Customised off-the-shelf journal

Whether making a book from scratch or customising an off-the-shelf journal like this one, the key thing for me is 'functionality'. A principle I apply to everything I do. This journal ticks all the boxes in terms of functionality and aesthetics, which means there wasn't much to change.

Then, I had a funny thought. What if someone has the same journal as me and we happen to be using our journals in the same space, at the same time. How would we tell our journals apart? The answer was simple, 'customisation'. So, I customised the journal with minimal change to its aesthetics, since the aesthetics was what drew me to the journal in the first place.

All the journal needed was a personal stamp, to make it unique and easily identifiable. For this, I used some wooden lettering, masking tape, black acrylic ink, and a sponge. That was it. I’ve posted the before and after video of the journal below, to show you don’t need much to personalise your book or journal.