Notebook Doodle Ideas: Simple Decorations for Any Page

A page of notes does not need much to look cared for. One banner at the top, a small drawing in a corner and a neat line between sections will do it, and none of that takes longer than writing the date. The notebook doodle ideas here are all decorations of that kind: small, quick and placed where they help.

The trick is restraint. Decoration works when it frames the writing and gets out of the way. So each idea below comes with a spot on the page where it belongs, and a simple way to draw it with whatever pen you are already holding.

Six places decoration helps

Most pages have the same few empty zones. Aim your doodles at those and the writing area stays clear.

You will rarely want all six at once. Three is usually plenty.

A ribbon banner for the header

A banner gives a title somewhere to sit. Draw it first and write inside it afterward, so the words fit the space.

1. Draw a long, flat rectangle across the top of the page, about two line spaces tall. Let the long sides bow upward slightly if you want it to look like cloth.
2. At the left end, start a little below the top edge and draw a short line going farther left. Do the same from just below the bottom edge.
3. Join those two short lines with a sideways V that points back toward the banner. That notch is the ribbon tail.
4. Connect the bottom corner of the rectangle to the tail with one short slanted line. It reads as a fold.
5. Repeat on the right end, mirrored.

For a faster header, skip the tails and draw the rectangle with a second line just under its bottom edge.

One corner, not four

Decorating a single corner looks deliberate. Decorating all four starts to crowd the page, and by then you are really drawing a frame; if a frame is what you want, the easy page borders are built for that.

For a leafy corner, pick the top right or bottom left. Draw a curved line that swings from the top edge around to the side edge, like a quarter circle hugging the corner. Along it, add small almond-shaped leaves, alternating left and right, each made of two curves that meet at a point. Make the leaves smaller toward both ends of the line and finish each end with three dots.

A flower corner is even quicker: place three tiny blooms in a loose triangle and tuck a leaf between each pair. Any of the tiny flower doodles will fit.

Something for the margin

The margin is free space, and a tall, narrow doodle suits it.

• Climbing vine. Draw one wavy line running up the margin. At the outside of every bend, add a short stem with an almond leaf on it, pointing away from the line. End the top with a small curl.
• Falling stars. Scatter five to seven stars down the margin in three sizes, with dots between them. The star and moon guide has five quick ways to draw them.
• Dotted trail. Draw a loose looping line of dashes from top to bottom and place a small heart or leaf at the end of it.

Bullet icons that sort your notes

Bullets are the one decoration that also does a job. Pick two or three and give each a meaning.

• Checkbox. Draw a small square one line space tall. To tick it, make a short stroke down and a longer stroke up that pokes out past the top right corner.
• Star. Draw three short lines crossing at one point, like an asterisk. Use it for anything important.
• Arrow. Draw a short flat line and add two tiny strokes at the tip, angled back. Use it for things moved to another day.
• Open circle. Draw a small ring for plain notes, and fill it in when the note is dealt with.

Keep every bullet the same size and line them up down the left edge. The neat column does more for the page than any single drawing.

Dividers and a closing doodle

When a page holds two topics, separate them with a line that has one small detail in it: a straight line with a leaf in the middle, or dashes with a dot between each. For more, the simple divider lines give you fifteen to choose from.

If the writing stops short of the bottom, close the page with one small doodle centered under the last line. A sprig, a single star or a tiny mug is enough. It turns leftover space into a finished page.

A decorated page in under five minutes

Here is a simple order that keeps things quick.

1. Choose one motif for the page, such as leaves, stars or flowers.
2. Draw the header banner, which takes about a minute.
3. Add one corner decoration using your motif.
4. Write your notes, using checkboxes or stars as bullets.
5. Draw a divider wherever the topic changes.
6. Go over the banner and one or two motifs with a single accent color.

One motif, one accent color

Pages look scattered when a leafy corner meets a starry margin, a heart divider and three highlighter colors. Pick one motif and repeat it in every spot: leaf corner, leaf vine, leaf divider. Then choose one accent color and use it in the same way each time, such as filling the banner and nothing else.

Change the motif when you turn the page, not halfway down it. A notebook with a leaf page, a star page and a flower page looks varied, while each page on its own still looks calm.