2023 Inkwell Press Planner First Impressions & Review #inkwellpress

It's time for my 2023 Inkwell Press Planner First Impressions and review. Spoiler alert - I love the colors!

*this description includes affiliate links. If you use our links, we do get a small commission

[april_swingler]

Thank you so much for your video. I had an inkwell planner back in 2019 and I was considering getting INSERTS to make myself a book for journaling & notes. Lo and behold IWP did not make any video to SHOW ME THEIR PLANNER this year. I loved your walk-through and comparison of what changed. It was really helpful to help me decide NOT to buy even her month calendar pages because I never used all that extra stuff anyway.

[HaleyHinman]

I know this is an older video, but I just started missing IWP and thought I'd see what the latest was. I haven't used them in years but I loved the paper, and frankly I loved Tonya. When she discontinued the A5 inserts and quarterlies, I had to look elsewhere. I've considered revisiting, but the weird forced use of her system just turns me off. And now, the fact that the planners are more of an after thought makes me sad. I hope the change is serving the purpose in her life that she needed. Thanks for your honesty in this video!

[planningmyenergy]

Thank you so much for reviewing Inkwell. I have moved on to Makselife the last two years (and am staying) and although I have many covers and rings from Inkwell (that I hope to reuse at some point) it does feel good to see all of these details and know they aren't for me anymore. I agree with you on all the points you made and those color palettes are interesting but not in a good way. Why the pink? But glad the main colors are better than last year. Who knows what is going on there. I just hope there aren't too many changes for you guys to set up this year's stickers, although I buy up your old ones, especially vertical boxes, no matter if they hang over a bit or not. Will be assembling an order after the Makselife ships!

[lebostrom]

I've been using IWP Flex and I have to say, I like the changes, just received it today. I LOVE the new layout of the mission board and the & /habitat page opposite so I can sort of sum up the month at a glance. I also like the month calendar up front instead of behind the mission, and finally I LOVE the extra notes page of the heavy paper. In addition I love yellow and was sick of the purples and teals. So this IWP is a win in my view!

Tanya dropped her IG account so she was doing the videos for Blue Sky or whatever the CA company is. I bet it is a contractual obligation. I also wonder how much she actually does the design work anymore. Wouldn't it have been more of a feature on Tanya's website?

Thanks for your detailed review. I use IWP Flex and the Makse vertical. I'm the nerd who cannot get enough of goal stuff. 😁 So Makse is a big hit for my planning and tracking life! If I could have just one planner I would go with Makse, to be honest.

[kbKHRONICLESkb]

Love the video. I no longer use IWP but did for quite a bit. I agree with all of your comments. Still buy all the stickers just for Hobonichi…great to hear your voice. Miss discussing planners IRL…😘

[lindseyc]

I’m so glad you did a walk through! So disappointing that inkwell press has stopped putting effort into their launches. I miss your videos showing how you use your planner. I am currently using the makse but I find the goal planning too intense and don’t like having the extra bulk from so many extra pages. I’m thinking I’ll go iwp 2023 I just have to stop expecting them to care about the planners as much as they used to. 😢

[brittanykirkpatrick]

uuugGHH!! So first, THANK YOU for this video. I went during BF week thinking I needed to buy my 2023 planner, but then couldn't find any pics of what it looked like. I don't understand why she's not communicating about her product! I am really torn...I do actually love the system, but the updates seem really poorly thought out and the colors poorly picked. It doesn't look like the weekly spreads match the monthly pages at all. I hate the changes to the lines, font weights, and dimensions and completely agree with you about the headers. I also find that some months I don't need weekly spreads and some I do, so I experimented last(this) year with ordering a monthly and then ended up using my past years' weekly spreads which helped me get over some perfectionism about how I wanted to use my pages...I do really like them, but would frankly prefer undated weekly spreads that I can pull in when needed. That said, I was planning on getting the classic again this year, but now I'm not sure. I did really like the plan and focus page not being at the end of the weekly pages (because I bought a monthly this time) but now with what feels like the title page missing, I'm really disillusioned with IWP. I have already started remaking most of the accessory pages because the order feels disjointed to me and things like the perpetual calendar shouldn't be paired with the goals pages because there's no reason to rewrite all that for the next year and I would prefer to reuse those pages. All that to say, I've already been working on rearranging and remaking many pages for my own liking. I think I'm going to end up with a frankenstien planner...DIY annual & accessory pages, IWP monthly pages, DIY monthly cover pages (this change REALLY bothers me), and another brand (which I forget) that does a paid PDF of a similar weekly spread that's undated.

