Kiss your boring dry erase markers goodbye!

If you’re embarassed by mundane office supplies, check out TUL Dry Erase Markers. Part of OfficeMax’s new brand of affordable designer writing tools, these markers are surprisingly cute and clever. Each marker has a magnetic body that sticks to most whiteboards, a comfort grip, and a built-in eraser cap.

I get weirdly excited about such geekery, so I hopped over to OfficeMax and bought a 12-pack to test them. Here are my impressions:

What I like

My two favorite features are the magnetic body and built-in eraser caps. Both help ease the problem of losing markers and having to hunt for erasers. The triangular body is also a nice touch, preventing the markers from rolling off flat services.

In addition to functional enhancements, TUL’s also made some thoughtful aesthetic considerations. The visual design of both the packaging and markers is clean and restrained, avoiding garish logos and decoration. The color palette includes designer-friendly colors such as Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black (CMYK). If they’re gonna stick to the whiteboard, they might as well look good, right?

At $18, the price for a 12-pack is also reasonable, just $5 more than a standard 12-pack of Expo markers.

What I don’t like

While the packaging was easy to open, the markers fall out too easily. Once it’s out of the box, it’s difficult to put it back in.

On a freshly cleaned whiteboard, l also noticed one marker didn’t stick so well to the whiteboard. It might have been a defect, but it’d be nice if future versions use slightly stronger magnets.

The bottom line

Despite very minor flaws, TUL Dry Erase Markers combine style and functional features to put traditional markers to shame. Instead of feeling shame, you’d be proud to show off these markers.