As someone who follows numerous BuJo instagram accounts and is a member of a million bullet journaling groups, I feel like I have a very good grasp of what people in the BuJo community like and dislike. And one thing a huge majority of people are fans of is the LT1917.
There's the odd Moleskine or "just a normal notebook" lover, or, the very odd teNeues Green Journal lover (that's me), but I feel like everyone has felt the pressure to want the famous LT. Well, I gave in, and went out of my way to get my hands on an emerald LT Bullet Journal. Now, I can't really say what any other of their notebooks are like, and I am pretty sure that if I got a "normal" version of it, I wouldn't have as many comments, but, all the same, this is their most popular piece and the one everyone uses, recommends and praises oh so highly.
At first glance, it looks pretty good, the cover is great quality and the colors are nice and bright, and I like the fact that the cover is (besides a "bullet journal" imprint) completely plain and 100% customizable. That's the whole point of bullet journaling, right? Make it yourself so that it fits your style and what you need. Unfortunately, the cover is where that policy ends in the LT1917 BuJo.
On the inside of the cover, the first thing you see is a premade key. Now this got me especially mad, because not only did it not leave it to me to make my own key page however I want it to look, it also assumes that I want to use the system they shove down my throat. Sorry, LT, I don't use your dots and arrows, I have my own system, and I definitely don't want it sitting at the bottom of the page under your "required" key segments.
And if that wasn't bad enough, the very next page is - TIPS. Seriously?? Tips?!
Now I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea, this might be okay for some beginners, someone who is now for the first time diving into the wonderful world of BuJoing, but I don't know a single self-respecting BuJo veteran who would ever stand to use a notebook full of premade tips. Again, if I had this when I was first starting out a few years ago, I maybe would have liked it, but I feel like it kills the entire creative side of bullet journaling.
LT continues its assault on your freedom of creativity by demanding you to have an index (which works for me, personally, but I know many people who don't like using an index) and then also writes down in it your future log and the tips that are at the end of the notebook (Yes, there are more tips at the end, 8 pages full of them. And yes, they wrote "future log 1-4" and right under it "instructions 241-248", and I know a lot more than a few people who would have a problem with that).
Speaking of a future log, they took the liberty to title 4 full pages as a "future log". Because apparently that's something that everyone is required to do.
Now I'm not made of stone and of course there were some positive sides to this notebook:
The dot grid is excellent. It has very good spacing, the dots are just the right opacity and the lines are consistent throughout.
All the pages are numbered, which is always a HUGE plus in my book.
It has three pagemarkers, for easy organization and I already gave my love to the cover.
But that's about all the things I like about it. The pages are a thousand times thiner than what I expected (and that I'm used to, since my green journal has amazing pages) and they don't have the perforated pages in the back (which I expected, and know some other LT notebooks have)
To sum it up: This is a beginners BuJo notebook, and I think while it may be good at explaining what a bullet journal is, I very strongly believe that that is not the right way to teach someone bullet journaling. I think that there is a limited number of people who like to use the "standard" bullet journaling method, without adapting it, and this can be great for them, but I think for $21 that this notebook costs, it's a huge investment for a beginner and it doesn't conform to a veteran.
Soooo.... What am I going to do with it?
I might give it away to someone who I think will find it helpful, or I'm going to cut out or glue together the pages that bother me (the key, future log, tips, etc) and just use it as a plain old notebook like any other. Let no notebook got to waste!
But as far as my BuJoing goes, for now and the foreseeable future, I am going to stick with my green journal, because it has all the things that I need, without limiting my creativity.
Sorry Leuchttrum, I was disappointed.
Cicmila
There's the odd Moleskine or "just a normal notebook" lover, or, the very odd teNeues Green Journal lover (that's me), but I feel like everyone has felt the pressure to want the famous LT. Well, I gave in, and went out of my way to get my hands on an emerald LT Bullet Journal. Now, I can't really say what any other of their notebooks are like, and I am pretty sure that if I got a "normal" version of it, I wouldn't have as many comments, but, all the same, this is their most popular piece and the one everyone uses, recommends and praises oh so highly.
At first glance, it looks pretty good, the cover is great quality and the colors are nice and bright, and I like the fact that the cover is (besides a "bullet journal" imprint) completely plain and 100% customizable. That's the whole point of bullet journaling, right? Make it yourself so that it fits your style and what you need. Unfortunately, the cover is where that policy ends in the LT1917 BuJo.
On the inside of the cover, the first thing you see is a premade key. Now this got me especially mad, because not only did it not leave it to me to make my own key page however I want it to look, it also assumes that I want to use the system they shove down my throat. Sorry, LT, I don't use your dots and arrows, I have my own system, and I definitely don't want it sitting at the bottom of the page under your "required" key segments.
And if that wasn't bad enough, the very next page is - TIPS. Seriously?? Tips?!
Now I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea, this might be okay for some beginners, someone who is now for the first time diving into the wonderful world of BuJoing, but I don't know a single self-respecting BuJo veteran who would ever stand to use a notebook full of premade tips. Again, if I had this when I was first starting out a few years ago, I maybe would have liked it, but I feel like it kills the entire creative side of bullet journaling.
LT continues its assault on your freedom of creativity by demanding you to have an index (which works for me, personally, but I know many people who don't like using an index) and then also writes down in it your future log and the tips that are at the end of the notebook (Yes, there are more tips at the end, 8 pages full of them. And yes, they wrote "future log 1-4" and right under it "instructions 241-248", and I know a lot more than a few people who would have a problem with that).
Speaking of a future log, they took the liberty to title 4 full pages as a "future log". Because apparently that's something that everyone is required to do.
Now I'm not made of stone and of course there were some positive sides to this notebook:
The dot grid is excellent. It has very good spacing, the dots are just the right opacity and the lines are consistent throughout.
All the pages are numbered, which is always a HUGE plus in my book.
It has three pagemarkers, for easy organization and I already gave my love to the cover.
But that's about all the things I like about it. The pages are a thousand times thiner than what I expected (and that I'm used to, since my green journal has amazing pages) and they don't have the perforated pages in the back (which I expected, and know some other LT notebooks have)
To sum it up: This is a beginners BuJo notebook, and I think while it may be good at explaining what a bullet journal is, I very strongly believe that that is not the right way to teach someone bullet journaling. I think that there is a limited number of people who like to use the "standard" bullet journaling method, without adapting it, and this can be great for them, but I think for $21 that this notebook costs, it's a huge investment for a beginner and it doesn't conform to a veteran.
Soooo.... What am I going to do with it?
I might give it away to someone who I think will find it helpful, or I'm going to cut out or glue together the pages that bother me (the key, future log, tips, etc) and just use it as a plain old notebook like any other. Let no notebook got to waste!
But as far as my BuJoing goes, for now and the foreseeable future, I am going to stick with my green journal, because it has all the things that I need, without limiting my creativity.
Sorry Leuchttrum, I was disappointed.
Cicmila
