Best note-taking tools for creatives

All creatives know that ideas can strike at any time of the day or night. Therefore, you need a good note-taking app to help you document those little moments of genius wherever you are. Here are our top 5:

Milanote

Milanote is the tool for organizing creative projects.

If you ask someone to imagine a piece of creative work they’ll tell you about a beautiful design or a perfect final manuscript. They’ll tell you about something finished.

But behind every great piece of work is a lot of research, thinking and planning that is often messy, unstructured and takes time to evolve.

That’s why Milanote exists—for the start of the creative process. To match the way creative people think when they turn nothing into something.

Evernote

Evernote is more than just a note taking app. It’s the daddy of personal organisation. No wonder Filofaxes went out of fashion when we have comprehensive task management apps like Evernote. On top of a place to write down notes, Evernote will help you remember things, create lists, search for things quickly and share with friends. There’s a reason why millions of people use it.

Evernote

Microsoft OneNote

OneNote is a digital note taking app for all your devices. Save notes and ideas by typing, writing or drawing. It lets you search the web and save images in your notes. You can sync notes between friends, which makes it great for collaboration. One useful thing about OneNotes is the emphasis on colour – you can express ideas with colour or shapes and highlight your ideas in colour. It also lets you convert a hand-written letter into a typed note, which is pretty nifty!

OneNote

Google Keep

If you’re after a really simple note taking app, this is for you. Google Keep lets you write virtual sticky notes. The app is basically a grid view of your sticky notes. Jot down notes, stick pictures, make checklists, and even record notes with audio – perfect for creatives. It’s integrated into Google Docs too, so each note has a feature that lets you create a Google doc from it. You can set reminders based on location too, so when you’re in a certain area, Google will notify you with something you want to remember.

Google-Keep

Pen and paper

Ah, the trusty pen and paper. Nothing beats getting back to basics. Some say it’s old fashioned, but it doesn’t rely on a wifi connection or a power supply. Keep a notebook and pencil on your bedside table for those middle of the night eureka moments.

hand-notes-holding-things

Vicky

Vicky

After studying English Literature at university, Vicky decided she didn’t want to be either a teacher or whoever it is that writes those interminable mash-up novels about Jane Austen and pirates, so sensibly moved into graphic design.

She worked freelance for some time on various projects before starting at Twine and giving the site its unique, colourful look.

Despite having studied in Manchester and spent some years in Cheshire, she’s originally from Cumbria and stubbornly refuses to pick up a Mancunian accent. A keen hiker, Vicky also shows her geographic preferences by preferring the Cumbrian landscape to anything more local.