Here at Dotted Notebook, we love the dot grid pattern. It's our thing.
We love its structure and guidance, but also the freedom it gives us to create anything we want.
But where does this type of pattern comes from ?
Obviously, any notebook fan has heard of the Bullet Journal Method at some point, but that only appeared in the 2010s...
Surely there must be some traces of it before ?
Let's see where this can take us.
The modern clue: Bullet Journaling
The most obvious start for our dot grid history is obviously the Bullet Journal Boom. This all started in the mind of Ryder Carroll, a digital Product designer that was in search of a simple method to organise his notes back when he was in college in the 90s.
Being diagnosed early on with ADHD, Carroll devised the Bullet Journal method and used it daily. In 2013, a friend of his convinced him to share the method online. The Bujo method found its public and evolved into a community that financed a Kickstarter to create a centralised base for its users.
Carroll then gave a Ted Talk in 2017 at Yale before publishing a book on the Method in 2018.
The Bujo method is one of the most recent markers of Dot Grid reconnoissance and success. Following the book release, the sale of notebooks grew 18% compared to the previous year in the US.
But if the Bujo method uses the power of the dot grid pattern, it's because it was already there. So let's keep on.
The 2000s: Early Adopters
Before the mainstreamisation of the Bujo method, the 2000s saw a couple of advancement and use of the dots.
In 2006, Behance, a creative networking site launched the "Action Method pads", a series of pads combining the dot grid pattern and a lined action system. The method was targeted at creative types and found its public to the point were Behance got bought by Adobe in 2012.
As Behance was starting to popularise its method, Midori launched its famous MD notebooks with a dot grid option. A few years later, Rhodia also adapted some of its products and started offering a dot pad version of its famous orange pad to target the designers crowd.
The 1990s: Brandbook’s Innovation
If we keep rewinding time, a stop has to be made around the 1990s when a German brand called Brandbook started developing dot grid notebooks. Their design philosophy followed the idea of a structure without constraint which perfectly embodies the pattern. The dots are discreet to let the creativity flow on the page and prevent the restrictive effect of lines and squares.
They give the idea of a line without the boundaries of the actual line. - Brandbook
Brandbook explains that to get to this design of a dot grid, they started with a square grid, developed an angle grid with interrupted squares and then getting to the dot grid. Starting from the upper left dot, the grid is aiming to be so subtle it can almost disappear when copied or scanned.
The grey color of the dots allows this discretion with a spacing of 5mm, 3.5mm or what they call their "mini dot grid". All those spacing are still available in their current notebooks, that they sell under their brand Nuuna.
The early 1900s: Technical tools
But where did Brandbook's inspiration for the dot grid came from ?
In the early 20th century, the dot grid was already present as a technical tool. German cartographers and engineers liked its structure to draw blueprints and maps.
The dots were also part of "dot planimeters", a device used to estimate the area of shape.
This tool was used in forestry, cartography and geography to estimate the area of parcels of lands. It was also used in botany and horticulture, in medicine and mineralogy. A very strong tool dedicated to precision.
The 1800s: recreational roots
If we continue our journey by going back to the 1800s, we can also find some appearance and use of dot grid patterns this time as a recreational tool.
A french mathematician called Edouard Lucas invented a game "La pipopipette" also called "the game of the small squares" or "dots and boxes". The game used an empty dot grid and had players trace a single horizontal or vertical lines in order to create closed boxes.
Ancient grids: the final answer ?
And before that ? Well, the answer becomes more loose.
Graph paper seems to be a nice ancestor of our dot grid. In 1794, a Dr. Buxton of England patented paper printed with a rectangular coordinate grid. Before that, traces of grids are found everywhere, with the Metropolitan Museum of Art owning a pattern book dating around 1596 which each page bears a grid printed with a woodblock. The owner has used these grids to create block pictures in black and white and in colour.
But as this pattern is indeed a grid, it bears no dots.
If we continue to roll back time, we can even get as far as the Egyptian or the Mesopotamian, both using grid systems in either their architecture or mathematics, but again, not with dots.
And if you come to think of it, maybe that is logical. The dot grid we like is a pattern that works as a discreet guide. It requires a certain technological level to be visible yet not as overwhelming as a line. With those civilisation relying on papyrus or rock tablets, it's hard to imagine the necessity or use of a grid of dots. It's actually even easier to realise that the dot grid could only appear past a certain level of technical advancement in human history, that could facilitate its production and lower its cost. It also needed a more educated population interested in art, writing or science to use it.
In the end, the dot grid pattern may seem timeless, but it’s actually a relatively recent innovation. From its technical roots in cartography and engineering to its modern-day popularity fueled by the Bullet Journal method, the dot grid has evolved into a versatile tool that balances structure and freedom. As we’ve seen, its journey from ancient grids to today’s notebooks reflects a long-standing human desire for tools that guide without constraining.
So next time you open your dotted notebook, remember that you’re part of a story that’s still being written.