Hi! I saw your Hades journal and was immediately hit by Aphrodite, because I think I'm in love!!
Unfortunately, I'm not very familiar with journals, because I'm more of an artist than a writer. I have many questions. I hope that's alright.
On bindings: will the reusable cover lie flat without breaking the spine? Do coptic bindings always lie flat on the table, or only when using the center pages?
I've found that finished pencil drawings are much less likely to smear over time in bound notebooks than spiraled. Do you have any experience with this in coptic notebooks?
Finally, I haven't worked with the paper weight you use. Do you have any bleed tests? (pen, sharpie, highlighter). I'm assuming it wouldn't take alcohol markers or watercolors well.
Sorry for the long ask!
Hi there! I hope you don't mind me answering this publicly, but you had some great questions and I thought the answers might benefit other people as well.
So both the reusable journal and the coptic journals lay flat. That was a big deal for me - I hate fighting with a journal to get it to stay open. The exposed stitching means that they open completely at the spine no matter where in the journal you open it. Flat is subjective because if there is only a few sheets on one side and the rest of the journal on the other it's going to lean slightly. See the photo below of the coptic journal.
As far as smearing, I don't have a conclusive answer to that as I don't personally use them for art. I will say that because of the stitching, the pages don't shift up and down like they would with a spiral bound books. They are much closer to a hardback sketchbook than a spiral bound sketchbook in how solid they feel.
Finally, I use Canson Sketch paper in most of my journals. It's 65lb/96gsm with a very slight tooth. I chose it specifically because it has a good balance both for writing and drawing, has a good hand feel (texture is important to me), and doesn't break the bank so I don't have to charge an arm and a leg for my journals. You're right, it's not rated for wet mediums like alcohol markers or watercolors. Here are two photos of a quick pen test. The first is the front, the second is the reverse side so you can see the bleed/ghosting when the pages are stacked.
That being said, I'm always willing to make custom changes. So if you're looking for a thicker paper that's something we can do, just for a little extra cost.
I hope that helps!
And to anyone else, my asks are always open. I'm here to make sure you get the journal that is just right for your needs!