• 70 ideas
  • Checked October 2026

Folder Drawing Ideas

Three cover ideas at a time, each with where it goes and what to draw it with.

Folder Drawing Ideas

Show all 70
  1. Block letters of your name, each filled with a different patternPortfolio front, markers. Letters as tall as your hand; stripes, dots, scales, checks, one to a letter.
  2. A row of lockers with yours standing openFront cover, pen and two colors. Tall doors with vents and dials; one ajar, with books and a photo inside.
  3. A compass rose and a dotted route for geographyFront cover, pen and two colors. The rose sits in one corner; a dotted trail wanders to an X by the label.

Next step Science things to drawCovers for a sketchbook

All 70 ideas

By subject 14

  • A band of piano keys along the bottom edge for music Front cover, black pen. Rule the white keys first, then set the short black keys on top.
  • A beaker that bubbles round the label box for science Front cover, pen and two colors. Beaker at the bottom; the bubbles rise in a stream and part round the label.
  • A compass rose and a dotted route for geography Front cover, pen and two colors. The rose sits in one corner; a dotted trail wanders to an X by the label.
  • A giant pencil writing the first line of a story Front cover, pen and yellow. The pencil lies on a slant; behind its point, Once upon a time in your best script.
  • A math folder where the numbers fall off the page Front cover, one pen. Neat digits at the top, tilting more each row, a heap of them at the bottom.
  • A music staff that wraps the folder with your name as the notes Front and back, one pen. Five lines right round; one note head for each letter of your name.
  • A ribbon timeline winding down the history folder Front cover, pen and two colors. A ribbon in S-bends with blank date flags, to fill in as the year goes.
  • A ruler border and a protractor sun for math Front cover, pen and two colors. Inch ticks down two edges; a half-circle sun with degree ticks in one corner.
  • A scroll and a quill for history Front cover, pen and brown. A scroll unrolled down the cover with curled ends; the label box is its text.
  • A squared-paper cover with a line graph that turns into a rocket Front cover, pen and one color. A light grid all over; the line climbs to the top corner and takes off.
  • An open book whose words fly off as birds for English Front cover, one pen. Book at the bottom; lines of scribble lift off the page and turn into small birds.
  • One big leaf with ruled label lines, like a lab notebook Front cover, pencil and green. Five ruled lines lead out from the leaf; write the parts in your neatest hand.
  • Planets circling the label box like a small solar system Front cover, pen and three colors. The label box is the sun; ellipses round it carry one planet each.
  • Sneaker laces zigzagging down the gym folder Front cover, pen and one color. Eyelets down both edges, laces crossing between, a bow at the bottom.

Name and label 14

  • A label box hanging on a clothesline by two pegs Front cover, one pen. A sagging line across the top third; the box hangs from it, slightly crooked.
  • A label box held up by two hands Front cover, one pen. Rule the box; fingers curl over its top edge with the thumbs behind.
  • A label that looks like a ticket: admit one, to math Front cover, one pen. A ticket with notched ends; ADMIT ONE small, the subject large, your name as the seat.
  • A name tag sticker peeling at one corner Front cover, pen and red. A rounded box with a band at the top; one corner curls up over a small shadow.
  • A PROPERTY OF stamp with your name on the line Front cover, pen and one color. A double-ruled box, small capitals above a line for the name, tilted a little.
  • A speech bubble label from a small doodle of you Front cover, one pen. A simple head at a bottom corner; one big bubble holds name, class and room.
  • The subject on a spine label, like a library book Left edge, one pen. A small ruled box with the subject, a number and a made-up shelf code.
  • Your initials as a wax seal on a ribbon Front cover, pen and red. A wobbly circle with a raised rim, initials inside, two ribbon tails beneath.
  • Your name as a license plate Front cover, pen and one color. A plate with rounded corners and two bolt dots; the name in spaced capitals.
  • Your name in block letters seen from below Front cover, pen and one color. Capitals; draw every corner down toward one point, then cut the lines short.
  • Your name in bubble letters that throw a long shadow to one corner Front cover, pen and one color. Fat letters first; then drag each one toward the corner and fill the shadow solid.
  • Your name on a marquee sign with bulbs all round Front cover, pen and yellow. A rectangle with circles evenly round its edge; the name in tall capitals inside.
  • Your name on a row of alphabet blocks, one tipped over Front cover, pen and three colors. A square face with a thin border for each letter; tip one block onto its side.
  • Your name on a row of pennant flags, one letter each Front cover, pen and three colors. A swag of string with a triangle for each letter, colors in turn.

