(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter.)
Highlighters--an essential study and organizational tool. So much of our work depends on them, but they're not versatile. They have one job. The Morris Round Tip Scented Retractable Highlighter set didn't quite get the job done, for me.
The charm of these highlighters is in their unusual features. The tip is a wee bulb--a sphere that assures a uniform line no matter which angle you use. It does indeed stay uniform, though it's a very narrow line. To highlight larger fonts, you'd have to use several passes to cover the text. It should work great for highlighting in books, but is less effective on handwritten notes.
Another unique feature is the scent. Scented highlighters! Just like the charming markers of childhood. The included scents are orange, strawberry, blueberry, grape, banana, and melon. They are quite subtle--you have to be pretty intently huffing your highlighters to enjoy them--and some have a more chemical than fruity scent. Not always pleasant. But definitely something different.
The tips are retractable and can be extended by pushing down the large top button. They retract by pushing the button again, or by pinching the alligator clip. The overall design is cute and bubbly and feels very sturdy. They have a lovely mix of bright and pastel body colors. The clips indicate the ink color.
The colors are standard highlighter fare--neon green, yellow, blue, violet, pink, and orange. They are bold enough to be easily seen.
My main complaint comes with the actual function of the highlighters--highlighting things. The round tip makes it difficult to guide a straight line. When I use these, I end up with a very narrow wavy stripe, rather than the nice uniform ribbon of a chisel-tip highlighter. I also had serious smudging issues, even after allowing generous drying time. The only medium that didn't smear was ballpoint pen. Pencil, rollerball, gel pen, fountain pen, marker--all had significant smudging that not only obscured the text, but transferred mess to the tip of the highlighter and caused it to leave a dingy trail until the messy part was rubbed clean. It also did okay on printed text--but it showed through quite a lot on printer paper.
Overall, these are cute and fun and quirky, but don't meet my needs. If all of your highlighting is done in fine-print text books with sturdy paper, these would be just peachy. They're not great for pretty much anything else. At $2.80 apiece or $14 for the set, I'd say they're overpriced. Still, it is fun to be surprised by something new and different in what is usually a fairly mundane study aid, and these definitely have the fun factor.
(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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