Everything You Need to Know About Dingbats Notebooks
One brand that is getting increasingly popular in our store is Dingbats, and for good reason! Many notebook brands claim to be vegan, but Dingbats is the only brand currently in the whole world to actually be certified. The brand has their certification from the EU V-Label, and even the adhesives don’t use any animal products.
The Great Barrier Reef Earth collection notebook is pictured here with an open Glicine Arctic Earth collection notebook, a Kaweco Al-Sport in Gold, and a Kaweco Skyline Sport in Mint.
On top of being vegan, Dingbats is committed to sustainability, which is something that we also find super important at Phidon. All of the Dingbats notebooks are 100% recyclable, and the covers are entirely biodegradable. The only plastic you’ll find with these notebooks is the protective wrap that they come in, which the brand is looking to replace with a 100% post-consumer recycled alternative in the future. Even the current plastic is well thought out for materials that can be recycled in some parts of the world, including the United Kingdom.
Dingbats is based out of the United Kingdom, and the paper is made in the oldest established business in Lebanon. Paper is a family business, as the creator of Dingbats is the great-great-grandchild of the gentleman who started one of the first Lebanese paper shops — that very same shop where the paper is made today!
There are so many great features of the Dingbats notebooks that we think you should know about. Though there are two separate collections with their own unique characteristics, all of the notebooks do have some key properties in common. Firstly, both collections are Forest Stewardship Council certified, meaning that they contribute to sustainable, responsible paper development. This label also guarantees that every tree that is taken to make a Dingbats notebook is replaced and allowed to grow naturally.
The paper on all of the notebooks is cream in colour and has a 100gsm weight, one of the higher gsm notebooks we carry in the store. The pages are coated, making them fountain pen friendly with no bleed and minimal ghosting with the average pen. They’re excellent with brush markers, especially the Dingbats Atopens, and feathering with any medium is very minimal, if any. We’ve even tried them with watercolours and they hold up well, just don’t put gobs of water on them like you would on watercolour paper!
Each notebook comes with a built-in pen loop and a matching elastic to keep your notebook closed. They all have a pocket in the back for storage as well. However, depending on which specific notebook you’re looking into, there are some key differences.
The Wildlife Collection
A Wildlife collection notebook, “Naila” the grey elephant, pictured with a Diplomat Esteem in Lapis Black, Pilot Metropolitan in Houndstooth, Diamine Anniversary Silver Fox ink bottle, and a Lamy Crystal Agate ink bottle.
The Wildlife notebooks come in a variety of sizes and page styles. You can choose between A6+, A5+, and A4+, and from dotted, grid, lined, or blank pages. The most popular options are the A5+ in dotted and lined, which is a little wider than your standard A5 journal.
Each colour of notebook in the wildlife collection has a corresponding animal debossed on the cover. For instance, the purple notebooks will always have a hippo and the brown notebooks will always have a bear. The animals have even been named by Dingbats fans online, like Oscar the blue whale!
We often recommend Wildlife collection notebooks for workbooks and recipe books because every single page is micro-perforated. It should be noted, however, that you actually have to try to rip the pages out. They’re not just going to fall out like some other brands with perforation! You’d never know that you could rip the pages out unless you actually tried.
The Wildlife line also lies flat, making them perfect for jotting a fast note. A lot of vegan leather notebooks feel a bit plastic to the touch, as many are actually made from plastic, but Dingbats has texture and even a bit of give when you hold it nicely. The Wildlife collection’s covers are especially textured and easy to hold.
The Earth Collection
The Glicine Arctic Earth collection notebook, pictured with Colorverse Brunch Date ink bottle, and the TWSBI Eco in Mint Blue and White and Rose Gold.
Like the Wildlife collection, the Earth collection features coated cream pages with 100gsm paper. However, the Earth notebooks have quite a few features that the Wildlife collection don’t. The Earth collection is specifically designed for bullet planning, so it has more features to help you get started.
The Earth notebooks are exclusively in dot grid, and they only come in an A5+ size. The pages are numbered, and there is an index at the front, as well as specially designed key pages and future log pages. Only the last eight sheets are perforated, and there are two bookmarks instead of one.
The faux leather on the Earth collection notebooks is a bit less textured and pronounced than on the Wildlife notebooks, but it is still soft with a little give when you hold it firmly. The Earth notebook comes in four colours with matching ecosystems: Lime Yasuni, Sky Blue Great Barrier Reef, Tangerine Serengeti, and Glicine Arctic. The Arctic notebook is the newest edition to the lineup, and it features a polar bear and a narwhal debossed on the cover.
One of our favourite features of the Earth collection notebooks is the inside front cover. Before you even get started on the index, there is a detailed infographics spread explaining the ecosystem that you’ve chosen to support with the purchase of your notebook. This includes key facts and how to protect the ecosystem for the future.
What’s your favourite feature of the Dingbats notebooks? Let us know in the comments, and happy writing!