Messy. Sentimental. Beautifully imperfect ♥
The Junk Journal trend has taken over TikTok, Pinterest, and now even graphic design. And honestly? It’s everything we love about modern aesthetics: authenticity, creativity, and imperfection.
Originally a hands-on crafting hobby, junk journaling has now evolved into a visual style that’s being used in digital planners, mood boards, content creation, and even brand graphics. It’s tactile, it’s emotional, and it’s a total vibe.
In this post, I’ll break down what junk journaling is, why it’s trending, and how you can start using the junk journal aesthetic to keep memories and create standout content.
Whether you’re crafting IRL or designing in Canva.
✦ What Is a Junk Journal?
A junk journal is a scrapbook-style notebook made from bits and pieces of paper “junk”. Old tickets, packaging, handwritten notes, receipts, stickers, magazine cutouts, dried flowers, you name it.
It’s not about perfection or minimalism. It’s about storytelling. ✧
Junk journals are often:
- Personal and handmade
- Filled with memories, thoughts, quotes, and textures
- Made to look “unfinished” on purpose
- A mix of vintage, scrapbook, grunge, or cottagecore aesthetics
They’re like visual diaries, filled with everything that would normally get thrown away, now turned into something deeply meaningful.
✦ Why This Trend Feels So Now
Junk journaling taps into something we’re all craving lately: realness.
In a world of filtered photos and polished posts, there’s something magical about glueing down a crumpled ticket stub or digitally placing a messy layer of torn paper behind your selfie.
This aesthetic celebrates:
- Imperfect beauty
- Nostalgia and emotion
- Slow, intentional creativity
- The chaos of being human
It’s no surprise that this handmade style is now being embraced online. As part of a larger design movement where raw, layered, imperfect vibes are not only accepted, but celebrated.
✦ Junk Journal Aesthetic Goes Digital
You no longer need scissors and a glue stick to embrace the junk journal look. Today, creators are bringing this aesthetic to social media, content design, and branding.
Especially on platforms like:
- Canva: Using ripped paper overlays, tape PNGs, hand-drawn scribbles, Polaroid frames, textured papers
- Picsart: Adding stickers, scanned textures, grainy filters, and analog details
- Procreate: Drawing handwritten text, layering brush textures, and mimicking paper tears
It’s raw, layered, emotional design. And it’s showing up, really, everywhere.
✦ How to Use the Junk Journal Trend for Memory Keeping
Whether you want to document your summer, your breakup playlist, or your 2025 mood — this aesthetic gives you a deeply personal way to do it.
IRL Ideas:
- Start a real junk journal: use receipts, postcards, pressed flowers, sticky notes, Polaroids, paper scraps
- Write one sentence a day and collage around it
- Add doodles, swatches, quotes. No pressure to be “good”
Digital Ideas:
- Create weekly junk journal pages in Canva
- Use scanned materials or transparent PNGs for tape, paper, textures
- Make collages of your photos, playlists, favorite things, moods
- Turn your journal into wallpapers or Instagram story slides
✦ Why Imperfect Aesthetics Are the New Perfect
We’re living through the era of “anti-aesthetic” aesthetic.
Messy collages. Torn edges. Crumpled textures. Asymmetrical layouts. Unfiltered vibes.
This movement celebrates the beauty in imperfection. And the junk journal style fits right in.
Read more about this topic on a recent post I published on the blog about the modern concepts of “aesthetics”. It’s really worth the read!
♥ Free Junk Journal Graphics & Mockups
Want to play with this aesthetic without starting from scratch?
Head over to my Freebies page to download:
- Transparent PNGs of tape, stickers, icons and emojis
- Texture backgrounds like paper, wood, and many more
- Flatlay mockups perfect for junk journal-inspired collages
Everything you need to start designing. No rules, no perfection, just vibes.
xoxo,
Lucy
Discover more from The Aesthetic Shop
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
[…] find in our new freebies section the coolest trends right now, includion iOS core images, junk journal elements and stunning textures and compositions. Your content will be getting a serious glow up, […]