Author: Stephen

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Knock Knock No. 2 Composition Book

Knock Knock No. 2 Composition Book

The Knock Knock No. 2 Composition Book is a fantastic notebook!

It promises little, and delivers a great experience. The first thing you’ll notice is the amazing colour of the covers. Each notebook is bound by a cardboard cover with the strength and thickness of a hardcover book. The front and back are each in different full colour.

Knock Knock No. 2 Composition Book

The pages are perforated, with solid, quality white paper. The left four-fifths of the page has dark grey lines, while the right fifth has small “Date” and “Topic” sections, with larger “To Do” and “To Remember” sections.

Knock Knock No. 2 Composition Book

Each page is perforated, and the upper right corner has a small tab perforation.

Knock Knock No. 2 Composition Book Knock Knock No. 2 Composition Book

The notebook is both fun and usable. It’s a great alternative offering.

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Results (The Great Debate: sharpened or unsharpened)

Thanks to those who voted or left comments in this informal poll.

Unsharpened pencils were preferred, with the final tally being 35 for unsharpened, 17 for sharpened.

fixedgearfiend asked, “How are the pencils that come pre-sharpened, sharpened?” Staedtler’s Pencil Facts website has a video that very briefly shows factory sharpening. The machine is moving quickly, and the video is quite small, so it’s hard to give too much description – but it seems to be capable of sharpening several pencils in a second.

Kent mentioned the retail experience. Stores often have scratch pads to try out pens, pencils, and markers – but that won’t work with unsharpened pencils. So retail needs may be another factor in a manufacturer’s decision.

I wonder what the subject of the next poll should be.

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The Great Debate: sharpened or unsharpened

The Great Debate: sharpened or unsharpened

New pencils are sold both sharpened and unsharpened. The major European manufacturers (Staedtler, Faber-Castell, Derwent, Lyra, Stabilo, etc.) all typically sell their pencils pre-sharpened. In contrast, the Japanese (Kita-Boshi, Pentel, Mitsubishi, Tombow) and American (Sanford, Dixon) manufacturers generally sell pencils unsharpened. There are of course exceptions.

Pre-sharpening can provide a convenience factor to consumers. But it also has drawbacks – the pencils are more likely to get broken in transport from store to home/office. As well, the angle of sharpening might be different than that provided by your preferred sharpener, and require a couple of unideal sharpenings before it’s right.

It also deprives one of the pleasant sharpening ritual, the defined initiation of a new pencil.

On the plus side, a pre-sharpened pencil is instantly useable, and sharpeners aren’t always at hand or convenient to use. The factory sharpening could be viewed as a small courtesy towards the customer.

So what do you prefer? Feel free to leave a comment as well as vote in this poll.

{democracy:1}
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Draplin Design Co. Factory Floor Issue Longhand Set

Draplin Design Co.

I just received a Draplin Design Co. Factory Floor Issue Longhand Set. It’s like an early Hallowe’en loot bag for stationery/design lovers.

Draplin Design Co.

The shop floor never looked so good. The set included:

Field Notes ruler
Field Notes sharpener
Field Notes notebooks
Draplindustries carpenter pencils
Draplin round pencil
Draplindustries ballpont pen
Draplin Sharpie
Draplin Mini-Sharpie
Draplin Calendar
Draplin Anvil decal

Draplin Design Co.

This was much more than I ordered. They threw in a number of these items as extras.

I don’t know how they did it, but they’ve got the retro industrial look down pat. With many touches of whimsy.

Draplin Design Co.

The fun doesn’t end there. The envelope in which this was delivered was addressed “Canada, eh!”, which someone at the post office found the need to manually annotate as “CANADA”.

Draplin Design Co.

There is something that just feels great about a talented designer taking on these “ordinary” items. I will definitely keep an eye on Draplin for their future projects.

Draplin Design Co.

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