How do you use a dot-grid layout?

How do you use a dot grid book? Fret not. Here’s 6 ways to use a dotted notebook, dot grid sketchbook or dotted journal:

1. As a daily journal

Now is the perfect time to start a daily diary. And a dot grid notebook is ideal. Record thoughts, impressions, memories and ideas  – whatever helps you to de-stress or process your day. Just use the horizontal dots the way you’d use lines in a ruled notebook. It may take a little practice, but you’ll get the hang of it after a line or two.

2. As a dot grid sketchbook

Dots can add an extra element of structure to your sketch practice. They can help with composition, as you’ll be able to better portion out the page for different parts of your drawing.

They can also lend a hand when it comes to perspective drawing and mapping out geometric forms like buildings and cityscapes.

Finally, you can use them to help you gauge proportions between different elements of your drawing. Say you’re drawing a group of people – if you can see that someone’s head is two dots high, you can use that two-dot measure for other people in the picture and keep everyone’s proportions the same.

3. For practicing calligraphy

If you’re into calligraphy, or if you fancy giving it a try, a dot grid journal is a great item to have in your kit.

Not only will a dotted ruling keep your lettering perfectly horizontal on the page, it also helps you to keep even spacing between letters and words, and to make sure your letter forms are consistent and beautifully even.

Unlike a lined pad, a dotted paper notebook’s ruling won’t cut through the downstrokes on under-hanging letters and create an unsightly interruption of your flowing script.

4. For doodles

Sometimes, you don’t want to create masterworks, or even finished drawings – you just want to let your pencil or pen go for a walk and see what happens. Doodling is a great stress-reliever and can help you through a creative block or a long meeting.

Using dotted paper gives you a framework to doodle on – try joining the dots in random ways, using them to make the corners of squares and rectangles, or turning each dot into the starting point for a repeat pattern or shape.

5. As a planner

Want to give your day some order? Use that helpful dot grid to create a weekly planner with boxes for each day, or a daily calendar that helps you stay on track of your tasks from morning to evening. Since you’ve got a whole dotted notebook to play with, you could keep things fresh by trying different layouts and structures each week. That’s a benefit you just don’t get with pre-printed planners.

6. For organized checklists

Got a to-do list to write out? Making a shopping list? Use the dots of your dotted page notebook to make four-cornered checkboxes for that authentic ‘tick off’ moment.

At Scholar, we have multiple types of products that feature dotted paper. Check out some of our offerings below for the dot grid enthusiasts.