In Link Love, news

A Quiet Week…

Author AnaPosted on 7 Comments

quiet hallway

FYI, I just wanted to give y’all a “heads up”, I am in the final week of a huge project at work which is requiring a ton of overtime including being in the office on a Sunday in order to finish it up. (Please refer to the somber photo above as proof.) This means its  going to be a little quiet around here this next week. My apologies! I’ll be sure to get Link Love up this week, and there’s going to be a big surprise for that! By Saturday, the project should be released and I can think about pens and ink and paper again so I can get back to the regularly scheduled program, already in progress.

sketchbooks-1

Side note: there’s another project in the works that’s going to be kind of exciting. There will be more information about that sometime next week but its gonna be kind of big. So stay tuned.

In the meantime, check out the archives, click some old Link Loves and say hello to our lovely sponsors. Next month it will be six years, gang! I’ve  been doing this for six years! Can you believe it?

In feature

Is this the definitive modern office?

Author AnaPosted on 29 Comments
No obstacles: Facebook's headquarters in Menlo Park, California Washington Post

No obstacles: Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California Washington Post (via The Independent)

I was listening to Cortex yesterday and Myke and CGP Grey were mentioning the new Menlo Park headquarters for Facebook and the large, open-plan work space. This space is not a trend unique to Facebook. Many companies and office spaces are transitioning to open-plan work spaces for more “open communication” and collaborating. But is this type of space really the solution to that? Do people really collaborate more and do critical thinking in a space like this or do they end up trying to drown out all the distractions with headphones or go hide away in a closet somewhere to get some actual work done?

I find the interior space of the new Facebook office neither aesthetically appealing nor engaging for working or collaborating. It just looks cluttered, messy and noisy. The fact that no one is given any storage space nor are they encouraged to have personal items on their desk seem to only make it more disheartening and cluttered. The overly high, unfinished ceilings with cables descending down are even worse! I think of something Trevor Noah said about not moving into Jon Stewart’s office after he left the Daily Show… he talked about how the whole point of moving up in the worked and getting out of poverty meant he didn’t want to have to live in a space with exposed brick walls again and what was it with white people and exposed brick? I feel the same way about wealthy tech companies and exposed wiring? You can afford to have that sh*t covered up! This whole space gives me a case of the hibby jibbies!

For a more in-depth view of the new Facebook work space, there is a 3+ minute video tour on YouTube.

I really hope that the pendulum of the open floor plan office starts to swing back the other way because I don’t believe that this much openness is genuinely conducive to non-distracted working and thinking. I believe it leads people to seek out other places to work, or they choose to come into work either early or stay late in an attempt to avoid distrations. I think the myth of multi-tacking needs to stop. It makes people sloppy and tired. We can multi-task for a little while but, in the end, I don’t think its effective, efficient or healthy. I don’t think we, as idea workers, can come up with our best ideas when we are constantly distracted by co-workers, bleeps, or other disturbances. Yes, its nice to have a way to bounce ideas off other people, but we need to find a better way to do it other than forcing people to sit shoulder-to-shoulder with headphones on while they madly type into their laptops and mobile devices. That’s not really collaborating, is it?

Thus endedth the tirade.

In Fashionable Friday

Fashionable Friday: Planet Comicon 2016

Author AnaPosted on 3 Comments

FF-Planet-Comicon16
It’s that time of year again, its time to get my nerd girl on… this weekend is the Kansas City Planet Comicon and while I will not be able to meet the goddess that is Hayley Atwell AKA Agent Peggy Carter who will only be at the event today, I will be cruising around on Saturday picking up comics, toys and nerd wonderment on Saturday. But I did ask friends to give Hayley a kiss for me and a promise not to lick her though, if it were me, I might. But I am still totally bummed that Agent Carter was not renewed for a third season! It’s time for Amazon or Netflix to step in and save the series!!!!

So, in keeping with tradition, this week’s Fashionable Friday is geek themed!

