Looking stylish can net you points and make you recognizable, and there’s even mousepads I’d go as far as calling stylish.  Get yourself a black leather mouse pad for some style, or as a nice corporate gift to someone.  Leather mousepads tend to be a bit more comfortable than your standard rubber mousepad in my experience.

Leather mousepads aren’t the only comfy ones, and if you’re using your mouse a lot throughout the day you really need that comfort.  The last thing you want is carpel tunnel syndrome!   A nice plastic mousepad with a gel wrist rest can be really comfortable and saves my wrist from a lot of stress and pain from the unnatural position you need your arm in to use a mouse regularly.  As far as customization goes, most of these things have plenty of space for it on the flat surface you run your mouse over.

Sometimes I like to impress by using a slightly higher tech mousepad, instead of something really simple like a flat piece of rubber.  Custom printed mousepads can be something a little more complex, like a light up mousepad or a USB hub mousepad.

These are awesome because they aren’t even remotely common.  A company giving these out as gifts will benefit from being the only guys on the block with them.  They also look high tech but still are useful, which is a big deal when it comes to computer peripherals.  It doesn’t sound very important, but take a look around your computer store and see how many plain white, big blocky three-key mice you can still find. 

There’s a fair bit of fashion with computer parts these days, as strange as it might seem to some of you readers, and a USB hub mousepad is totally stylish and one that lights up is going to be turning some heads your way.

Companies shouldn’t avoid custom printed mousepads just because I think they’re great for my own personal brand. A lot of companies go with the very simple foam mousepad, the kind most people have at home or in their office. These are the flat rubbery things. I like these, myself, because they’re just blank slates that I can put just about anything on.

Some of them can come in special stock shapes, too. Just about everything you can think of: footballs, flags, numbers, and symbols like dollar signs. Some shapes will be more appropriate than others, and you might want a good look at one to make sure it’s useful. If you’re giving out mousepads to advertise, you probably should make it something you can actually use!

Lately I’ve been pretty popular at LAN parties.  Or, I should say, my rig (my computer case) and my peripherals (mouse, keyboard, joystick) have been pretty popular.  Some of my comrades in arms like to express themselves through silly hats or T-shirts with snarky one liners but I like to be a little more creative.  I’ve got myself hooked up with some custom printed mousepads with my own special brand.

I’m on my way to being the next Romero-like “FPS rockstar” because I’m rocking my own personal brand.  You should probably consider it, too.  Companies aren’t the only ones with brands out there anymore, now that the days of working at one place for decades in return for a secure retirement funded by your employer is out the window.  You’ve gotta market yourself.