Design students often need to carry lots of art supplies: pencils, markers, pastels, paints, brushes, sketch pads and more. ArtBin has been serving students for years, and now has quite a collection of products—so there's likely to be something to meet most needs.

Some of the products are designed to hold specific items, such as this brush box, which will hold up to 20 brushes. It has foam inserts to keep the brushes in place, and vent holes at each end to help the brushes dry.

The utensil box is perfect for pencils, with the foam padding to protect the points, although it can also be used for things such as pens, brushes and cutting tools. However, some users have complained that the box, which is 12.38 inches long, is much longer than their pencils. One user says the only drawback is that "Even with new, unsharpened pencils (Palomino Blackwings—which are very long) there is just too much room and it is unnecessary."

For those who want to carry a range of sketching tools, there's the Sketch Pak. As with the utensil box, the Sketch Pak has foam in the pencil wells. Those dividers aren't movable, though, and some find the four smallest sections to be rather useless.

But another user raves: "I have instant access to a sharpener, a few types of eraser, blending stumps, Conte crayons, a few pastels, vine and compressed charcoal sticks, graphite sticks, an ArtGraf carbon tablet and graphite tin, dip pen and nibs, bamboo pen, water brushes, brush pens, a fountain pen, a small vial of walnut drawing ink and around 20 pencils of various types! I did break the Conte crayons and pastels into half-size sticks to be able to fit more colors."

Adjustable dividers are always a nice feature, making a storage box more likely to fit each user's specific (and changing) needs. The Solutions 6-compartment box has movable dividers that allow those compartments to be subdivided; there are five evenly-spaced positions for the dividers. One user notes that each slot can hold "four medium Posca paint markers, 10 Hi-Tech-C Maica pens, or up to 14 Gelli pens."

For more flexibility, ArtBin's IDS box—that's Infinite Divider System—has dividers that adjust in 1/16 inch increments, allowing each slot to be subdivided exactly as the user wants.

This QuickView carry case can hold drawing pads as well as pens, pencils, markers, etc. Those who want to carry boxed sets of pencils will find they don't fit in the bottom, with its fixed-width compartments, although they could go in the top. Many users have commented on how sturdy this case is—always a good thing.

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For those needing to carry paints and other larger items, ArtBin has its familiar Essentials tray boxes; this is the two-tray version. ArtBin says these boxes have Tip-Guard trays to prevent spills—a welcome feature.

The Upscale 2-tray box has a different configuration, designed for both brushes and paints. ArtBin points out its many features: a textured outside to resist scratching, smooth inside surfaces to allow easy cleanup, and trays made from X-T tripolymer to resist stains. Users rave about the durability; one person who got his back in 1991 says, "It's survived being dropped (by other clumsy students and fellow employees) and I've spilled a lot of paint and other gunk on it. I've been able to keep it clean with just a sponge and some dish detergent."

The Sidekick is a different style of tray box; it comes in this translucent version as well as a larger grey version. Users can easily toss all sorts of supplies into that large bottom section, but things at the bottom might become hard to find.

Another way to organize and carry lots of supplies is the Super Satchel, which comes in a range of configurations and sizes. This one has undivided top and base compartments. The lid/tray and base each have separate access, and there are two smaller side compartments.

This Super Satchel with the divided base makes it easy to organize supplies, but also limits what can be stored; some larger items just won't fit. (As with other ArtBin products, some of the dividers are fixed while others are adjustable.) Also, some people will find the multiple compartments to be overly fussy, and find an undivided base works just fine for them.

The Super Satchel Double Deep was designed for larger, bulkier supplies. The eight dividers can be entirely removed to allow the users to carry papers in it, or just some of them can be removed to create different sized compartments.

The Marker Storage Satchel, another Super Satchel product, comes with one tray; a second one can be ordered to devote the entire satchel to markers. ArtBin says these trays will secure your markers and pens "into the spot you place them even if you flip the satchel upside-down." One downside: Some users noted that not all of their markers fit in this satchel, or at least not in all of the slots.