You can decorate the first page of a notebook to use as your cover page or draw directly onto the outside of the notebook. If you decide to decorate the first page, it may be helpful to color-coordinate your notebooks so that you know which subject goes with each color. Designing your cover page on a computer will be easiest if you use a 3-ring binder since the printed cover page can slip directly into the front of the binder.

Make sure you’re also stocked on notebook paper if you’re using a 3-ring binder so you’ll be ready to go once your cover page is done.

Listing your homeroom teacher or locker number will help other students return a lost notebook.

Use drawings and pictures that fit with the subject of your notebook to give your studies a visual element. If you’re designing a notebook for your chemistry class, for instance, sketch a few beakers and flasks or a microscope to go along with the chemistry motif. As long as it’s not against the rules, you could even write down formulas or other useful tips on your notebook cover to help you remember them. Putting the Pythagorean theorem on a math notebook, for instance, will aid you in learning the theorem so that it’s instantly recognizable to you.

Use your own supplies, or see about borrowing them from your school’s art class.

Use foam craft letters for a cool new way to display your name on your notebook.

Be careful while gluing decorations onto your notebook and make sure you only use as much as you need. Otherwise the glue can bleed through and make the paper soggy, or you might even accidentally glue pages together. [7] X Research source

Word processors make it easy to format text the way you want it and add pictures to go with it, while one advantage of photo editing programs is that they give you greater control over how to alter pictures and let you drag, layer and angle bits of text for better customization. You don’t have to limit yourself to just one method—try designing a cover page with the necessary basic information on your computer, then printing it out and finish decorating it by hand.

Don’t use photos that are graphic or offensive. Remember, your notebook is part of your scholastic materials.

Fonts like Impact, Comic Sans and Wingdings come preloaded on most word processors programs and are more playful than ordinary professional fonts. If you enjoy writing creatively, challenge yourself by coming up with a personalized slogan to act as an introduction for what you’ll find in your notebook.

Taping or stapling around the edge of the cover page will hold it in place and allow it to be changed out at a later time with little difficulty, while glue will hold better but is messier to work with and isn’t easily removed. Be careful: watch your fingers while you’re stapling.