You like:

Quality paper, a reliable notebook with a simple design.

Choose:

Leuchtturm & Rhodia

Both Leuchtturm and Rhodia notebooks are fountain-pen friendly and super-stylish. Leuchtturm, as you may well know from reading this blog, is new on the scene here in the UK, and is proving incredibly popular with notebook-lovers around the country. As well as the traditional black, you can buy your Leuchtturm in an array of different colours and paper styles, so if you’re after great paper in a colourful cover, then Leuchtturm is the one for you.

Rhodia is instantly recognisable with its orange and black covers. Designed and created in France, the Rhodia range of notebooks are a good choice if you’re looking for a notebook with quality paper. Many of the Rhodia notebooks also have an inside pocket to store receipts, scrap paper and anything else you fancy in them.

You like:

Spiral bound notebooks

Choose:

Rhodia, Notes for my Daily Life, Whitelines or the Idea Log

Sometimes spiral bound notebooks are particularly useful, especially when it comes to list making or for me, using a notebook in the office. I have to have a spiral bound notebook in order to flick through the pages of work notes and lists more easily.

Marks Inc., from Japan, have designed a range of quirky and highly functional notebooks. In a variety of colours, the ‘Notes from my Daily Life’ notebooks contain 300 pages with a space at the top of each page to note the date and title.

Rhodia have a great range of spiral bound pads and notebooks in the classic orange and black colours. The collection also includes spiral bound notebooks with the spiral at the top. Again, perfectly functional and stylish.

Whitelines are probably the most “revolutionary” notebooks we stock, due to the amazing white lines (ha!). Designed by a Swedish designer (of course! Who else?!) , Whitelines notebooks have basically turned all the dark lines and squares in what would be a standard notebook, and turned them white, making writing, drawing and diagrams just pop out of the page. I do love them, and a Whitelines notebook is next on my wish list.

The Idea Log is a nifty notebook for all your ideas, with pages to jot down inspirations and the sources of those inspirations.  Then move on to the brainstorm pages.  And finally, the project pages, where your good ideas take shape.

You like:

Pretty, flowery notebooks

Choose:

Orla Kiely, Rosehip, Jill Bliss or Cavallini Butterfly Notebooks

Orla Kiely’s iconic and instantly recognisable designs have long been loved by the fashion world, and not long ago she launched her stationery line to include notebooks, magazine racks and storage boxes. The colours she uses are just lovely, and if you’re after a pretty looking notebook then I’m sure Orla will do it for you

The Rosehip notebooks are all made from recycled paper, and are all very pretty – they are soft backed and could fit in your handbag quite easily.

Jill Bliss is an Oregon-based illustrator and designer and her drawings are pretty, whimsical and really individual. The Succulent Eco Journal is also printed on 100% recycled paper with soy-based ink, so not only is it pretty, but eco-friendly too!

The Cavallini designs are collages taken from the Cavallini archive – they make lovely covers for the notebooks and this one in particular is perfect for flora and fauna enthusiats out there.

You like:

Animal designs on notebooks

Choose:

Woodland Bunny, Clear Skies Eco Journal, Matte Stephens Summer City & L’apres-midi Notebooks

All 4 of these notebooks feature animal themes, and there are many more on our site. Most of them are quite new in, and are great as everyday notebooks as well as for writing and doodling. The ones shown above are all lined, except for the Woodland Bunny journal which has decorated, plain pages.

Susie Ghahremani, the designer of the Clear Skies Eco Journal, is a US-based illustrator and her designs have been incredibly popular. It must be the cute squirrels and owls that she illustrates! Look out for a feature on Susie in the near future

Matte Stephens is another US-based designer, and his illustrations and designs often feature cityscapes and animals – especially cats!

You like:

Pocket notebooks

Choose:

Bamboo Pocket, Cavallini Typewriter, Orla Kiely and teNeues

Most of our main notebook ranges come in pocket sizes (think Leuchtturm, Moleskine, Whitelines, and Rhodia etc.) but here are some others just to get you going

The Bamboo Pocket Notebooks are a set of 4 soft back notebooks with plain paper – perfect for carrying around for those impromptu moments of inspiration!

The teNeues collection of notebooks are unique in that they have both plain and lined pages – doodles on one side, lists on the other!

If you’re still struggling with what to go with, the notebook section on our site is divided into sections for ‘ruled notebooks’, ‘blank notebooks’, ‘pocket notebooks’ and many more subcategories.

I hope you’ve found this post useful and it helps in some way to get the right notebook for you!

I think it’s great though that Bristol got onto the shortlist at all, when faced with such pedigree competition.  2011′s winner of the award was also chosen yesterday – Hamburg.  But here’s to Bristol going all out to win in 2012!