If you have clicked on this post, you share our deep-seated love for everything stationery – trust me when I say we can fawn over paper clips too! Working every day with product design means we have an eye for attention to detail that is there in the material of the design, of the form of the pen to its finish, we appreciate the effort and long hours put in by the designer. It is this attention to detail that sets an ordinary pen apart from the designer pens we have curated here. Each design here will leave you in awe as well as with a smile as you share our enthusiasm – from the SpaceX inspired pen that ‘lands’ on your desk to those COPIC markers given a new lease of life in a more portable fan-shaped design. The designs in this collection are so essential, they will be elevated from a pen design to an essential EDC that will be the most valued gift you will ever own.
P.S. – This collection will make a really thoughtful Christmas gift for every stationery lover – it’s never too early to start Xmas shopping!
Inspired by the democratization of space travel and how one private company, founded by Elon Musk is leading the charge to make space-travel accessible to all, the Nominal Pen is literally designed to look like a rocket… making it perhaps the most literal take on the ‘space pen’. The pen’s name comes from the term ‘nominal’, often used for when everything’s going smoothly and according to plan. Designed as a celebration of SpaceX’s recent achievements of being the only private company to send humans to the ISS and bring them back (while even retrieving parts of the spaceship to be reused at a later date – something nobody’s ever done), the Nominal Pen models itself on the Falcon series of rockets (the Falcon 9 Block 5 in particular). The pen comes in a similar light+dark metal finish, featuring four retractable legs that open out, allowing it to stand vertically on its own… after all, it would be quite shameful to have to put a rocket-shaped pen in your pen-stand, right? The Nominal Pen’s retractable legs are operated by a twist-to-open mechanism machined right into the pen’s metal body… while the opposite end of the pen features a magnetic crew-capsule that detaches from the rocket-body!
Not technically a pen, the 3Dsimo MultiPro by Petr Duba is the wet dream of every designer/creator who just wants to go wild with creating and not be limited by the availability of prototyping or workshop tools. Designed to cut down on expensive gadgets that otherwise collect dust in your workshop, 3Dsimo MultiPro helps democratize creation, with its pen-shaped tool and detachable head system that works much like a hand-held power tool. Its detachable heads let it instantly transform into a drill machine, an electric screwdriver, a jigsaw, a foam-cutter, soldering iron, heat-etcher/engraver, and even a 3D printing pen (like the 3Doodler).
Celebrated as the most successful fountain pen in crowdfunding history, the Stilform INK is back in its minimal, delightful glory, but with a few tiny tweaks that make it better and more long-lasting. The pen comes in its signature cylindrical design, with two flat edges running length-wise to prevent it from rolling. Its iconic element lies in the magnetic cap, which cleverly self-aligns as it snaps to the pen, thanks to multiple hidden neodymium magnets that make sure the cap fits on the right way. To open the pen, just twist the cap causing the inner magnets to repel each other, and the cap effortlessly comes off to reveal the German-made Peter Bock nib sitting inside.
Created as a cross between a Pantone shade card and a stationery set, the Pen Fan fits 8 different flat-head sketch pens in a small, easy-to-carry set. The flat pens are connected to each other, forming a neat Japanese-fan style layout that displays all 8 colors for you to pick and choose from. Each individual sketch pen is detachable too, allowing you to snap off and on pens to create a palette of your choice! Stationery-hoarders, you’ve been warned.
An unusual looking and unusually handy piece of EDC, Noval Bell’s Darter pen comes entirely machined from aluminum and brass. The outer body sits at a remarkable 58mm in height (that’s the same size as an AA battery), and houses inside it a Cross Matrix ballpoint refill. Around the refill also sits the intricately machined sewing kit which cleverly houses 4 needles, a bobbin, 2 spools of thread, and even space for a spare button for good measure. The Cross Matrix ballpoint refill ensures the Darter works spectacularly as a writing instrument, while although the sewing module won’t be something you use often, it’ll be a practical lifesaver when you do end up needing it to stitch the hole in your pockets from your other extravagant purchases!
nuka comprises of an eternal pencil, made of a specialized alloy tip that can oxidize a paper’s surface without a residue, essentially making it run forever (and not need sharpening either). While that, in itself, is pretty marvelous, it comes with nuka’s invincible notebook. The notebook is waterproof, tear-proof, and works wonderfully in conjunction with the nuka pencil. Together, you can take notes practically anywhere, anyhow. Write in the rain, in the snow, upside down, or even in a hurry. nuka’s notebook is capable of being your canvas in practically any scenario without ripping, tearing, or affecting your line-quality. What do you do when the notebook gets over? nuka also comes with a specialized eraser fluid that lets you wipe the entire book clean, leaving not even a trace of your lines and notes. The eraser fluid comes in both spray and wet-wipe form, and wipes the oxidization/lines/notes off the paper, making it brand new, something even water or an eraser can’t do.
