Cheap Journal Compare

Top left are Exceed journals; top right are Letterbox journals; bottom is my current journal, Artist's Loft.

Hi, my name is Anne and I am a journal junkie. It has been about two weeks since I have purchased an unneeded journal just because it was pretty and a good price. I have a small shelf of pretty, unused journals that I found in clearance bins. I have given several journals to friends as gifts when I find out that they like to journal. So I'm writing a little info on the current, past, and future journals that I actually use. I made some sketches in each of four of the above journals for a comparison. Noodler's Lexington Gray ink laid down with a juicy fude nib has lots of bleed-through (where the ink actually soaks through to the back of the paper and sometimes to the sheet behind), so I made a sketch in each journal as a comparison of how the paper handles fountain pen ink.

Costco carries a three pack of Letterbox journals for $12.99 at selected times during the year. These are the journals I used for my first two years of bullet journaling. They have 80 sheets (160 pages) of cream colored, lined paper. I have a note that the weight is 80gsm, I'm not sure where I got that figure, but it is consistent with my experience with these books.

Things I like:

+Fountain pen friendly - Rarely bleed-through, and very little show-through (the writing is discernible as a shadow on the back side, but the ink does not soak through) with all my pens except the Sharpies.

+Paper color is not quite yellow, but not stark white. Colors show up well.

+10 inch by 7 inch hard cover that is sturdy enough to withstand eight months of daily use and traveling. The three packs are available with various bright covers, or dark shades. The books open flat.

+One ribbon book mark and a sturdy back pocket.

+Did I mention the price? $4.34 each. Unbeatable.

Reasons I have moved on:

-a little larger than is convenient to carry.

-dark lines are a distraction behind the sketches I like to include. I have checked the Spicebox website (where the price is considerably more than Costco) and there are no plain or dotted page options in these journals.

Letterbox journal sketch with Jinhao x750, fude nib.
Ink is Noodler's Lexington Gray. Hand 19.

Letterbox journal, back side of Hand 19.
 Some bleed-through visible.

Michael's craft store carries a line of Artist's Loft journals.

Things I like:

+Hard covers that open flat in several bright colors. The binding has held up well to daily carry for 3 months. Includes two ribbon bookmarks but no back pocket.

+true A5 size (8 x 6 inches)

+white paper available with dotted format. Said to be 80 gsm weight, but it does not perform as if the paper is that heavy.

+Only $5, a great price!

Reasons I am moving on:

-Not friendly to all fountain pens. Show-through and bleed-through with some inks.

-buckles and bleeds with even light washes.

-Platinum Carbon Black ink feathers and that is one of my main inks for bullet entries.

Artist's Loft journal paper.
Jinhao with fude nib
Noodler's Lexington Gray ink.
 Hand 17

Artist's Loft paper, back of
Hand 17. Heavy bleed-through. The ink
actually soaked into the second page.

Walmart stocks Exceed journals in two paper weights, soft and hard covers, and three sizes. In 2018 I bought a large format (7.5 x 9.75 inches), dotted (came also in lined format), softcover journal with one ribbon bookmark and a back pocket for $8.64. The paper is cream colored, 78 gsm with no coating. I use it as my pen and ink notebook. I see show-through and sometimes bleed-through with many fountain pens and inks, so I wouldn't consider it for most journaling or sketching. I generally only use one side of the page when I am using fountain pens, or I live with the show-through behind what I write on the back side of a page. Still, the paper handles fountain pens better than the Artist's Loft journal, with no feathering of Carbon Black ink.

Exceed 78gsm paper, Jinhao with fude nib.
Noodler's Lexington Gray ink. Hand 20

Exceed 78gsm, back of page
Hand 20 showing bleed-through.

In 2019, the paper was changed in Exceed journals. There are now three sizes available with 100gsm, coated paper. I have the new A5 journals which come with 120 sheets (240 pages), two ribbon bookmarks, hard covers, multiple cover colors and a back pocket. They do not lie quite as flat as the lighter paper version, but it is acceptable to me (although I do have to sometimes hold the page down as I sketch). The two smaller sizes cost less than $9, the larger size (soft cover) is around $13. The paper does not have bleed-through, and little show-through with the inks I use. Light, water washes result in a little buckling, but still no bleed-through. 

Exceed 100gsm paper; Jinhao with fude nib;
Noodler's Lexington Gray; Hand 18
No bleed-through or show-through on back

Exceed 100gsm paper; Platinum Carbon Desk Pen;
Platinum Carbon Black Ink; Wing Sung 6359 pen with
Diamine Chocolate Brown Ink; Faber-Castell watercolour pencils
with water wash.

Exceed 100gsm paper. Back side of Butterfly entry. No bleed-through and very slight show-through
 of green leave wash on left.
Minimal buckling of paper.

In summary- for my usage preferences: 
Text journaling: Letterbox journals- good paper; acceptable for fountain pens; bargain price. 

Sketch journaling: Exceed 100gsm, A5 size, great paper; fountain pen friendly; accepts light water wash with minor buckling; reasonably priced.

Unacceptable for journaling (according to my usage): Artist's Loft journal; show-through with all my pens and inks except Pigma Microns; bleed-through and feathering with fountain pens; using a water wash makes for heavy bleed-through and buckling.