I have a slight addiction to pens and have become rather particular with which pens I use for what, especially when it comes to writing headings / titles where I prefer to use thick / marker style pens so they stand out more.

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Favorite pens for writing headings in my planner

Note: I filmed this video back in 2017. After using those pens for a few years (and discovering many more), my recommendations list has updated – see below!

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For headers in my planner I prefer to use thick marker tip style pens. My favorite brands:

Staedtler Triplus 1.0mm

Not to be confused with the popular 0.3mm Staedtler fine tips, these pens are ideal for list making when the entire page is one list – the thick 1.0mm tip makes the title stand out when flicking through a notebook (there’s a bigger pack with more colors, I only got the small one)

Using the Triplus pens for week 15 of the 52 planners in 52 weeks challenge

If you want the option to choose between different thicknesses, the Staedtler Twin tip may be a better option.

If you don’t want a pen that’s this thick, try the Triplus Broadliner (0.8mm). These came out after I purchased the 1.0mm – now I tend to use these more often than the 1.0mm.

Smiggle Twin Tip Scented markers

Love the colors of these markers and the dual tip so you can use the extra thick for the main title and the thinner ones (which are still thicker than your typical pen) for sub-headings.

Crayola Fine Line Markers

I found these at Target. Anything by Crayola tends to be good quality with nice vibrant colors.

Faber Castell 54F Fibre Tip Colouring Pens

Lots of colors to choose from although I tend to stick with popular colors such as blue, green, pink, purple and red.

I found these in the kids coloring tools section in Target.

Papermate Fair Medium (M)

If you’re short on space or are using a planner where you can add your own titles to the sections of the weekly planning space such as the Plum Paper Me Planner or the Erin Condren vertical, then I recommend the Papermate Flair medium pens.

The ultra fine are great for general planning and list making but the medium is just that little bit thicker meaning it stands out more and is ideal for headings.

Related: Planner pens I don’t recommend (prone to smearing, bleed through etc.) 

Staedtler Maxum 1.6mm

If you don’t like using marker pens and prefer a typical pen, I recommend the Staedtler Maxum 1.6mm. This is the thickest ballpoint pen I own. It comes in lots of nice rainbow colors but is a bit too fat and clunky to do general planning with (hence why I only use it for headings)

Related: Ultimate list of the best planner pen brands and how to choose colors for color coding 

Stabilo Point 88 Fine

I mainly use this pen for headings as, even though it’s called a fine tip pen, the ink comes out thicker than a fineliner after you’ve used them for a while (but nowhere near as bold as a marker pen) – maybe also because it’s needle tip, but I can’t write very fast with it. As such I only use it for headings as it’s bolder than normal gel and ballpoint pens. It does come in lots of colors if you want to do color coding.

They do have a marker version (the trio 2 in 1) if you did want a thicker pen:

Related: Planner pen testing in the Erin Condren Life Planner, Plum Paper, Happy Planner by MAMBI and Limelife Planner 

Pentel Arts Color Pen

The colors of these pens are great – 1 of all the colors you need, plus a light and dark shade of blue and green. They’re thicker than normal pens but not too thick for your planner. Plus they only have a small amount of ghosting, no bleed through as can be the case with some of the thicker pens on this list.

Frixion Erasable

If you’re a perfectionist, try the Frixion erasable. Nice bright rainbow colors!

Pens I don’t Recommend

I don’t recommend normal sharpies (the Sharpie Fine Point) as the ink always bleeds through the page no matter what type of paper or planner I use.

The ultra fines sharpies are nice but they aren’t very thick so they don’t really stand out for headings but would work ok with a fine tip pen.

Sharpie also have a brush pen which is thick but again, tends to bleed through the page.

Typo ‘Make your Mark’ Pen

So originally this was on my recommend list (in the video), however this pen ended up fraying and eventually drying out only 6 months after I bought it.

Ironlak Aquarelle Brush Tip Pen

This was a random find at a paint supply store. I bought it with the intention to try calligraphy but the brush wasn’t, well ‘brushy’ enough – the tip wasn’t very flexible. So now I only use it for headings. It comes in lots of colors but you can’t buy it in packs (only individually).

This is a dual tip pen – it has the ‘brush’ end and a fine tip end.

When I bought this pen a few years ago there were nowhere near as many brush pen options available. Now I don’t recommend the Ironlak – you can get an entire pack of brush pens for only a little bit more than the cost of one Ironlak pen.

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Tips for headings in your planner:

• If you’re using the entire page for planning the one thing e.g. an entire page in your planner for blog posts, use the color for that category for the title – it’ll make it easier to find when flicking through the pages of your notebook

 

• Use colors you don’t normally use for planning or color coding (such as teal) – these stand out against the rest of your writing on the page and are a good way to make sure these colors get used!

 

• If in doubt, always use black as it looks good with anything  🙂

Related: Favorite places to buy planner pens (online)

Other options for signifying headers in your planner

There are a couple of other ways I mark headers in my planner

• Using a highlighter over the top of the text. If you prefer not to use highlighters another alternative are zooms which don’t smudge and don’t have ink so they don’t dry out

Related: Simple method for organized brain dumping of blog post ideas using a notebook and zooms 

• Writing the words in UPPPERCASE letters so they stand out more

 

• Adding arrows on either side of the word, or drawing a couple of – – – or dots to make the test stand out

 

• Underlining (also double underlining)

 

• Writing headings in multiple colors (rainbow always stands out!) or 2 colors (using an alternate color for each letter e.g. t in 1 color, o in 2nd color, d in 1st color etc.)

 

• Putting a line of highlighter on either side of the title – you could also use zoom’s to color code (they don’t run out of ink they’re like a pencil can rub out with some effort).

Related: Week 16: Minimalist 1 page categorised planning using black pen & highlighters

Related Posts:

• How to choose the right planner pens: what to look for when buying planner pens
• Ultimate list of the best planner pen brands and how to choose colors for color coding 
• Best pens for writing on washi tape 
• Planner pen testing in the Erin Condren Life Planner, Plum Paper, Happy Planner by MAMBI and Limelife Planner 
• My all time favorite planner pens: Pilot Frixion Erasable Pens Review
• How to choose the right planner pens: what to look for when buying planner pens
• Planner pens I don’t recommend (prone to smearing, bleed through etc.) 

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