I’ve tried and tested a few different things in my 2018 bullet journal and today I thought I’d show you how I’ve reworked my monthly title pages. In previous years, I’ve never really bothered with title pages as such, but I’ve enjoyed being a bit more creative this year.
At the start of the year, I was keeping things simple. In January, I didn’t use a title page at all and opted for just drawing out a mini calendar plus a gym tracker. In February and March, I followed the same style I’d chosen for my overall 2018 title page, which I used as the base for all my layouts for the first half of the year. I liked the idea of having some hand lettering going on, and the simple dotted line was easy to achieve.
April was the first month I really experimented creatively with my title page. I felt like I needed to fill the gap on the right-hand page above the calendar, though in hindsight I definitely coloured it too dark. I loved the layout so much though, that I used it for the next three months too. You can find my April, May and June spreads on the blog, though had given up by July as I felt it was getting a bit same-y!
I started breaking away from the mould I’d created throughout the first half of the year in August. Instead of the calligraphy styled brush lettering I’d been using in previous months, I opted for a bold, blockier title and even drew a little sunshine doodle. It was still quite plain though, and I think that’s been my main struggle with my bullet journal since the beginning. I’m not massively into doodling, but I just felt like I was drawing out the same, boring page each month and wasn’t even using it that often.
September was a funny month. I think I drew this layout out quite late, and clearly rushed it as I ran out of room! I knew I was bored of drawing out calendar layouts but hadn’t quite decided what I wanted a new title page to offer, so this one was very purpose-led and not at all pretty.
October’s layout is one I still absolutely love. I spent ages drawing it out (I even re-did it after mis-measuring it twice on a previous page!) and I think it’s so fun and seasonal. It’s definitely not perfect, and in an ideal world I’d have drawn so many more cute doodles to completely fill the page, but I’m not great at drawing and didn’t want to ruin what I’d done.
November and December’s layouts mark the future of title pages for me. I think they’re the perfect balance of simple yet creative, and can easily be much more detailed if I want them to be. I found October’s layout quite time-consuming and whilst it was probably my favourite from the year, I just don’t have the time (or inspiration) to be drawing such detailed layouts each month!
That pretty much sums up my title pages for 2018. I’ve had a lot of fun experimenting this year but I can’t wait to be a bit more creative in 2019.
Which is your favourite layout?
