I was so excited to see the new Kuretake ZIG Clean Color Dot Metallic Double-Sided Marker – 6 Color Set ($26) while I was working at the Dallas Pen Show. I like using Zig Clean Color Dot markers for adding bullets to my notebooks. So, a set of metallics? Yes, please!
The set comes with silver, gold, red, blue, green and violet with dual tips — a standard 1.0mm marker tip and the other end is the puffy, little, q-tip-style end that makes it easy to make dots. Depending on your pressure the dots can be big or small. The package suggests that the dot size can vary between 1 and 5mm depending on how hard you press.
The inks are water-based so its easy to clean up but the designs are not permanent or water-resistant so I recommend using them as your top layer if you blend tools in a mixed media technique.
The unique upside of metallic markers is the colors are often more opaque which makes the colors pop on darker paper stocks. So, if you have journals or notebooks with kraft paper or black paper, these metallic markers may be useful and fun to use for you.
I found that, on white or light colored papers, the metallic quality and brightness is not as noticeable as when I tried a dark paper stock. I also found that the silver and gold dot end was more visible and opaque than the marker tip end on light papers. Silver and gold were more apparent and opaque on the darker paper.
On 68gsm Tomoe River, there was absolutely no showthrough on the back of the page so that’s a pleasant bonus.
Overall, these markers are fun and unique. I think I prefer them on darker papers overall but everything but the silver pen worked well on light paper too, just not as sparkly as I hoped they would be.
DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by Chartpak/Kuretake US for the purpose of review. To purchase, visit Dromgoole’s. Please see the About page for more details.
I have both sets of the dot markers and use them in my bullet journal all the time. Love them! 🙂