Borders and corners 14

  • A border of paper clips linked in a chain All four edges, one pen. Long loops inside loops, each hooked through the next.
  • A checkered racing strip along the top and bottom Top and bottom edges, black pen. Two rows of squares with alternate ones filled.
  • A dotted cut-here border with tiny scissors All four edges, one pen. Dashes all the way round; a small pair of scissors at one corner, as on a coupon.
  • A film strip down the left edge with a doodle in every frame Left edge, pen and one color. Sprocket holes either side; add a new doodle to a frame each week.
  • A frame of bamboo poles lashed at the corners All four edges, pen and green. Jointed poles along each edge with crossed string where they meet.
  • A zigzag border that grows into mountains at the bottom Three edges and the bottom, pen and one color. Along the bottom the points rise into snowy peaks.
  • Ants marching round the edge carrying the letters of the subject All four edges, one pen. Three-dot ants in single file; every fifth one carries a capital letter.
  • Dominoes falling along the bottom edge Bottom edge, black pen. Upright tiles at the left, leaning more and more, lying flat at the right.
  • One corner peeled back to show a galaxy underneath Bottom-right corner, pen and two colors. A curl of cover lifting, with stars and a planet behind it.
  • Pencils laid end to end round all four edges All four edges, pen and two colors. Point to eraser all the way round; turn the corner with a bent one.
  • Photo corners, as if the cover were mounted in an album Four corners, black pen. A filled triangle with a slit line across each corner.
  • Stars spilling out of the top-right corner Top-right corner, pen and yellow. Big stars packed into the corner, smaller and sparser toward the middle.
  • Stitches round the edge, as if the folder were sewn All four edges, one color. Short dashes just inside the edge; a needle and loose thread at one corner.
  • Vines growing in from two opposite corners Two corners, pen and green. A stem curls in from each with leaves in pairs; they nearly meet at the label.

Whole-cover scenes 14

  • A brick wall with the subject in fat letters across it Front cover, pen and one color. Staggered bricks all over; draw the letters first and the bricks round them.
  • A city skyline along the bottom with your initials in lit windows Front cover, pen and two colors. Blocks of different heights; fill only the windows that spell the letters.
  • A friendly monster whose mouth is the folder's opening edge Front cover, pen and two colors. Teeth along the opening edge and eyes above; it eats the worksheets.
  • A map of your school with this subject's room starred Front cover, pen and one color. Corridors as double lines, rooms as boxes, a dotted route to the star.
  • A messy desk seen from straight above Front cover, pen and three colors. A pencil, a mug ring, paper clips and a sandwich, all seen from overhead.
  • A mountain range at sunrise that crosses front and back Front and back, pen and three colors. Open the folder flat to draw; the sun sits on the spine.
  • A roller coaster that loops round the label Front cover, one pen. One track in from the top corner, a loop round the label, out at the bottom; one tiny car.
  • A row of lockers with yours standing open Front cover, pen and two colors. Tall doors with vents and dials; one ajar, with books and a photo inside.
  • A six-panel comic of your morning before school Front cover, one pen. Alarm, toast, shoes, bus, door, desk. The label goes in the last panel.
  • A treehouse village with rope bridges between the trunks Front cover, pen and two colors. Three trunks rise from the bottom edge, with platforms, ladders and bridges between.
  • An underwater scene where the label box is a treasure chest Front cover, pen and two colors. Seaweed up the sides, fish in schools; add a lid and a lock to the label box.
  • Clear sky in one corner, a storm in the other Front cover, pen and three colors. Sun at the top left, cloud across the middle, rain at the bottom right.
  • One small doodle repeated until the cover is full Front cover, one pen. Choose a star, a cactus or a snail and repeat it from edge to edge.
  • Outer space with the label box as a porthole Front cover, pen and two colors. Stars, one ringed planet, a rocket; ring the label with rivets.

