illo Sketchbook 8’’ x 8’’ Square Hardcover Sketch Book, (112lb/180gsm) Heavyweight Paper, Ribbon Marker, Back Pocket, Lays Flat, Minimal Bleed, Vegan, for Artists & Beginners

Really cool product. I'll buy again when I fill my most recent illo purchase, for sure! I very carefully and maybe somewhat deceptively give this inspired entry to the world of modern sketchbooks a healthy and well-wishing 5/5 (I love it!) while fairly offering the one notable caveat that bear some mention for current buyers -- its paper isn't acid-free. This ends up being problematic for anyone like me who is looking to recommend this as a material option in classroom situations where adhering to acid-free products and best material practices is an industry-must. Given how thoughtfully and considerately built the rest of this product is, I was fairly surprised by this reveal and had to double-check the item description to make sure I hadn't missed any details. That said, it *is* thoughtfully and considerately built a product with a cool future. The favorable characteristics do outweigh the caveat mentioned above for personal use and serve as an excellent base form for any point down the road that the product finds itself becoming more archival. For example, it's a lay-flat sketchbook, which is great! And this is something that isn't mentioned in the item's description but serves to set this book aside from a great many others in the same price bracket that cut corners while ignoring smarter binding methods. With this feature, you're able to transition from a 1:1 square surface to a 1:2 landscape format (or 2:1 portrait!) with ease, which is just great. Also, the cover is sleek and durable and what you'd expect from books ~$10 more in cost. The book has a nice weight while remaining being clever and compact. It shares many of the features one might be familiar with through competitors like Moleskine, Hand.book, etc. It has elegant papering and a space for contact information on the first insert page. There's a sturdy folder folio in the back. It has a bright electric blue marker ribbon. The presentation is smart and exacting. The branding is clean, clear, and concise. It's all really something. At the very least in my case, the product even shipped with a friendly, handwritten note. It's hard to ignore the charm and care taken, truly. The short of it is that this is a great product from a wonderful startup in Detroit with a caring product team, and I see them and it doing very well over time. I fully intend to dive right in to have some fun committing some 'illos' to the page. If you aren't particularly concerned about the archival quality of your surfaces yourself, you are absolutely good to go here, as there isn't much in this price bracket that competes with how net-complete this product ends up being for the overall cost. If not for its acidic quality, this is solid enough to be a fully greenlit material requirement for my level 200 classes. Even with that part of it being known, it's still great for a wide variety of applications and should be scooped up by anyone even remotely curious about it. This is a company to keep your eye on...

I’ve been drawing almost exclusively in sketchbooks for the better part of the last 8+ years, earlier this year i decided to try out this sketchbook and it has honestly been one of the best sketchbooks i’ve ever bought, the paper is extremely smooth without being slippery, the cover is durable with a nice thickness, the elastic holding it closed is extremely strong, i find it easy to travel with wether you’re taking it on a plane or just on a quick roadtrip, and the overall size of the sketchbook is extremely nice and i enjoy being able to draw on both sides of the same piece of paper without having marks, indents, and marker bleed, showing through. As for the materials you can use on it i find that pencils, colored pencils, ink, and paint/paint pens are extremely pleasing to uses on the paper but other materials also work extremely well. Overall an amazing sketchbook for any kind of artist i highly recommend!!!

This will be my third illo sketchbook since I started using them in 2019 and I absolutely love them. I have used both the 8x8 and the 10x10 and I found that both of them are good sizes but I think I prefer the 10x10! I believe the paper size itself is a pretty high gsm so the papers are thick and durable too. The texture of the paper is smooth and I really like drawing on it with mechanical pencils!! I've used plenty different mediums in these sketchbooks from ink, alcohol marker, to paint (and even face paint!) and there has never been bleed through other than the back side of the page that I was using (which i think is pretty typical) Both the books that are in the picture that I've used are super durable as I haven't been the kindest to them I normally just throw them in my bag and go. Also the one in the top left I've had since 2019 so six years and it's still in really good condition! This is the best sketchbook value for money that is out there you will absolutely not be changing my mind about that and I'll purchase again when I've finished my new one!

