Author: Stephen

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Aaron Draplin All Points Ontario Tour

To my surprise, the Aaron Draplin All Points Ontario Tour landed in Waterloo, Ontario tonight. Luckily for me, I learned about this mid-afternoon today.

It was a thrill to meet Mr. Draplin, a successful (by both conventional and unconventional measures) graphic designer, the creator of Field Notes, and a notable pencil collector. There was a brief chance to chat with him about pencils, and he said some kind things about this blog.

The talk was ostensibly about graphic design, but what came through for me were the themes of pursuing one’s dreams, being true to oneself, and the deep rewards that can come from doing work you believe in for people you like. I was quite surprised to hear prices mentioned. If you’re a rural clover farmer, you can probably afford him, and I bet he’d love to work for you. The talk was erudite, witty, and inspirational.

Some Field Notes news: – if I understood correctly, there is a strong “labour of love” element to many of the special editions, and they don’t break even. And Aaron is fine with this, happy to fund interesting projects via more commercial offerings.

There was what appeared to be a (not advertised online) limited edition numbered Field Notes edition for sale at Aaron’s “merch table”. Some (other) guy bought all of them!

Those of us north of the border have probably looked fondly at the County Fair Field Notes edition, a set of fifty featuring each US state. The Canadian provinces version is coming! I hope that a Canadian printer and/or designer will be involved.

It was a great evening, and I recommend attending the tour if it comes near you.

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California Cedar: What’s going on?

California Cedar, a global pencil slat business, is known online for their pencils.com website, their Palomino pencil line, and now – a type of marketing dishonesty that completely shocks many of us who have admired them for years.

The company has introduced a “Blackwing 602” pencil that takes the name of the Eberhard Faber Blackwing 602 pencil. The new pencil has been marketed with claims of association with Frank Lloyd Wright, Duke Ellington, and John Lennon. Each of these claims has been demolished, in succession, at Orange Crate Art and Blackwing Pages.

There are many historical figures who used the Eberhard Faber Blackwing – Sean has painstakingly researched and documented this over at Blackwing Pages for years now. Claiming the usage by these people as an endorsement of the replica pencil is somewhere between questionable and outrageous (and others would find that statement mild). But fabricating stories about Frank Lloyd Wright, Duke Ellington and John Lennon using (or even favoring) the Blackwing pencil is unbelievable, and I don’t follow or understand.

And that’s just the beginning. Each of these marketing deceits (except for Lennon, as I write this) was withdrawn after being revealed and challenged. It is a sort of “Liar Whac-A-Mole”. New nonsense sprouts up when the old nonsense is debunked.

Even further, this global company seems to have taken their marketing lessons from the Steve Martin/Eddie Murphy movie Bowfinger. To quote the IMDb synopsis, “When a desperate movie producer fails to get a major star for his bargain basement film, he decides to shoot the film secretly around him.” Many of the claims about famous writers, musicians, and artists using the Blackwing are clearly lifted without credit from the Blackwing Pages.

So, California Cedar, what’s going on?

Further reading:

Blackwing Pages

Blackwing posts at Orange Crate Art

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Field Notes Brand vs. the office supply cabinet

A recent noon hour stroll took me near a university bookstore. As a bookstore, this place is only average for casual book browsing, as it is mainly a textbook store. But they also have a small stationery shop which was stocked with a few items I’d not previously seen in person.

One item that caught my eye was the Field Notes Brand steno book. To me, Field Notes is one of those “internet sensations” that is known to stationery aficionados, but which I don’t expect to see in “real life”. So, it was a nice surprise to see a small Field Notes display in a local store. I picked up a steno pad, and thought it might be fun to compare it with a “real life” item – a steno book that I’d find back at the office.

The office supply cabinet steno book was Staples brand.

A few notes: The Field Notes steno book is 80 pages, and the Staples steno book 350 pages. The Field Notes was $9.99, and the Staples book lists for $3.73. This makes the Field Notes approximately 12 cents/page, and the Staples 1/cent page. Twelve times more expensive per page is a significant difference. Is it worth it?

Field Notes Brand steno book

The two steno books in profile:

Field Notes Brand steno book

Both books are made in the US. The Field Notes has very strong cardboard covers front and back, and the Staples has a medium strength back. The Field Notes has brown lines which nicely match the covers. The Staples has green and red lines.

Field Notes Brand steno book

Green vs. brown:

Field Notes Brand steno book

With some steno pencils:

Field Notes Brand steno book

The Field Notes paper is thicker, and one gets a sense of sturdiness. The results with graphite are similar:

Field Notes Brand steno book Field Notes Brand steno book

The Field Notes gets style points, but I wonder if it would really be the choice of anyone who just needs a steno book?

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Tohkin pencil holder

Though Faber-Castell makes a remarkable pencil holder and extender, the market has a good deal of room for less expensive offerings. One of these is the pencil holder from Tohkin.

Tohkin pencil holder

From their website, it appears that Tohkin is a specialty pen clip manufacturer in Japan. This pencil holder seems to be a natural extension of their clip business.

The chromed unit has two extra features that distinguish it from other inexpensive pencil extenders – an adjustable spring loaded clip, and a giant eraser. The clip can be moved up or down the extender barrel. I suspect the eraser could be replaced.

Even the default included pencil is good quality. I would say it is a useful and usable accessory for three dollars and change.

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