[anabs_wrenandrita]

Jess! So good to hear from you. Really love the olive green and yellow, but man, I think as long as that top portion of the page is a solid, it will keep me away. And that pink..yikes, great if you love pink, but I'm not a fan at all. I think I'm happy I didn't invest in inserts. I believe my inserts came in a USPS mailer last year as well. It's a far cry from what we were accustomed to.

[MarketingQueenVideos]

I'm still going Classic for probably one more year... Then home life is changing so I think I'll have to change my planner usage - who knows! I like the idea of the one midtone for minis and outlines for sure. Maybe the light light tone for things we write on. Can't wait to see what you come up with!

[mushkyzajac]

I am probably the odd one but the packaging doesn't bother me. I care for the actual product. I am very happy with some of the changes, but some of them are not good, in my opinion. This was a good review. Thanks!

[GG-tjwt]

Thank you for the review! I agree that the font is too small. I'm also not happy with the spec changes on the weekly pages. I dislike the narrower columns and the larger three blocks at the bottom. None of this works well for time blocking! On a good note, I really like the color variety this time and the movement of the mission board after the monthly calendar, which is more logical to me!

[katepearson]

I have ordered my IWP Flex, and it should be her in a day or too. I like the new colors, even the yellow which is not always my favorite, but it's different from the jewel tones of last year. Which felt a lot like the colors from the years before.

I'm torn when it comes to the all one color idea. Because I like contrast colors and use high contrast stickers. Although I use them with mutli-colors sticks which either makes the contrast better or worse depending on what your think about high contrast stickers. I also found by this fall I really missed the having more stick colors to choose from. At the same time the mid-tone is usually the KOPS sticker I use most. I just like variety.

[janablanco]

I used to love InkWell Press planners several years ago, but every year they make changes which makes me like their planners less and less. The color scheme is a big no go for me this year (I prefer cool tones), and the way they have the color on the pages, it's not possible to ignore. Also, the narrower columns are very disappointing. I've been using MakseLife and have really enjoyed it, so I'll for sure be doing that for next year as well. Thanks for this walk through! It was very helpful!

[prshrty_]

So I've been using Inkwell Press for years. It just has happened to be the most versatile for me and my needs. I bought it again this year expecting the same, and though I know that most of it hasn't changed the beginning of the months irritate me. I use dividers for each of my months and having a random note page be the opener for my month is something that I don't like and don't find inviting to start planning my month. Though the reminder to order a new year of inserts is nice as well. I find that extra page annoying, as if they are trying to hard now. Thankfully its an easy throwaway pageI'm still going to go ahead and use mine this upcoming year since the pages and the month layout hasn't really changed but I don't think I will continue to after this.

[blossomx]

It’s so interesting how IWP planners have stayed the same over the years. I used it one year for a few months but got tired of the monotony of the colors. It’s almost like she is afraid to change it up a bit more.

[planningwithjohn]

I used Inkwell Press one year. It was maybe 2015 or 2016. It was when they still had the A5 traveler's notebook inserts. I haven't used one since then. The font being so tiny would make it hard for me to read. I'd rather they leave out the holidays and include a list on a separate page.

[angelafasold]

I’m glad to be warned about the distribution change… I miss the energy around launch. I respect the decision for Tanya to chose what’s right for her, but the reduced Social Media presence has completely changed my connection and interest. I almost feel like a friend moved away.

Great review and comparison as always. I know I can rely on you for IWP and Makse. Definitely still ❤ the IWP paper. That didn’t change did it?

[reallyfijateperocomocono]

Ok soooo Im so new to this brand I was in a happy planner thing but they are not to geared to guys and I’m a decorative/functional planner I love this but scared cause I’m use to a dashboard layout and dunno is I want a classic or flex layout

[krystal]

This launch has frustrated me. I’ve used them in the past but not recently. I don’t understand why they don’t show full previews of their planners before launch. I’ve been asking them on Instagram and they said it’s coming. Was grateful to find your video. The colors just don’t seem to match well this year. It will be a no for me.

[NancysFanciesDesign]

I use to love Inkwell Press and bought it every year, but I became disappointed with the changes in the layout, colors, etc. I have started using dated Kinbor planners from Aliexpress.