For a person who gets inspired by fine writing instruments, it should be easy for me to articulate my opinion about the X – Pen, but for some odd reason I have a block! I think it stems from the fact that I equated well designed pens with the high-end brands. The X – Pen has forced me to rewire my thinking & take into consideration that lovingly crafted pens can be equally inspiring, distinguished and exude the same amount of confidence that a Porsche Design TecFlex or a Mont Blanc can!
Designer Arash Malek fell in love with the Pilot Razor Point and Fineliner when he was studying in design school. His brother Mehdi (engineering background) and he were equally passionate about the process of making things and often delved into the DIY world. The love of tools and drive for making things, led to the idea of creating a pen the celebrated the awesomeness of the plastic felt tip Pilot Pen. The idea was to integrate fun and functionality, while presenting an affordable product.
The brothers decided to craft a pen that incorporated everything they cared about. As Arash explains, “The hex on the cap is a tool used to refill the pen. The process of refilling the pen is an exploration of disassembly and assembly. The magnetic cap was a feature we needed to tell apart ferrous from non-ferrous metals while shopping for metal, it also makes mounting the cap incredibly fun.”
Their excitement regarding the X – Pen is infectious! If I were to come up with a fun-DIY-pen, then this would probably be it!
The X – Pen is essentially a machined 6061 aircraft grade aluminium felt tip pen that is powered by both the Pilot razor point & the Pilot Fineliner. The pen hopes to excite and engage designers, architects, engineers, and do it yourselfers; but quite honestly I think anyone with passion for pens will love to add this to their collection!
- The cap has a hex machined on it so that you can open the hex set screw used to secure in the ink. The process of refilling the ink is as exciting as building a model car or airplane!
- Aircraft grade aluminium 6061.
- X – Pen uses a standard off the shelf hex set screw (easy to replace in case it gets lost) the pen looks great with or without a nickel plate setscrew.
- Unibody design, nothing to get loose while using the pen.
- Magnetic cap secures effortlessly on pen, is fun to play with, makes grabbing paper clips or push pins a breeze.
- 0.43” diameter (most comfortable diameter according to experiments and feedback from users).
- 4” overall length fits in your pockets unnoticed.
Designers: The Minimal Duck, Arash and Mehdi Malek [ Buy it Here ]
