New Ad Campaign For Sharpie Markers Features Talented Fans.

Four new print ads featuring some talented people who can wield a Sharpie marker like nobody's business is part of a new Back-To-School marketing campaign from the famous permanent marker brand. Sharpie® has announced a makeover to its website, new product packaging, a new back-to-school product line-up, and launches its “Start with Sharpie” campaign – a multi-channel effort, the centerpiece of which is a series of national print and digital ads featuring some of Sharpie’s most passionate fans and their Sharpie® creations.



clockwise from top left: Cheeming Booey, Mark Rivard, Marirose Weldon and Erica Domesek

With nearly two-million fans on Facebook and an active roster of advocates known as the Sharpie Squad, Sharpie didn’t have to look far to find candidates to appear in the ads. Ultimately, the brand selected three Sharpie Squad members, along with a newcomer, teen singer and songwriter Marirose Weldon, who uses Sharpie Liquid Pencils to write her lyrics.

Each Sharpie fan appears in one of four unique print ads, along with the project they started with Sharpie:

• Cheeming Boey



Known as the “coffee cup artist,” Cheeming’s work has been displayed in galleries nationwide. In his ad, Cheeming demonstrates how a Sharpie Pen and a simple paper cup can be combined to create something truly inspiring.





• Mark Rivard



Using skateboards as his canvas, Mark’s designs have appeared in sports commercials and galleries worldwide. Mark demonstrates how he uses Sharpie Mini markers to create coveted custom boards.




• Marirose Weldon



At just 16-years-old, Marirose is already penning a name for herself in the music business with the recent release of her debut single, “I Want Love.” Marirose uses Sharpie Liquid Pencils to craft lyrics she hopes will propel her career to the next level.




• Erica Domesek



DIY expert, author and creator of P.S.- I Made This, Erica’s creations are inspired by some of the biggest names in fashion. She has been featured in top entertainment and fashion media, and both her website and her book feature several Sharpie DIY projects. In her Sharpie ad, Erica breathes new life into a standard-issue pencil case using new Stained by Sharpie™ fabric markers to create a chic purse.





The full-page ads also include an adjacent 1/3-page ad with a QR code where readers can click to view videos showcasing the inspiration behind each project. The ads will appear in Seventeen, Teen Vogue, Us Weekly and other magazines targeting teens.

“Sharpie has a long history with celebrities and autographs, but this year it’s all about the fans and the inspiring ways they are using our products,” said Sally Grimes, global vice president of marketing for Sharpie. “This is about real people with an authentic passion for our brand – people who started something with Sharpie and, as a result, are getting a jump-start on making their own dreams a reality.”

Sharpie Cinema
In a brand first, Sharpie will also employ cinema advertising. The ads, scheduled to appear in July and August in major movie theaters nationwide, will echo Sharpie’s TV spots airing simultaneously on national network and cable TV stations, including the CW, MTV, FUSE and Nickelodeon. Sharpie TV spots include “Will You Marry Me?”, a proposal scenario featuring the Sharpie Pen, and “What Would The World Look Like Without Self-Expression?”, which leaves viewers to ponder a world without creativity. In addition, Sharpie will run interactive digital display and video ads on sites including Alloy, AOL, MTV and HULU.

The ads, developed by Draftfcb Chicago, will harness the power of advocacy to show the world what can begin with Sharpie and a little imagination.

Another part of Sharpie’s back-to-school effort is a re-designed, socially optimized website – still found at www.sharpie.com. The site features a new, more user-friendly community experience where fans can create their own unique profile, upload and share their Sharpie projects, easily navigate the full product portfolio via an interactive color wheel, view how-to videos and Sharpie fan galleries, as well as engage with Sharpie on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and the Sharpie Blog.



Start Something on YouTube™
Never one to shy away from bold statements, Sharpie will provide its fans with a one-of-a-kind platform to showcase their work when Sharpie stages a one-day takeover of YouTube’s home page on Saturday, August 27. The takeover will feature an interactive mosaic of consumer-submitted artwork -- all the unique items that fans have started with Sharpie. Thousands of Sharpie images will combine in pixilated imagery to create a statement where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. To be part of the takeover, visit www.sharpie.com.



“The YouTube takeover will give consumers and the rest of the world an opportunity to see what fans have started with Sharpie,” Grimes said. “From the YouTube takeover to the new website, packaging, product line up and more – we’re aiming to drive a deeper overall consumer connection, one that only Sharpie can provide to our loyal fans.”

For more information on Sharpie products and the new campaign, please visit www.sharpie.com.