Designed by Alasdair MacLaine, Wingback’s Black Steel collection sports three minimal-yet-functional products that are bound to be an unwavering part of your everyday carry. A bullet-sized Key Cache helps you store emergency money on your keychain, while a mechanical pen with its comfortable broad design promises to be the last pen you’ll ever want to use. All of the Black Steel products are precisely lathe-manufactured in the UK using stainless steel, before being coated with a 3um thick surface of the magical Tungsten Carbide using a revolutionary process called magnetron sputtering. The result is a product with a black finish that’s still remarkably shiny, thanks to the steel sitting underneath it. You can even get custom personalized inscriptions laser-engraved onto your products, revealing the shining steel underneath the black coating. Each EDC gear is designed to be perfectly functional as well as aesthetic, with impeccable tolerances, and knurled surfaces that make using the items easy.
The concrete stationery created by 22Studio is no less than art, these are made to last lifelong and passed down as family collectibles through generations. Concrete is used to make this pen because it adds a rich look without making it shiny or fancy – it is simple but makes a bold statement. The solid pen starts as a liquid mixture of different elements and then it allowed to set like stone. The concrete pen is carefully designed and crafted by hand in the studio which gives it its unique personality.
Rather sardonically titled “Not Just Another Black Pencil”, Matteo Ercole’s pencil design is everything a stationery-lover wants. Bringing an avant-garde design to mechanical lead pencils, Ercole’s concept is as luxurious and desirable as most state-of-the-art collector-edition fountain pens are. With a thick, robust metal body, complete with an anodized finish and a matching-tone speckle (just like you’d see in professional camera bodies), Not Just Another Black Pencil is a delight to look at, as the light gently bounces off its satin-finish body, and I imagine it’s a pleasure to grip too, with the cold metal feeling just great against your fingertips.
Touch the SHIRO and it’s like nothing you’ve ever drawn or written with before. The diatomite-material, along with the SHIRO’s wavy texture are a complete tactile experience. The pen derives its name from the Japanese word for waves too, a reference not only to the unique wavy pattern on the pen’s body, but also the origin of the Diatomite material. Almost like holding an incredibly lightweight piece of stone, the SHIRO Drawing Pen feels equal parts light yet solid. The diatomite’s inherently porous nature also makes drawing/writing more comfortable, as the pen’s body absorbs moisture or perspiration on your hands, giving you an easy penning experience. Fitted with a graphite lead on the inside, the SHIRO is perfect for writing, sketching, and drawing plans. Whether it’s as small as a doodle in a notebook or a long as a detailed design sketch, SHIRO pulls you in with its incredible textured design, and keeps you in with its comfortable writing experience.
ATECH’s multifunctional seven-in-one pen is a marvel in itself. What starts off as a handy ballpoint pen goes on to reveal six more of its counterparts. Not only does it function as a ballpoint pen, but as a stylus for your smartphone and other touch screen devices, bottle opener, 2mm mini flat-head screwdriver, 2.5 mm Phillips screwdriver, smartphone stand, and a metric and inch ruler! It provides multiple solutions for your minute everyday problems! Crafted out of aluminum and copper, the tool is durable and easily portable, ensuring you don’t have to carry around your box full of heavy equipment here and there!
I can’t honestly grasp how I don’t have the Fume Marker Pen Stand and Package in my workspace already. Just a simple tinted transparent acrylic cube, the Fume acts as a rather beautiful pen-stand for your alcohol markers (something designers swear by). Its design doesn’t just have them laid out in an interesting format, it even allows you to segregate them by hue into three zones… One for color, one for warm grays, and one for cool grays. Love!
