Entry
Looking for a better marker

Some people love sharpies...

I have a hypothesis, that a lot of design is induced by a sharpies smell. Differently than water based markers, sharpies are alcohol based. This solvent makes a sharpie a permanent marker and allows it to write on a lot of materials, where a water based marker does not dry fast enough. Water based markers are also easily washed off again or easily erased by touch.

The choice of pen matters. I use pens every day when designing. Like most people, I prefer certain pens and dislike others. While I personally dislike the smell of sharpies, it's not the main problem I have with these markers and a lot of pens in general.

Pens just end up as a lot of waste and mainly discarted plastic. They are often not refillable, and if they are it's not easy to get the ink – looking at Stabilo Boss markers or Copic markers (both can be refilled, but where to get the refill...). That's why I startet looking for more sustainable alternatives.

Some things are hard to replace

Due to the nature of the pen, some pens are harder to replace than others. Brush pens are nearly impossible to be replaced unless going back to gouache and a classic brush – something, that does not work easily in a client setting. Luckily I don't really use these in day to day work.

The simple marker or black felt pen (Sharpie) however, is a similar problem.

Looking for marker alternatives

Sharpies, and their siblings from other brands, are used in workshops all the time, filling sticky notes with ideas and thoughts. Writing quickly on sticky notes needs a pen giving a stroke with lots of contrast and opacity, preferably in black, not to thin, to make it visible when standing in the second row as participant. Ideally, the marker does not melt in your hand, make a big mess, is easily portable (or can even be put in your pockets).

Since last year, I've been trying to find a marker alternative that can be used in workshops. The following are alternatives I've been checking until now.

Kaweco Sketch up pencil 5.6mm

This pencil is really heavy and uses a 5.6mm lead. Sadly, the pencil lead is not really visible in a workshop setting. It comes with a very soft lead with 5B, alternatives are harder to find than I thought due to the thickness of the lead. There are colour replacement mines, that I want to try, but I couldn't find them in shops so far (apart from a white option, that does not really promise contrast on yellow post-it's). It's still a nice pencil for big sketches though, but it's a bit messy with the sharpener and adds a lot of graphite to the hands.

Viability: not a good option with the basic lead. The opacity or contrast is not good enough.

Sakura Coupy Marker

Found in Japan, these "Markers" look more like a pencil for children. They are advertised as replacement for highlighers and seem to make an easily visible mark. Not sure, if they should be put into a pocket, or if they melt in the hand during a workshop. They seem to come in 3 different colours, different sets have different options. I couldn't find a black one, even though it should be available (based on an interent research).

Viability: Sakura Coupy Markers bring quite a nice line on paper. However they don't have enough opacity without a lot of pressure to make them viable on a sticky note. The paper tends to crumble. They are however nicely suited for drawing or colouring. Overall a bit harder than a Caran d'Ache Neocolor.

Other pens I'm currently using

• Brass Kaweco sport fountain pen. This still uses ink cartridges as everybody tells me that the converter alternative always generates a mess (the cardridge is refilled over the nib). The pen is very small when closed. Used with black ink for wireframes and basic designs.
• Other fountain pens (mainly metal or older models). Using different colour ink cartridges for annotations, primary functions, decoration...
• I also use pencils for drafts.

Making Kombucha

Adventures in Game Design