The Sherpa - A Stylish Skin For Your Sharpie Marker and Other Disposable Pens

Now you can dress up your Sharpie and other disposable pens* with these marker cases from Sherpa




above image courtesy of Cheftalk

The Sherpa™ is a unique pen shell that holds a variety of disposable pens and markers including Sharpie®, Pilot® pen, uni-ball® pens and Accent® highlighters. It comes in 22 different styles for you to enjoy. Each Sherpa™ is designed with an innovative cap to keep the color of your marker or pen bold and fresh every time.

Here are a few of their available styles:





Custom Corporate versions are also available.

*other pens that work with the Sherpa

The Sherpa™

Buy the Sherpa here

Eggs + Sharpies And The Egg-Bot Will Do The Decorating Work For You.

Now you can impress the Easter Bunny with stylish and artfully decorated eggs created by the Egg-Bot, a robotic kit that is available for purchase.



The Eggbot is an open-source art robot that can draw on spherical or egg-shaped objects from the size of a ping pong ball to that of a small grapefruit-- roughly 1.25 to 4.25 inches in diameter (3 - 10 cm). The kit is based on the original design by Bruce Shapiro. The newest version, the "Egg-Bot 2.0," is a modern and friendly update, designed with the assistance of Bruce and his team.



The Eggbot is super adjustable, and is designed to draw on all kinds of things that are normally "impossible" to print on. Not just eggs but ping pong balls, light bulbs, mini pumpkins, and even things like wine glasses-- with a bit of work. In the photos, you can see just a few of the things that you can make with an eggbot: Incredible personalized golf balls, christmas ornaments, light bulbs, and (yes) eggs.




The Eggbot chassis is made of tough fiberglass, with integrated heat sinks for the included motors. The pen and egg motors are high-torque precision stepping motors, and the pen lift mechanism is a quiet and reliable servo motor.




The Eggbot kit is easy to assemble in a couple of hours, and only requires a couple of basic tools like miniature Phillips-head and flathead screwdrivers. You'll also need a recent-vintage computer with an available USB port (Mac, Windows or Linux), plus internet access to download assembly instructions and necessary software.



Eggbot w/ EBB Driver Board The Eggbot kit comes complete with a fully assembled and tested EiBotBoard v2.0 (EBB) USB interface/motor driver board. No soldering or programming are required.



The EBB allows your computer to directly control the stepper and servo motors. The onboard 16X microstepping driver chips along with the 200 step/revolution stepper motors give a combined resolution of 3200 steps/revolution in both axes. A universal-input plug-in power supply (9 V 1.5 A) is included with the Eggbot kit, as is a USB cable.

Basic operation is much like that of a printer driver: you import or make a drawing in Inkscape, and use the extensions to plot your drawing onto whatever object you've mounted in the Eggbot. It's all handled through an easy to use graphical user interface, and works cleanly on Mac, Windows and Linux.



The standard pen holder included with the EggBot kit is designed to fit various art pens including Sharpie Ultra Fine Point pens. However, it can actually fit almost any pen of similar size. If you want to use a pen that doesn't fit, the pen holder is made of wood and can be enlarged to suit your taste.

You can even fit a lot of things that aren't pens. One example: They'll be offering a diamond-point engraver tool as an optional add-on for the EggBot kit in the near future.


above: The Eggbot Logo on an Egg

If you have additional questions about the Eggbot kit, you may want to look at the Eggbot FAQ.

The Egg-Bot 2.0 kit was designed by Windell Oskay and Lenore Edman with extensive help from Bruce Shapiro and Brian Schmalz. The kit includes assembly and use instructions, open source hardware release documents and example plot files.

The Eggbot kit is available here.

Sharpie Appears On The Catwalk [Again] In The 2011 F/W Qasimi Homme Collection.

Sharpie markers have hit that catwalk again. Whereas Rodarte used Sharpies to decorate the arms and bodies of women in their S/S 2010 collection, this time it's men donning the black markers to embellish the collection of menswear for 2011 Fall /Winter Qasimi Homme line.



Designer Khalid Al-Qasim's latest menswear collection features leather, knitwear and furs in warm chocolate browns, greys, aubergines, beiges and blacks, and was accentuated with tribal patterns in black [and white] placed on the foreheads of the male models.



The white was applied with body make-up:

but the black was created with the favorite tool of artists and designers everywhere, the Sharpie:



Belted coats, oversized sweaters, tailored wools and leathers with graphic patterns were complimented by the artfully applied facial markings.










The entire collection of menswear is really quite striking, but for this feature, I've focused on the Sharpie markers applied to the foreheads and bodies of the beautiful men making their way down the runway. To get a look at the entire line of clothing, please visit Fashionising.

Designer Khalid Al-Qasim:

images courtesy of Fashion Mag and Fashionising
Qasimi Homme

Yes, I am a proud member of the Sharpie Squad. If you find, do or know of creative applications with Sharpie markers, and would like to see me feature them on my blog and/or on Sharpie's blog, kindly let me know.



See more creativity with Sharpies at Sharpie Uncapped
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