Must Have Stationery Supplies For Note Taking

Must have stationery supplies for note taking include pastel highlighters, good quality black gel pens, brush pens for calligraphy style titles, a set of colourful gel pens for writing key words and underlining important information, a metal ruler to help you keep your lines nice and neat and some cute washi tapes.

1. Pastel Highlighters

If you have seen any photo of aesthetic notes on Pinterest or Tumblr you would have noticed that they all have beautiful pastel colour schemes throughout the pages. That is why a set of pastel highlighters is a must have stationery supply for note taking. My favourite highlighters for note taking are either Zebra Mildliners (I’m sure you’ve heard of them – they are literally in every flat lay photo) or the Stabilo Boss pastel range.

Zebra Mildliners

Specifications:

• Ink Colours: 15 assorted colours
• Size: thick & thin tips
• Price: Find Out The Current Price On Amazon Here

Stabilo Boss Pastel Highlighter Range

Specifications:

• Ink Colours: 6 colours
• Size: 5mm tip
• Price: Find Out The Current Price On Amazon Here

2. Good Quality Black Gel Pens

The arguably most essential note taking supply is a good quality black (or blue if you prefer) ink pen. I love to use gel pens when I’m note taking as they allow for the best user experience. My favourite brands would either be the Muji gel ink pens or Pentel Energel pens. I have had a good experience with both of these types of pens. The ink runs smoothly onto the page and it dried relatively quickly as well – smudged pen is the absolute worst when taking notes!

My number one tip if you do have issues with pens smudging and ruining your aesthetic notes, specifically when using a highlighter, is to highlight before writing. Estimate how long a word will be along your page, highlight that section, wait a few seconds for it to dry and then write over the top. This also preserves your highlighters from getting black ink stains on them!

Muji 0.38mm Gel Ink Ball Pens

Specifications:

• Ink Colours: black
• Size: 0.38mm
• Price: Find Out The Current Price On Amazon Here

Pentel EnerGel 0.5mm Pen

Specifications:

• Ink Colours: black, blue, violet, pink
• Size: 0.5mm, 0.7mm
• Price: Find Out The Current Price On Amazon Here

3. Brush Pens For Aesthetic Headers

The third most important piece of stationery you need to take pretty notes is a set of brush pens so you can do some nice calligraphy headers. I love the mint green header in the image below and how they have outlined their headers with a thin tip gel pen. You could do something similar for your own notes. In the image below they have used a mint green tombow dual tip brush pen. But there are many other brands and types of brush pens that work just as well.

TomBow Dual Brush Pens – Pastel Range

Specifications:

• Ink Colours: 9 colours + blending brush
• Types: Brush tip and fine tip
• Price: Find Out The Current Price On Amazon Here

GC 100 Dual Tip Brush Pen Marker Set

Specifications:

• Ink Colours: 100 colours
• Types & Sizes: Brush tip (2mm) and fine tip (0.4mm)
• Price: Find Out The Current Price On Amazon Here

Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen 3 Type Set (Hard Brush Soft Brush & Dual Brush)

Specifications:

• Ink Colours: Black
• Types: Hard tip, soft tip, dual tip
• Price: Find Out The Current Price On Amazon Here

4. A Set Of Colourful Gel Pens

Another must have stationery supply is a set of colourful gel pens. I like to use colour pens that align with my colour scheme for my notes. With these pens I might write keywords, definitions or underline sections of my work.

Sarasa Clip Assorted Gel Pens – Milky Range

Specifications:

• Ink Colours: 8 colours
• Size 0.5mm
• Price: Find Out The Current Price On Amazon Here

BIC Gel-ocity Quick Dry – Bright Colours Range

Specifications:

• Ink Colours: 8 colours in the 24 pack (3 of each colour)
• Size 0.7mm
• Other: Smear free/Quick drying
• Price: Find Out The Current Price On Amazon Here

5. A 15cm Metal Ruler

When I take aesthetic notes I like to use a ruler to underline words to make my notes as neat as possible. Personally, I like to use a 15cm metal ruler as it can easily fit inside my pencil case. I also prefer metal rulers over plastic ones as they are better quality, the marking don’t rub off and they are very unlikely to break.

Black Stainless Steel Ruler With Centimetres & Inches

Specifications:

• Colours: Black, silver, pink or blue
• Size 15cm/6 inches
• Price: Find Out The Current Price On Amazon Here

You might also be interested in the 8 cutest pencil cases for back to school!

6. Cornell Note Taking Printable Sheets

A printable Cornell note taking template is a printable PDF featuring a note taking box that is either blank, lined or grid with a revision column on the left and a summary box at the bottom of the page. It is used by students who want to create organised, neat and effective notes to help them succeed in their studies by encouraging them to create succinct notes and then to revise them with active recall methods. 

You can find out more about the Cornell note taking printable sheets by reading this article here!

7. Some Cute Washi Tapes

If you really want to spice up your notes, I highly recommend that you start using washi tape. Washi tape is definitely not a must for note taking however it can add extra colour and texture to your notes that you wouldn’t have achieved otherwise. You can use it to underline headings and titles or wrap it around the edges of your paper to create a colour coding system for your notes.

PuTwo Washi Tape – 20 8mm Rolls Pastel Washi Tape Set

Find Out The Current Price On Amazon Here

8 Rolls Washi Tape Set – Blue

Find Out The Current Price On Amazon Here

Before You Go!

You Might Be Interested In Learning About The Best Note Taking Techniques

• The 5 Best Note Taking Strategies
• The Ultimate Guide To Taking & Studying Cornell Notes
• How To Take Aesthetic Notes On Your iPad