  • Diamine Shimmering Red Lustre Ink (50 ml Bottle) $20 (via JetPens)
  • Montegrappa Wonder Woman Fountain Pen $475 (via Pen Boutique)
  • Fortuna fountain pen white and ruthenium €205 (via Fontoplumo)
  • Rhodia 5-3/8 X 8-1/4 Orange/Dot Grid Top Staplebound Dot Pad Notebook $5.50 (via Pen Chalet)
  • Shachihata Artline Blox Mechanical Pencil – 0.5 mm – Type 3 (Orange/Blue) $2.60 (via JetPens)
  • TARDIS Print 13″x19″ $30 (via Bryan Fyffe)
  • Piper V Dark Brown Boots (AKA Rey’s Boots from The Force Awakens) £125 (via Po-Zu)
  • Akkerman Residentie Blauw (60ml Bottle) $29 (via Anderson Pens)
  • BB-8 $149.99 (via Sphero)
  • Pelikan Souveran 805 Vibrant Blue Medium Point Fountain Pen $699.95 (via Goldspot Pens)
  • Midori Brass Pencil $16 (via Fresh Stock Japan)
In Ink Review

Ink Review: Lamy Dark Lilac

Author AnaPosted on 3 Comments

Lamy Dark Lilac Ink

I feel terrible that I keep reviewing inks that are sold out already but what can I do? I buy them as fast as I can but, when they are limited edition, they sell out. But you want to know if they are good, right? So here it is… my take on Lamy Dark Lilac $10.50. Some shops are saying they will get a restock towards the end of May, beginning of June so keep your eyes peeled.

Lamy Dark Lilac Ink Writing Sample

I tested Dark Lilac with my new-to-me Lamy Safari Lime (the 2008 edition, thanks to Susan Wirth for this wonderful pen!) with an EF nib. I’d heard there was not a lot of shading with the Dark Lilac so I didn’t think using a fine nib would be doing the ink a disservice. I did do a few sentences with my Esterbrook 9315F relief stub, just to check, but the color is so dense that it really did not shade much. As a result, Dark Lilac really is a good color for legibility in fine and extra fine nibs and a great alternative to a black or blue-black ink as an everyday use ink. It flowed beautifully in the Safari with an EF nib and I think would be equally effective with a Japanese F or EF nib as well. It might even look a little lighter in an even finer nib and might show off the vividness of the color a bit more.

Lamy Dark Lilac Ink Comparison

In the ink swabs, the Dark Lilac shows a slight gold sheen but its also evident how dense and the vibrant the color is compared to the other inks. Noodler’s Purple Wampum is really the only ink I could find that was close in hue. KWZ Gummiberry Iron Gall was close in color density. I’m not sure if the regular version of Gummiberry is as deep as the iron gall formula but that may be another alternative.

The last few special edition colors of the Lamy Safaris and AL-Stars with matching inks have offered ink colors that have been way too light to be genuinely usable until now.  Dark Lilac is one of the most usable and interesting ink colors from Lamy since their BlueBlack. If you happen upon a bottle (or even some cartridges), grab it while you have the chance. This is definitely one of the better limited edition ink offerings from Lamy.

In Link Love

Link Love: Nibbage of All Types

Author AnaPosted on 2 Comments

rp_link-anaPens:

Ink:

Notebooks & Paper:

Planners & Organizers:

Other Interesting Things:

In Book Review

Books for the Desk Set: Calligraphy & Lettering

Author AnaPosted on

In Progress by Jessica Hische

In Progress: See Inside a Lettering Artist’s Sketchbook and Process, from Pencil to Vector
by Jessica Hische ($9.99 for Kindle, $20.23 for hardcover)

In Progress is one of the most eye-opening books about hand drawn lettering that I have ever seen. Its incredibly refreshing to see both the process and the finished work of such an incredibly talented lettering artist like Jessica Hische and to see how she tweaks and refines things through the various phases of her process. If you have even an inkling of interest in creating hand lettering or calligraphy, this book is worth every penny. Jessica Hische is one of the most talented people in the industry today and for many years to come and she shows her whole process in a very open and honest way.

