Anime and Mangas have been taking the world by storm! It is no surprise if you are one of the many Otakus out there who have their walls designed with anime posters, shelves filled with character figurines, sketchbooks containing the drawings of your favourite characters and your college bag filled with mangas instead of textbooks.
Ok, so for the last one, I do understand and share your passion;), however, don’t neglect your studies! The only thing now left is owning an anime journal. What is that? Don’t worry, I will save you the trouble of googling it cause this is what this post is about—ever seen these?
These beautiful, aesthetic and pleasing journals that you can find on various youtube channels and in Pinterest images. Anime journaling is basically a hobby where you create designs, articulate your thoughts on your favourite anime or anime characters, and write them down.
That is what I do too. Yep, I create those too! So now you know that this post is coming to you from your fellow mate 🙂
It is like journaling, however, dedicated to those characters. It is an enjoyable hobby that people who feel really passionate commit themselves too! When writing about your favourite character, it could also be a critical approach, something that you observed about their personality or something that you admire about them that you jot down, kind of like a character sketch!
Now the central question is how to create an anime journal. We are going to address that just now.
Image by Spicy Turffel on Depositphotos
1. How to Maintain an Anime Journal?
The most recurring questions are “Is there a need for a lot of stationery stuff like stickers, sparkles, sketch pens etc. to start?” or “Am I artistic enough for it?”. To these questions, the answer is that anybody can do it, it is a hobby that one does for fun, they do it cause it makes them smile and happy and no you don’t need all that stuff to get started.
You can literally just start with a few colour pens and sketch pens and a journal. You can draw the characters and remember that your drawing doesn’t have to be God-level. Just doodle with your colour pens, use appropriate colour combinations and you have an aesthetic journal right there too!
Don’t miss out here to know more exciting tips and ways to create your journal.
2. Stuff Needed When Making an Anime Journal!
Now coming for those who aspire to create Pinterest-level anime journals. Hmm, you now might need some stuff! Don’t be daunted though, you don’t need to get all that is listed here. These are just suggestions, at last it is your creativity that will define your journal.
Choose what fits your style! You can also check out this stationery haul to get an idea.
2.1. Stickers
The most important ones are definitely stickers! If you look at all those Pinterest images, you find that they all contain stickers to make the journal look pleasing. You can find those stickers on Etsy, Amazon or other online sites. There are stickers of anime characters, Japanese sceneries and other non-related stickers that fit the particular colour scheme and theme.
There also come some mini label makers and sticker printing machines that you can use to immediately print your stickers out. It is an expensive investment in the beginning but if you see yourself doing this hobby for a long time, then in the long run, you can save a lot of money over restocking stickers.
2.2. Tapes
Washi tapes are also go-to. Particularly in journals, more than glittery decorative tapes, it is those tapes with subtle aesthetic designs that shine. They can be used to demarcate, separate pictures or just be there to look artistic.
2.3. Polaroid Images
Polaroid images in particular exponentially add to the journal as they are small and compact enough to easily fit inside and also because they give a clean look to the spread.
2.4. Sticky Notes
Other than the traditional fluorescent colours, sticky notes come in various other colours and sizes with cute designs and patterns on them. They exponentially add to the look of the journal. You can also use the small, thin rectangular-shaped ones as a bookmark for your journal.
2.5. Designer Sheets
One might prefer to write on them and then paste them inside the journal. You can also use simple colour sheets for the same too. It all mainly depends on your style and theme.
3. Beneficial Tips for Your Anime Journal
3.1. Placement
The most important thing to take care of is the placement. If you would watch youtube videos of people creating their journals you would realise, that most of the time they just paste stuff. Be it their stickers, their printouts, sheets anything.
It is important to paste them in a symmetry which gives a sense of alignment and looks pleasing to the eye instead of just haphazardly pasting them. Observe more journals and you will understand better.
3.2. Collage
There are numerous ways to design your journal. One such is creating a collage using pictures and printouts from the same anime or pictures with the same visual appeal and colour schemes.
3.3. Waterfall Cards
These are popular themes for anime journals. They are simple to create and look really artistic. You can find numerous tutorials of them online.
3.4. Pop-up Effect
Needless to say, the pop-up effect brings that 3D look to your journal which makes it more creative and gives it a more vibrant look.
3.5. Speech Bubbles
They add vibrancy to your journal and work really well with anime stickers.
3.6. Budget
It’s important you do things under your budget cause, believe it or not, buying stationery can get expensive. As mentioned above, anime journalling is one of my hobbies and one trick that I do is that I use my old novels’ pages to give an ancient look to my journal. I tear them and paste them into my journal, adjusting them to the theme.
I cut clippings from my old stocked novels and storybooks. Anything that I find aesthetic and matching, I cut and paste. You don’t really have to buy a lot of miscellaneous stuff instead make creative use of the resources you already possess.
Final Note
Anime journalling is a fun and really rewarding hobby. You can create your designs and then share them online on the Instagram app through your account, Youtube, Pinterest, Tumblr or any other social media.
I hope this post helped to get you a clear understanding of where to start and what to look for. If you enjoyed reading this post, then make sure to check out other similar posts on IcyTales. Take care until next time ^^.
Last Updated on by Himani Rawat
