By: Morgan Jacobus, Editor in Chief
photo by// Morgan Jacobus
Happy November everyone! As part of my personal celebration of my birthday month, I am starting a series of articles called Notable Opinions the Editor Shares: aka N.O.T.E.S. This series will feature favorite product reviews (especially stationery), nerdy editor opinions like fonts, and advice on things like common grammar mistakes and planner organization. Without further ado, I present the first installment: my favorite writing utensils.
As a writer, it should be expected that I would have favorite writing utensils. Ever since I can remember, one of my favorite times of year has been school supply shopping because I love school/ office supplies. Always have, always will. I don’t know how to explain it, but there is something about having an arsenal of pens, markers, highlighters, notebooks, and everything in between. My collection has been steadily growing for a while, to the point that I feel confident that I can recommend the best of the best for various stationery categories. The places you will see linked to the different products I mention are usually Target and JetPens.com (which if you aren’t familiar with, you should check out immediately): my top two stationery stores.
Pens and Pencils: EDC (Everyday Carry) Essentials
Mechanical Pencil: Kokuyo FitCurve Mechanical Pencil .5 mm
This pencil has been with me going on four years, and it is still going strong. Back in middle school and early high school I used the PaperMate ClearPoint mechanical pencil, but let me tell you, this pencil is more comfortable, more stylish, and longer lasting than those pencils that would often crack. Not to mention, it isn’t even an expensive pencil, on JetPens it is just $5.
Multi-Pen: Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto 4 Color Multi Pen
I keep this pen in my backpack at all times, because it is easy to grab or bring with me without having to bring my whole pencil pouch. This pen body can hold four separate writing instruments within it, and you have a wealth of options available to choose from. Mine features three colors of 0.5 mm gel pen (blue, black, and purple), and a mechanical pencil. You can pick from 15 gel colors in 3 sizes, as well as a mechanical pencil component, and an eraser component. This pen offers the ultimate variety and choice within one pen body, and it comes in different sizes (3, 4, and 5 option varieties) as well as 6 different colors.
Gel Pens: Pilot G2 Gel Pens
This is my pen essential for my planner. These pens come in so many different colors (and yes, I have them all) which is what makes them amazing for planning and color coding. I do not believe that there are smear-free gel pens out there, or if there are I have not yet encountered them. The way that I write usually includes pressing/ dragging my hand across the page, even though I am right-handed. However, these gel pens have minimal smear. I appreciate the retractable tip, as well as clip, and they have lasted me a long time.
Fancy Pen: Pentel EnerGel Alloy RT Retractable Liquid Gel Pen
I cannot emphasize enough how much I love this pen. It has such a sleek body, and it is very durable, not to mention the ink is smooth as butter. Personally, I think everyone should have different types of pens for different purposes. For instance, you ought to have disposable pens for convenience, colored pens for fun/ color coding, and one nice pen that is more professional and you will really enjoy using. This pen was a “treat yourself” moment for me. I love this pen so much I have bought refills for it so I can keep using it (which you can get at Office Depot/ Office Max by the way).
Highlighter Recommendations: One simply cannot have too many highlighters, especially as a college student.
Crayola Super Tips: If you can’t already tell, I like variety, and I especially like to have a variety of colors at my disposal, which brings me to this recommendation. I use these as highlighters as well as markers. They are cheap and cheerful, with different packs from 20 count up to 100, whatever best suits your needs. I personally chose the 50 pack for its wide array of colors, and it was only $7. Don’t let them fool you, these are quality markers, especially since their tip design allows use for both thin and thick lines, offering further versatility.
Zebra Mildliner Double-Sided Highlighter: I love these highlighters because they have different types of colors (my favorite being their pastels), and they feature a chisel tip on one side for normal highlighting, and a fine tip on the other end. One of my favorites is the gray highlighter. Yes, you heard that right, and it is my mom’s favorite as well. They have different colors, plus you get two things in one. I would caution you, since depending on the page thickness it may bleed through, but the beautiful colors are worth it.
Epoch Kobaru Sweet Tapir Scented Highlighter: The inner child in me couldn’t resist buying scented highlighters. However, these are definitely a grown-up upgrade from the Mr. Sketch scented markers of our past (I know you remember). The scents include melon soda, vanilla, peach, mint, sweet potato, and cookie in six lovely pastel shades. Another feature I love is the flat, rectangle shape that prevents them from rolling away on your desk.
There you have it! My top writing utensil essentials and recommendations. Of course, I undoubtedly have more writing utensils in my larger collection, but these are the top of my list. Stay tuned for the second part of my series: paper-based stationery like notebooks and sticky notes.