She shows her favorite tools (Hello, Blackwings!) for sketching and idea generation all the way through to her digital refining process. Even as eye candy, the book is worth the price.

Learn to Draw Calligraphy Animals

Learn to Draw Calligraphy Animals: 30 unique creations
by Andrew Fox ($12.06 for hardcover)

Through twists and turns on Pinterest, I found Andrew Fox’s book Learn to Draw Calligraphy Animals on This Is Colossal. Fox uses the wide flat strokes of calligraphy nibs to create simple, expressive animals in an absolutely captivating way. This book is a perfect addition for the Desk Set bookshelf. Drawing PLUS calligraphy nibs?!?! It’s a total no-brainer.

Fox has also created a book on drawing nature using calligraphy pens which was released in March. Even more fun to be had!

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Drawing Type: An Introduction to Illustrating Letterforms
by Alex Fowkes ($25.84 for paperback)

Drawing Type features an array of international lettering artists mostly doing decorative hand lettered stylings and not a lot of overly computer-stylized looks. Jon Contino, Mary Kate McDevitt and Linzie Hunter are all featured if that gives you an idea of the aesthetics represented. Towards the back of the book are some exercises to try to develop your own hand lettering style as well as a few specimen pages of some typefaces to use as reference. Overall its a good coffee table book with a good representation of the hand lettering styles popular right now.

71LCE10xWWLLittle Book of Lettering
by Emily Gregory ($15.21 for hardcover)

The Little Book of Lettering lives up to its name as it is a small book, about the size of a CD, and its been out for a few years now, but its a book I find myself referring back to time and again. Its filled with inspiring spreads of lettering art from different illustrators and calligraphers with vastly different styles. The book is actually divided into three sections to represent tightly rendered, loose and casual and 3-dimensional styled lettering. While there is no specific how-to’s in the book, its a great inspiration and covers a range of aesthetics and introduces the reader to a lot of different artists and their work.

In feature

When Good Repairs Happen to Good Pens

Author AnaPosted on 2 Comments

lady sheaffer gold

I wanted to do a follow-up to what happened to my Parker Duofold in Atlanta. I wanted to share a GOOD repair story that happened at the Chicago Pen Show. I bought a low-priced Lady Sheaffer Skripsert on Thursday night on a vendor’s table only to discover that there was a crack in the nib plastic a couple days later. Now, I didn’t look closely enough when I purchased it to discover the crack so I know this was my fault.

I mentioned the crack to someone at the show on Sunday and was told that Ron Zorn at Main Street Pens was the man to see and that he might have parts to fix a Lady Sheaffer Skripsert. Later, he happened to come by the Vanness table while I was working and I mentioned my broken Lady Sheaffer and he told me to come by he table right then. I followed him into the ballroom and was able to watch him disassemble the complicated assembly of the partially hooded nib from the cracked housing. He had a spare housing and even had new-old-stock nibs and housings so I purchased a spare fine nib as well as having him replace the housing for the original nib.

lady sheaffer gold fine nib

He did the work quickly and talked me through the procedure. He even told me he had a lot of additional  parts for Lady Sheaffers and that if I had any others that needed repairs to let him know.

lady sheaffer gold

I thought it was interesting to see that the dolphin nose angle of the nib is less severe on the X-Fine nib than on the medium nib. They are both 14K nibs and very smooth.

I thought it would be good to share a repair story with a happy ending.

lady sheaffer gold fine nib writing sample

When I got back to Kansas City, I put a turquoise Sheaffer cartridge in it and was actually quite pleased with the color of the ink. I noticed a little bit a a red halo to it which was a pleasant surprise. I plan to use up the ink and then refill the cartridges because finding a converter to fit the Lady Sheaffers is kind of a challenging. The X-Fine writes beautifully and I love it!

the lady sheaffer brigade

The “new” gold Lady Sheaffer Skripsert came with a little carrying case but I thought I’d show the whole collection together — two Lady Sheaffer Skripserts and the Sheaffer Imperial plus the extra nib unit. Now to find some of those exotic Lady Sheaffer beauties in blue and red!