Hi this will be an IN DEPTH review :D The sketchbook shown in photos is the 10x10 illo, its been worked in since september 2022, and finished since march of 2024. It was my 17th sketchbook, im currently on 24, im an artist of 10+ years, so id say im experienced. illo is BY FAR the best brand i’ve tried, and ive tried strathmore, moleskin, leuchtturm1917 and other off brands. now onto the medium reviews WATERCOLOR AND GOUACHE - there’s minimal warping which i love, you can also tape off sections for borders and peel off fine, colors do NOT soak into the paper because the paper is hard press, so you really need to let them dry; i havent tried REALLY thick gouache, so be cautious with thick paints. ALCOHOL AND WATER BASED MARKERS - yes, alcohol markers bleed (water based do not) but out of all the sketchbooks ive used, illo bleeds the least. markers do not smear. BALL POINT PEN - this was my least favorite medium for this sketchbook. in the photo, it looks like i colored in the shirt, i did not. that color is from the pen bleeding over time. i did put clear tape over it, so im not sure if that makes a difference , but i didnt want to get ink on other drawings. PENCIL AND INKS - all pencils b-h work well, they do get smudgy when you go further up the b pencils (probably b6), other than that, theres minimal smudging unless purposely done. very minimal or no graphite residue transfers onto other pages. FOR INKS, i mainly use microns, zebra pens, and sometimes dip pens with ink: i have also used other brands with no smearing, but always check before working on something final; theres no smearing AS LONG AS THERES TIME TO DRY, dont put ink down and immediately do a smear test. COLOR PENCIL - i dont use this medium often, but from what i have done, it works fine. theres not a lot of texture, again because of hard press paper, but thats okay for me. WARPING - very minimal, ive done moderate taping , and little glueing/pasting, BUT i think if it was done more frequently it would be okay OVERALL: literally the best sketchbook ive ever used, the only thing that gets me is sometimes i get tired of the smooth hard press paper, and depending on the size you get, it can be hard to travel with. they mainly advertise square sketchbooks, but if you go to their website, you could find other sizes and orientations as well as types of paper (water color, cold press, etc) yea i love illo🫶

This is now my 3rd Illo sketchbook, and I love it! I have purchased both the 8x8 and 10x10 sizes, and both have performed wonderfully. Many book-bound sketchbooks I have owned fall apart pretty quickly, as I'm an active person and always carry my sketchbook in my bag. Both of my filled Illo sketchbooks still look nice, even after years of rough treatment and carrying them around. I love how they lay completely flat, just like a spiral bound sketchbook. It allows you to make big projects just on two pages, with how seamless it is when it lays flat. I am only taking one star off as the paper is not acid-free, which is an important aspect to me. This is not archival paper, so if you are using this sketchbook for more rendered, colored projects, make sure to take good pictures as the acid will start to eat at the ink and discolor it. But, in my opinion, this is a good trade off for the quality and durability of this sketchbook. It is also not super fantastic with colored pencils, as the paper is very smooth and does not have the tooth required to really capture the pigments from colored pencils. Also, this is not good watercolor or acrylic paper. You can maybe get away with acrylic paint if you do super super super thin watered down layers, but when I have tried, it's never been the best. I don't fault Illo for this at all, as this sketchbook is not advertised as watercolor-friendly. But for sketching, inking, and ink markers, this sketchbook is absolutely fantastic and I could not recommend it more.

Great sketchbook. The paper is very smooth and takes marker, colored pencil, graphite, and pens really well. Alcohol marker bleed-through is there but it’s not too bad, as compared to other papers such as Moleskine. The size and quality are great. This sketchbook gets me really excited to make art.

This sketchbook is the exact one that Drawingwiffwaffles uses on her YouTube channel, and I bought one several years ago, and I've never looked back. This is the BEST sketchbook for sketching, inking, and even works great with alcohol markers. It will last you for years, if you can manage to not fill it up with high quality drawings after only a few months. The paper weight is perfect for pencil sketches, and it doesn't leave any granite residue for you to smudge later. I also love the ribbon it comes with, which makes it easy to go back and find the page I left off at. I hope this sketchbook never goes out of stock, because I will be buying it until I can't draw anymore.

Every artist is different but I personally love how flat the sketchbook lays, the shape and paper durability. The paper texture is smooth so it’s good for alcohol markers, acrylic paint markers and color pencil. I will admit bc of the paper being so smooth graphite can smudge easily but that isn’t an issue (for me). Markers do tend to bleed through the paper but only to the back side a little. Overall it’s durable and good quality in my opinion .

Such a good quality sketchbook !

Markers like copics will bleed through one side as expected but don’t really go further through. Lead doesn’t smudge onto the other page side easily.

Good quality, smooth paper. The paper is thick and holds different media very well.

This sketchbook started out amazing. The paper is great, handles and holds watercolour and marker very well. The paper quality was stiff, and nicely textured for watercolour. But I only got 4 pages into it and the binding completely came apart. Haven't even had a chance to take it out to draw/paint anywhere yet, was just using it on my desk. Completely disappointed with the build quality of this sketchbook as it came apart just after I started using it.

Been waiting a long time to get one of these and Im soo happy with it!