Brands

There are many art supply brands. I love them all.

Here are some of my favorite's product listings, backgrounds, history and links to the art supplies I have from each company.

Alex Brands My Alex supplies
website: http://www.alexbrands.com/
I have some large crayons from Alex that were given to me. They are very good for kids to use. Alex makes: crayons, colored pencils, oil pastels, modeling clay, gel pens, finger paints, paper, glitter and toys.
History and Background
Alex art supplies are part of a larger company that include over 60 other toy brands. Alex art supplies have been around since 1986.

Copic My Copic Supplies

website: https://copic.jp/en/

Copic began in 1987 under the Too company. For a recent company they have really taken over the art world. They were made for fine art and design and then the comic book industry started to use their products. Their products are super expensive. I would love to have them all. I am saving up my pennies to get them. Copic's product line includes the Copic Sketch marker in 358 colors, Copic Ciao marker in 180 colors, Copic Classic in 214 colors, Copic WIDE in 36 colors, pens, airbrush, and paper. They sell replacement tips for their markers and sell the markers individually. They even have color chips.

Cra-z-art
website: http://www.cra-z-art.com/
Cra-z-art sells: chalk, colored pencils, crayons, pencils, markers, school supplies, modeling clay, paints, glue, and toys. The supplies are cheaper than other supplies, but the quality is also not as good as other supplies.
History and Background
Crazart started in 1923 under the leadership of Isidor Rosen originally called the Rosebud Art Company. It's name was changed to Rose Art in 1970's and then Cra-z-art was founded in 2006. Art supplies can be found with the Rose Art and Cra-z-art names.
Source: http://www.cra-z-art.com/our-story.php

Crayola My Crayola supplies
website: http://www.crayola.com/
I mainly have Crayola products. I have loved Crayola products since I was a little girl. I especially love their specialty crayons, smelly and sparkly ones. Crayola sells: crayons, colored pencils, highlighters, chalk, sidewalk chalk, markers, paint, toys, modeling clay, Silly Putty, glue, paper, and Crayola merchandise.
History and Background
The Crayola company was not actually named Crayola to begin with. It was a line of crayons Binney & Smith sold.  Binney & Smith founded by Edwin Binney and C. Harold Smith. They started working together in 1885 on the developing colored pencils and wax crayon industry. The first Crayola box was made around 1903. Crayola was one of many lines of crayon boxes they would make over the years. They also made: Perma, Spectra, Munsell, Cerata, Crayolet, Rubens, Staonal, Durel, Cerola, Besco, Art-Toy, and Boston Pressed Crayon product lines. Staonal and Crayola are the only lines that survived from these early days. The name Crayola from Alice Binney, Edwin Binney's wife. She combined the French words craie, meaning chalk and ola and oil.
-Binney & Smith was a publicly traded company (BYS) from 1963 to 1984. At that time it was bought by the private company Hallmark Cards. In 2007 Binney & Smith became Crayola LLC. It is interesting to note that the European leg of Crayola is still called Binney & Smith(Eurpoe) Ltd. The name of Crayola in other countries is: Crayola Canada and Crayola (Australia) Pty. Ltd. Sometimes crayons sold in other countries with English words, or the countries native languages. It really depends on the product. It is generally very hard to purchase product available in a specific country from another country. I have had people tell me from other countries they would like certain supplies, but there is no way they can get them. I would also like to add some foreign supplies to my collection, but that is also very difficult.
sources: www.crayoncollecting.com, www.crayola.com

Faber-Castell
website: http://www.fabercastell.com/
My husband loves his Faber-Castell pencils, he says they are very good quality. Faber-Castell makes: fountain pens, rollerball pens, ballpoint pens, pencils, mechanical pencils, erasers, colored pencils, crayons, Gelatos, paint by number, kids crafts, markers, paints, paper, and school supplies.
History and Background
Faber-Castell was developed around the year 1600 by Kaspar Faber in Nuremberg Germany. It was run by his descendants for years. In 1839 they started using a stamp "A.W. Faber" on their pencils. A.W. Faber later set up a company in Brooklyn New York in the 1860's. This company split in to the Eberhard Faber Company. The company registered as A.W. Faber in 1870. They undertook great lengths to protect the license of their products, such as labeling them and displaying them elegantly. The name changed to A.W Faber-Castell in 1898 because it was run by a female heir Countess Alexander and husband. It is currently run by the family. Count Anton Wolfgang Faber-Castell is the 8th generation to run the company.
source: http://www.fabercastell.com/company/history

