Monthly Bullet Journal: Design Your Own Template on Procreate

1. Introduction: [MUSIC] Hi, I'm Elaine Vitikainen. I'm an illustrator and an entrepreneur from Helsinki. I have been journaling for many years now. For those who have been journaling, you know how it feels. Being able to plan the days, the weeks, and the months is so satisfying and also designing our journals is really fun. However, last year I decided to try journaling on my iPad using the Procreate app. And I fell in love with the process. Just because I can plan the entire setup, add digital stickers, and washi tapes that I've created. I can move things around. I can also easily correct my writing mistakes and even more, I can rearrange the page by the end of the month to however I like. But then this year I thought, how about combining these two together? I can create templates on my iPad, print them out, then journal on paper. I also wanted to have a more coherent theme and color palette. So I created templates for the whole year. But of course, I can continue working on my iPad and print it out by the end of the month. That way, I can rearrange when I have to, maybe even add a photo of the month or just to make the setup more put together. This class is for anyone who would like to design a monthly bullet journal template on Procreate. Once you have learned the skill on how to design this template, you will be able to create a unique template that fits your needs. You can include all the elements that you like to make it your very own. For the class project, we will take the time to think about the elements that we would like to include in our template. We will create these elements and then we will combine them together to create a monthly bullet journal template. This template can be used digitally or it can be printed out to journal on paper. I really hope that I will see you in class. [MUSIC] 2. Class Project: [MUSIC] For the class project, first, we will take the time to think about the elements we want to include in our template. For example, the name of the month, a small calendar, and the different sections. We will create these elements, then combine them together into a monthly bullet journal template. To help you get started, I'm sharing with you some of my stamp brushes, the link to the fonts that I've created, a font with all the months of the year, and a yearly calendar. You can find all of this in the class resources section. Please don't forget to share your progress and the journal templates in the project gallery section. For the next lesson, we will think about the elements we want to include in our template. 3. Journal Elements: [MUSIC] Before we dive into designing a bullet journal template, it's important to consider three things: the size of our journal, the color palette, and the sections to include. For my basic design, I will include the name of the month, a monthly calendar, and a section for the following: focus, task, ideas, wishes, wise words, thankful thoughts, monthly rating, and reward. I've also created a simple color palette that I will use for my template. Now let's take the time to think about what you would like to include in your bullet journal. What sections would be helpful for you? What is the size of your journal? What is the color palette? For the next lesson, we will start creating these journal elements. [MUSIC] 4. Creating Journal Elements: [MUSIC] Now it's time to gather the elements for our template but first, let's create our canvas. For my Canvas, I'll be using an A5-sized journal, which is the most common journal size. Let's open Procreate. Hit the plus sign and let's create our canvas. I will set it at 2,480 pixels by 1,748 pixels at 300 DPI for a good quality printing. Hit create. This canvas will be two pages that we fold when printed out. As a digital journal, this gives us a full view of the entire month. But let's leave it as it is for now. First, let me show you how to use the file with the names of the months. Download the file from the class resources section, click Actions, then Add. This will depend where you save the file. For me, I save it in my photo gallery, so I will insert a photo. Once I have the file, I will choose the selection tool, Freehand, and we'll start cutting the month that I will use. For my case, I'll be working on the month of April. [MUSIC] Swipe three fingers and the Copy and Paste panel will appear. Then choose Cut and Paste. Now you have the month of April in another layer ready to be used. Let's do the same for the calendar. You can also do the cut and paste method for this, but for me, the easiest is to move this file to the corner to cut out what I don't need. [MUSIC] Now the April calendar is ready to use. It's also important to prepare your color palette. I will be using a cherry blossom theme, as it is the month of April. I will now start writing the texts for my section. I will use a darker red for my texts. Let's go to Actions and Add Text. You can choose the font that you like. I will be using my own font called, Blue Hour font, and we'll start writing. Remember to always go to the action panel and add text so that each of your texts will be in a different layer. [MUSIC] 5. Creating More Journal Elements: [MUSIC] For the background shapes, I will be using a lighter color. I will be creating a square, a rectangle, a circle, and an oval. Let's create each shape in different layers. Let's also put the grid by clicking "Action" "Canvas" and activate the drawing guide. This will help us in creating the shapes. I will take the monoline pen from the calligraphy section in the brush library. I will start with a square. Remember that when you hold the pen in place, it will create a straight line. Check for gaps before dropping the color from the color palette. Add another layer to create another shape. [MUSIC] Let's also download the stamp brushes that I've created to decorate your journals. Let's see what they are by stamping them on different layers. [MUSIC] Now, we have all our elements. For the next lesson, we will be combining these elements together to design our monthly bullet journal template. 6. Placing Journal Elements Together: [MUSIC] Now it's time to put together the elements we've created. Let's open our canvas. Remember to mark the gutter so that if you will print this template, you will have the space for binding. Let me download my guide. [MUSIC] Now we are ready to put these elements together. As we put them together, remember that it's all about experimenting different placements and see how everything will go together. Don't forget to enjoy the process. [MUSIC] 7. Bonus: Making a Quick Stamp Brush : How to make a quick stamp brush on Procreate. First, draw a picture of what you want to make a stamp brush of. I drew this in a 15 by 15 inches canvas. It's important to draw it in black. We need to save this drawing with a transparent background, so I unchecked the background color. [MUSIC] Then go to the Action panel, share in JPEG to export it, and save the image. Let's put back the background color and uncheck the drawing. Now we choose where we want to make this brush stamp in the Brush Library. Hit the plus sign, and this will bring us to the Brush Studio to shape and edit. In the Shape Editor, import the photo and tap two fingers to remove the background. Then hit "Done". Let's go to the properties and choose the Use stamp preview. Hit "Done". But you can see that the stamp is quite small, so let's choose the brush again. In the Properties panel, change the brush behavior to the maximum size. So now we can go back to the brush. We can see that the brush size has changed. Let's go back to the brush to add information in About this brush panel. Let's write our name in the Made by section. [MUSIC] I'm also adding an image from my photos. Also, I would like to name this stamp brush. I'm calling it Plant. Let's hit "Done" and let's try our stamp in another layer. [MUSIC] There it is. I hope you enjoyed this quick guide. [MUSIC] 8. Thank You: [MUSIC] Thank you for joining me in this class. I hope you enjoy designing your bullet journal template by thinking about the elements that you like, creating these elements and putting them together into your unique template that you can call your very own. Now you can design more templates. Don't forget to post your progress and your template design in the project gallery section. Thanks again, and I hope to see you soon. Bye. [MUSIC]