Great size for sketches and notes, big enough to be comfortable but not too big to fit in a backpack. 5 grid boxes are 1 inch, which is an appreciated detail. The included table of contents is nice, as well as reference pages with formulas and conversions. Gel pens don’t bleed through the paper, and highlighters are barely visible on the other side. Overall a great asset for the lab.

I love this notebook. The index and information pages at the beginning, in addition to the information at the back, comes into use daily and makes working in a lab so much easier. The index is per page, so you can write down what's on every page in your notebook at the beginning. There's even a page at the back for common abbreviations and other places where data is stored. This is great to have not only for yourself, but it makes it easy for others in my lab to access my data

I'm an engineer and I bought this after seeing a colleague using another Vela book and asking him what the brand was. I absolutely love it!! It's so beautiful, it inspires me to use it. The only issue I have is that the corners of the cover are very quickly peeling apart. It's a shame. I hope they can improve that one problem. I plan to use these to log my notes as long as I can buy them.

Good notebook.

The lab notebook is awesome and nicely laid out so you can organize it the way you want it, with numbered pages and even an index! However, a couple hours into using it for the first time and CRACK the binding detached from the front cover. It is still totally usable as the pages are still attached to the spine and aren't loose. It just has me worried about the rest of the life of this notebook, since I depend on it for a class. Also, the cover is very prone to fingerprints and oil stains.

Works well

The pages are neat and have everything I would want. It fits nicely in my leather journal cover. The binding upon appearance seems of a decent quality.

Best journal for studying. I have ordered several times and will order again.It has a softcover, index, bright white paper, numbered pages, no perforation, lays flat and thick paper. I liked that I could use my Pentel Energel .5 and .7, Tombow dual tip watercolor markers and Sharpies with no bleed. The paper does not pull, tear or ball with the watercolor dual tip markers.I can locate the page quickly using the index and notes stand out with my colors. I added color to the end of the index entry and colored the edge of paper and wrote index number on the color; and pages did not tear. I take notes quickly during my classes and don't really worry about the grid or if I am right on the line or not. I like the fact that I can switch back and forth with notes and mind maps or pictures. I have also turned it to create workflows and written narratives on back. This works great during class or meeting presentations.Some instructors don't like grid view for narratives (bummer) and so for those I use the compact ruled Vela along with this one and show the interdependence on the index. If your instructor wants homework turned in by assignment and does not want the journal each time try the spiral journal with lines on left and grid on right; but if they don't like the grid on the back then I'm out of options with Vela.I like the size because of this softcover 9 x 11.75 because I can insert handouts without folding the papers. It holds a lot of my handouts and I was able to lay the paper flat and scan image on my scanner for my study group who loved how colors stand out on bright white paper.The cover looks professional and I wipe it down to get any fingermarks off (I have used damp paper towel and baby wipes).I would love it if they made a soft cover 9 x 11.75 in ruled version and maybe even a spiral for homework situations I mentioned above. Would also love a soft cover 9 x 11.75 rotating ruled and grid version with an option of grid top and lined back or lined top and grid back; and maybe even a horizontal, perforated, spiral version.If the grid bothers you or if you need ruled for meetings there is a ruled compact journal with bright white paper and ruled blue lines with index and numbered pages, no bleed through; my Pentel Energel in all colors looks great and is writes smoothly. But you have to fold handouts to place them inside with your notes.If you are in designing meetings and prefer ruled lines for notes try the spiral notebook with ruled on left and grid on right with perforated pages. I compared the spiral Vela to the Mnemosyne 199 in a previous post. The cover of the 199 is easier to clean. Vela header takes less space on a page that is shorter than the 199. The paper of the 199 feels very smooth but is offwhite and Tombow and Sharpies bleed through. The Vela bright white color works better for me and does not bleed through. Also gives you the option of notes on left and grid on right for designing. Closer to full size so you can place handouts in the journal but a little edge sticks out and they will get bent. You can tear papers out and turn them in for those instructors that insist on this but then the page numbering is off. When I get the pages back, I put them in sleeves and into a binder (why sleeves the margin on the left too small for whole punching and some words get cut off).

Both of the Vela books that I purchased were great! I use these books for taking notes and doing some freehand sketching and they work perfectly for both. The paper quality is great for note taking or sketching and the lay-flat binding helps to make sure the book stays flat while writing. Price point was perfect for the quality of the notebook. Will definitely be buying these again!