5″ thick
The pages do lay flat on their own.
There is 1 built in ribbon bookmark:
There are different colored asterisk flags throughout – quite a variety: gold, orange, purple, blue, green, pink, purple, mint, teal and pastel pink.
I really hate when companies put things inside the dot grid. Usually it’s page numbers – in this instance it’s the logo. I know the notebook is Erin Condren, I don’t need a reminder in the corner of every 2nd page. It’s really annoying – you can’t really write over the top unless you use whiteout which will look odd since the pages are ivory – not pure white.
The dots are 7mm spacing – so bigger than most dot grid notebooks that have 5mm spacing.
I’m not a fan of this big gap near the spine – an extra column of dots could’ve been added.
Pen Testing
For all the hype Erin Condren created about the improved Mohawk paper… it’s not that great:
Everything had light ghosting – more for the highlighters than the pens.
Pros of the Notebook
- Portable size
- Lightweight
- Rainbow colors throughout
- Option to personalise the cover
- Different cover colors to choose from
- Silver foil (you can also get rose gold) edging on the pages
- Pages lay flat
- Fast shipping internationally (my order arrived within 5 days and it included a personalised notebook too)
Cons of the Notebook
- The Erin Condren logo printed on every 2nd page
- There is a large margin near the stitched binding i.e could’ve fit another column of dots
- Paper is prone to ghosting
- No pocket folder
- Only 1 ribbon bookmark
- No numbered pages
- Dot grid is bigger than the usual 5mm dot grid (that most of this type of notebook have)
Would I use this notebook?
Maybe. I like this notebook but a few functionally flaws let it down: no numbered pages, the logo within the dot grid and the paper is prone to ghosting. It’s nice and only $14 USD is a good price.
More notebook reviews:
Planning Tips:
- Setting up a new month in my bullet journal (minimalist style)
- How to choose the right bullet journal notebook for you (10 things to check)
- 7 Bullet Journal Supplies I Don’t Use
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I did purchase one of these as well. I can overlook the logo placement and wide margins. I actually find the larger spacing of dots a “pro” as I’ve had a hand injury and I cannot write as small anymore. The ghosting is bothersome though…
I love the foiled edges! That asterisk on the cover drives me *nuts* though. I don’t like it at all & refuse to buy these notebooks because of it.