Art portfolio 14

  • A brush, a pencil and scissors crossed behind a shield Portfolio front, markers. The three tools cross behind the shield; your name goes on a ribbon below.
  • A color wheel with your initials in the center Portfolio front, paint or markers. A big circle cut into wedges, colors in rainbow order round the letters.
  • A gallery wall of empty frames on the back cover Portfolio back, black marker. Frames of different shapes; add a tiny copy of each piece as you finish it.
  • A patchwork of squares with a different pattern in each Portfolio front, markers. Rule large squares; no two patterns alike; your name across the middle row.
  • A self-portrait whose hair is made of things you like Portfolio front, pencil then marker. Face at the bottom; the hair rises into music notes, a ball, a cat.
  • A sunburst from one corner in every marker you own Portfolio front, markers. Rays fan out from the bottom-left corner, one color each; your name in bold across them.
  • A warm side and a cool side split by a zigzag Portfolio front, markers. One diagonal zigzag; reds and yellows on one side, blues on the other.
  • Block letters of your name, each filled with a different pattern Portfolio front, markers. Letters as tall as your hand; stripes, dots, scales, checks, one to a letter.
  • One line that never lifts, with its loops colored in Portfolio front, marker and three colors. A single wandering line; color the closed shapes like stained glass.
  • Seven boxes, one for each element of art Portfolio front, pencil and markers. Line, shape, form, value, space, color, texture: a small drawing in each.
  • Your initials left blank in a background packed with doodles Portfolio front, black marker. Outline the letters and keep them empty; fill everything else to the edges.
  • Your name in letters that overlap, a third color where they cross Portfolio front, two markers. Big letters crossing one another; switch color wherever two overlap.
  • Your name in the middle with rays out to the edges Portfolio front, markers. Rule lines from the name to the edges and fill each wedge with a new pattern.
  • Your own hand, traced large and filled with bands of pattern Portfolio front, black marker. Trace one hand; run bands of pattern across it and leave the background plain.

How it works

These 70 folder drawing ideas are for a school folder, a binder or the big card portfolio from art class: a design for each subject, name labels, borders, whole-cover scenes and patterned block letters.

Read the full guide

Things to draw on a folder for each subject

By subject marks the folders in pictures, so the right one comes out of the bag at a glance: a ruler border and a protractor sun for math, a beaker that bubbles round the label box for science, a music staff that wraps the folder with your name as the notes.

Things to draw on a portfolio in art class

Art portfolio holds fourteen for the folded-card portfolio that keeps a year of work. Most start from your name, because it has to be read across the room: block letters each filled with a different pattern, or initials left blank in a background packed with doodles.

  • Rule the label box first and draw round it. A name squeezed in afterward never fits.
  • If a binder has a clear pocket on the front, draw on paper cut to fit and slide it in.
  • Pencil the whole cover lightly, then go over it in pen or marker.

Questions and answers

What should I draw on my school folder?

Something that says which subject it is, or your name large enough to read from the next desk. Name and label has fourteen, such as your name on a marquee sign with bulbs all round, or a ticket that says ADMIT ONE to math.

What are good binder drawing ideas?

Borders and corners suit a binder, where the middle is often taken by a label or a pocket: a border of paper clips linked in a chain, stars spilling out of the top-right corner, dominoes falling along the bottom edge.

How do I decorate an art portfolio cover?

Use the whole front and work in markers, which cover a big card faster than pencils. Rule rays from your name out to the edges and pattern every wedge, or split the cover with a zigzag into a warm side and a cool side.

What are easy things to draw on a folder?

One small doodle repeated until the cover is full: a star, a cactus or a snail. Or a border alone: stitches round the edge, or a checkered racing strip along the top and bottom.

More tools

Show 6 more

Browse Drawing Ideas