DoDD: The Sharpie

Originally published Nov 14, 2019

TL;DR

Pretty dope. I snapped the pic above because I was so pleased. Shout out to the Sharpie Twin Tip design team. 👏🏾

Quick Intro

I love writing with felt-tip/marker pens and since I work in the user experience (UX) field, I get to use them all the time. (Full disclosure: I would use them often regardless of my profession).

My Goal

I typically need to jot down notes/sketches several times throughout the day, whether it be for UX work or other unrelated things, and the Sharpie is my go-to tool for this. In this particular case, I needed to quickly make a grocery list before heading to the store. This is important for me because I am only a semi-responsible human while shopping without a list and my bank account does not handle “semi-responsibility” well.

My Experience

The Sharpie I used has a twin tip — that is, it can be used on both ends. One side has a fine point tip and the other has an ultra fine point tip. I used the ultra fine point tip to make my list. The marker is pictured below:

My favorite Twin Tip Sharpie. (credit: officesupply.com)

As you may have guessed, the ultra fine point is on the end that has a finer tip and smaller cap.

Normally, when I use any conventional, capped writing tool (i.e., a writing tool that has one end dedicated for writing), I expect to be able to easily place the cap on the opposite end while I’m writing. It’s annoying as hell whenever that’s not possible.

Because this Sharpie is double sided, I wasn’t really sure what to expect of the ultra fine point’s cap. I mentioned before that it is smaller; it also has a different shape compared to the fine point’s cap.

I tried placing the cap on the opposite end of the marker (i.e., the end of the fine point’s cap) even though I expected it to fail. This was the smaller, “less standard” end (in my mind) and it clearly was not going to fit and stay on the other end in a way I was used to…or so I thought.

Spoiler alert — it fit and stayed. 😊

The ultra fine end cap of the Sharpie fits snugly over the fine end’s cap.

On the tip of the cap that covers the fine point tip of the Sharpie, there are a couple small bumps that are just big enough for the cap to fit over. These keep it in place. Someone thought to include them specifically for the purpose of ensuring that this cap had a “place to rest” when the ultra fine point is being utilized.

Granted, this may be something that has existed for years; however, this was the first time that I actually noticed it and the convenience it afforded me.

Dope or Dead?

Super dope. I used the ultra fine point pretty frequently and without that small and thoughtful feature, the cap would have been long gone. I lose small things easily, as do many people, so I’m grateful to whoever made the add.

Because of it, I was able to use this marker until it ran out of ink. It saved me money, time, and a large amount of frustration I would have otherwise experienced while trying to remember where [mis]placed the cap.