Kickstarter

Magnet vs. pencil

1 Comment / Seen in the wild / By

Just one or two days after I last mentioned Stilform, they announced their latest Kickstarter project: the Stilform Aeon.

It’s a ‘pen tip holder’ that comes with two magnetically held tips:

  • one with a metal alloy end, called eternal tip, that leaves light marks on paper (and other surfaces)
  • and the other one with a graphite end on the tip.

The implied claim is that using this pen is “not at the cost of the earth’s precious resources”. I like stationery, but when marketing departments make claims like this I get very sceptical. Comparing the eternal tip to a pencil doesn’t seem to make sense: writing with metal alloy tips is not comparable to writing with a pencil. The lines that pens like this leave are very light, at least that’s the case for the metal alloy pens I have used. Based on what I have seen on the Kickstarter page the Aeon is not different.

That leaves a comparison between the graphite tip on this pen and a pencil.

Stilform’s English language social media channels don’t show photos of the Aeon, so I had to use Stilform Japan’s tweet

I might not have understood how this pen works, but I think graphite will be ‘used up’ when writing with this pen , so it looks as if to refill your pen you need to buy new graphite tips that come with magnetic ends. Generally speaking magnets are not eco friendly, so I am not convinced that buying replacement graphite tips is better than buying wood cased pencils, especially not if they are made from FSC certified wood.

Just to clarify, I don’t have a problem with the Aeon, but if you claim or imply this pen is better for the environment, and that is the opening and main point of the Kickstarter video, then it would be nice to provide some details how you came to this conclusion.

It’s great if this pen is better for the environment, but if so then explain why that is instead of just telling us and we have to believe this without an explanation.

Analog Futures

1 Comment / Seen in the wild / By

Yesterday, I was contacted about a new Kickstarter project. My understanding of the essence of this project is that it tries to fine-tune the common fountain pen (and rollerball) design to make a better pen for a ‘broad spectrum of users’.

The Hungarian designer behind this project has worked with Montblanc and Montegrappa which looks like a very promising starting point for this project. Not wanting to fall into stereotypes, but Hungary has a reputation for great inventors, think of the biro, the Rubik’s cube, the gömböc, etc, so all I can say here is ‘no pressure’ ;^)

If you want to find out more you can do so on their Kickstarter page, on their web site or on their blog.

My Sapelo Penvelope

8 Comments / Pencil cases / By

You might have seen this already on my Instagram account, but I thought I also post this picture here, too: Last week I got my Sapelo Penvelope from The Pen Addict’s 2017 Kickstarter.

It looks absolutely beautiful.

Unfortunately customs weren’t kind (again), so after adding postage, fees etc, the $30 Sapelo was $62 by the time it landed on my door.

Other had similar fees to pay:

Good news is that I am now the proud owner of both The Pen Addict Kickstarter cases.

Here’s a reminder that the first one (300 were made) was nearly as good looking as the new one:

Nock Hightower Case and Notebook

Nock Hightower Case (outside) and Notebook. The Noris was not part of the Kickstarter.

 

Back to the topic of customs fees in the UK: Let’s see how much my 2018 Hobonichi will cost in the end. I will know soon.

Worst pencil museum / Postcards / Pencil+

3 Comments / Links / By

There are a few small things I want to mention that all didn’t make it into their own blog posts.

Pencil Museum

Last Sunday Sue Perkins was asking BBC Radio 2 listeners about their worst Sunday activities and gave visiting a pencil museum as an example ? (about 7 minutes into recording I linked to). Well, I enjoyed my visit to the pencil museum very much …and I guess the listeners, too, as none of them mentioned visiting the pencil museum as their worst Sunday activity.

Postcard Campaign

This morning our friend Phoebe Smith, editor of Wanderlust magazine, was on BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House programme (about 41 minutes into recording I linked to), having a look at the postcards Radio 4 has received as part of their campaign to revive the use of postcards. I think the postcard campaign is a great idea, especially with the postcard having many friends in the stationery community, such as East…West…Everywhere’s Shangching, Banditapple’s Arnie and many more.

Pencil+

When searching on Google for something rather unrelated this morning I came across Pencil+, an upcoming Kickstarter. I thought I share the link with you, but I don’t have any further information (price, start date, …) and have not been in contact with the people behind the pencil.

Pencil+ (Image © Pencil+)

I believe that the use of pencil+’s image shown in this blog post falls under “fair dealing” as described by the UK Copyright service.

The Magno – a magnetic lead holder

Leave a Comment / Mechanical pencils / By

A few days ago I have received a Magno from HribarCain. First I wasn’t sure what to think of it and its unique feature, but now that I have tried it for a while I have to say that I really like this pencil and love the mechanism used to propel the lead.

The Magno is a lead holder with a magnetic mechanism, invented by HribarCain – a team of two British design engineers who started working on this pencil one and a half years ago.

Magno by HribarCain

The mechanism

The special thing about this pencil is the magnetic mechanism used to propel the lead. Instead of clicking a button (..and the lead ‘falls out’) you first loosen the front of the pen. You then move a ring on the outside of the body which will move a magnet inside the pencil. This magnet is attached to the lead. This gives precise control over how much more lead you want to expose.

I know that some people who bought the Penxo, a very different Kickstarter pen  in a similar price range, had problems with the lead breaking easily. I did some initial drop tests and the Magno seems to cope well with being dropped: the lead didn’t break.

The Kickstarter

My understanding is that everything is in place to produce the Magno and it will get made anyway, but instead of just selling these pencils in an online shop HribarCain is launching a Kickstarter campaign on 22 July where early backers can get this pen for £20. The money raised will then be used for other design products they plan to make.

Magno by HribarCain

The options

The pen will be available in four colours that have an iPhone vibe to them, but unlike the Lamy LX the Magno’s colours aren’t a copy of the iPhone colour, which I think is a good thing.

Conclusion

When I saw the photos I thought the Magno is a bit on the bling looking side, but in reality the pen was more ‘serious’ looking than I expected. The ring is still a bit shiny for my taste, but overall the Magno  is serious looking enough to use at work.

Magno by HribarCain

I hope this pencil will sell well so that there will be even more versions in the future. A Rotring-style matt black version, maybe even hexagonal, with a slimmer ring would be such an amazing pen, at least for my taste, others will disagree.

The Magno is very well made and when keeping in mind that there are many lead holders and clutch pencils with a plastic body that cost nearly as much, £20 is great value for money.

You can find the Kickstarter at this address.

A photo from the Kickstarter campaign (Image © HRIBARCAIN)
A photo from the Kickstarter campaign (Image © HRIBARCAIN)

I’d like to thank Ashley from HribarCain who has sent me the Magno free of charge for review purposes.