Category: Felissimo

To promote the Felissimo 500 Colour pencil set, Felissimo is holding two contests.

I hope you will consider entering.

Contest 1: Design a pair of web banners, or a poster. The prize in each category is a set of Felissimo 500 pencils plus $US1000.00 cash. Not bad!

Contest 2: Design a pencil case for the pencils. How cool is that? The prize is a set of Felissimo 500 pencils plus $US1000.00 cash plus an expenses paid trip to a design show in Tokyo, Japan!!!

The design briefs and contest details are here.

Felissimo recently relaunched their amazing set of 500 colour pencils in Japan.

This news was already exciting, but Felissimo recently contacted me, and told me about their plans to make these pencils available globally by monthly subscription! 25 pencils are sent from Japan each month for 20 months. The subscription price is $33.00 per month, inclusive of all costs.

I congratulate Felissimo on embracing the market beyond Japan, and wish them well. I hope other pencil manufacturers will follow.

Kossy has some photos of the second set here if you want a non-PR photo. They look amazing!

There is more. I’m happy to say that pencil talk has agreed to participate in the product’s promotion. There are a few reasons for this: I think it is an extraordinary offering that supports the creative use of pencils; I support the efforts of Japanese stationers to offer their outstanding products globally, and think a direct offer via the web is an excellent decision. And yes, they’re sending some pencils this way!

We’ll take a look at the actual pencils in September!

How pencils are made – video

My thanks to Huib for these YouTube links – these are by far the best the best videos I’ve seen documenting pencil production.

Staedtler This is from the How it is Made televison show. Staedtler is never mentioned by name.

Faber-Castell

Another Staedtler video

I found these fascinating. Staedler pencils have always had a unique type of factory sharpening, and we see how they do it! Lots of other information as well.

It looks like the guy pouring the graphite and clay dust at Faber-Castell should be wearing a mask.

We also see some quality tests, such as a Staedtler pencil point snapping at 36.2 Newtons of force, and Faber-Castell’s fascinating lead abrasion tester in action.

Steno Pencils in North America?

Two recent blog comments plus direct email reveals that a few people are seeking high quality Steno pencils in North America. The Stenofix or Castell 9008 would be ideal. Are there any known sources, or any vendors who ship worldwide?

Felissimo 500 colour pencil set

More information about this interesting set of 500 colour pencils – it is sold by subscription. 25 pencils are released each month for a period of 20 months! That’s what I call a pencil of the month club!

It looks like Kossy already has the first (and very green!) set: On the desk, at any time

Also, two English language articles about the pencils. The first shows some very interesting arrangements, using the pencils as decorative objects:
Asaborake and design in daily life.

For those who’d like to see the vast array, the official product page.

Also, Felissimo has a New York branch in a beautiful building. I wonder if they stock these pencils?

Lexikaliker quoted by Staedtler

It is really a delight to see fellow pencil blog Lexikaliker being quoted by the pencil industry.

This story was picked up by Staedtler’s company newsletter, which can be downloaded here.

For the curious, Faber-Castell also has a newsletter. Sample interesting fact: There are six machines capable of manufacturing the Grip 2001 pencil. Two are in Germany, and four are in Brazil.

Just after mentioning Mitsubishi’s set of 240 colour pencils, we have this: A 500 colour set! Astounding!

(thanks to Kero556’s twitter feed)