PLAYSKOOL My PLAYSKOOL supplies
PLAYSKOOL is part of the larger Hasbro brand. So far I have only seen PLAYSKOOL colored pencils and crayons. They are usually sold at the discount section of stores or dollar stores. The quality is sub-par.

Prismacolor My Prismacolor Supplies

website: https://www.prismacolor.com/

Prismacolor started as Eagle Pencil Company in 1856 by Daniel Berolzheimer. They made graphite pencils and other writing instruments. In 1938 they launched Eagle Prismacolor Colored Pencils. In 1969 they got bought out by Berol and renamed them Berol pencils. In 1984 dual ended markers were introduced. In 1995 Newel brands bought out Prismacolor and have been owned by them over since. Prismacolor makes colored pencils, markers, graphite pencils, pastels, and accessories. I recently purchased my first box of 150 Prismacolor colored pencils and love them! 

Sharpie My Sharpie Supplies
website: https://www.sharpie.com/en-US
Sharpie's are one of my favorite writing instruments. They can be used on clothing, paper, plastic, almost anything to provide a permanent mark. They sell a variety of colors. Sharpie's product selection includes: fine point markers, ultra-fine permanent markers, twin tip markers, brush tip markers, metallic markers, pens, highlighters, water-based paint markers, oil-based paint markers, and industrial markers.
History and Background
Sharpie was part of the Sanford Ink Company and was founded in 1964. Sandford was founded in 1857 by Frederick W. Redington and William H. Sanford, Jr.  In 1990 Newell Companies, the ones that make Rubbermaid products bought Sharpie.
Source: http://www.sharpie.com/en-US/about-us

Staedler My Staedler Supplies
website: https://www.staedtler.us/en/
My husband has a set of triplus fineliner Staedler pens and loves them for drawing. Staedler sells: woodcase pencils, fineliners pens, ballpoint pens, mechanical pencils, erasers, permanent and non permanent markers, highlighters, dry erase markers, correcting pens, modeling clay, water color pencils, color markers, and calligraphy sets.
History and Background
Staedler is a German company that makes very good pens and pencils. They started in Nuremberg in 1835 bu J.S. Staedtler.

TomBow 
website: https://tombowusa.com/
TomBow sells state of the art colored pencils, pens, and art supplies. Their products include: pens, mechanical pencils, adhesives, correction tape, colored pencils, and erasers. I love using their adhesives for scrapbooking.
Background and History
Tombow is a Japanese company that was founded in Japan in 1913. The American Tombow, Inc. was founded in 1983.

Up & Up
Up & Up is the generic Target brand sold at Target stores. They make their own line of school supplies that include: crayons, colored pencils, markers, dry erase markers, pains, highlighters, and permanent markers. I have one box of 64 crayons. The quality of the crayons is okay. They crayons are broken in the box, that can happen with any box of crayons, but some crayons are more likely to break than others.

Yoobi My Yoobi supplies
website: https://yoobi.com/
Yoobi is one of my favorite recent companies. Their office supplies are so cute. Yoobi sells: pens, pencils, chalk, crayons, markers, gel pens, erasers, notebooks, folders, sticky notes, paper clips, binders, push pins, pencil organizers, clipboards, staplers, scissors, and much more.
Background and History
Yoobi is a really new company formed in 2014.  They were formed to help teachers. For every school supply purchased they donate one to a classroom. Their supplies are known for being bright and colorful.

Which brand is your favorite? If you have know a brand I'm missing tell me in the comments!