I just wanted to put a quick post up about the lecture hosted by the Kansas City Coffee & Design group. Today’s lecture was Mike Rohde of The Sketchnote Handbook fame discussing how Sketchnotes evolved and a brief overview of the technique.
There is a full day workshop tomorrow so I’ll have lots more to share then.
If you’re in KC and want to attend the workshop tomorrow, here’s a discount code for $15 off the entry fee: FRIDAY.
There were two big topics covered in the penblogosphere this week: the TiScribe Pen and the TWSBI Eco. Here’s the highlights:
TiScribe:
TWSBI Eco:
Pens:
Pencils:
Paper & Notebooks:
Ink:
Planning & Organizers:
Art & Calligraphy:
Other Interesting Things:
(Shoutout to Elwin for Medium link and to Bob for the Wired article!)
Submit your Link love art: To be the featured artist on an upcoming Link Love, write, draw, photograph, or doodle an original “Link Love” image. It can be lettering, calligraphy, your own interpretation of Link or anything else you think might relate to the weekly list of pen/pencil-centric blog links. Email your submission to me at chair @ wellappointeddesk.com. Please include any link information you’d like in the image credit (your name, Twitter handle, Instagram, blog, etc). Also include any information about inks, tools, paper, etc used in your creation. Please let me know that I have permission to publish your work in Link Love and that the image is your original piece.
Woo! There’s a lot of love for the Pilot Iroshizuku Mini Ink sets but only one winner this time….
Well, there you go, Louie! I’ll send you an email to arrange shipping and congratulations! I hope you enjoy the inks! And thanks to everyone who entered.
I found two lovely desks this week. The first is a unique purple and gold accented desk that has a vintage-luggage-meets-modern sensibility. I love all the geometric patterns in the room.
The second is a lovely, wood roll-top desk mixed with a bright, mid-century chair for an eclectic look. Of course, its from a home in Paris. Parisians have an innate ability to mix and match everything for a perfect blend of chic and lived-in.
Don asks:
I read your review of the Mirado Black Warrior, where you mentioned that there were much better pencils for very little more money. Can you tell me what these would be? I work in an elementary school, where we usually stock up on gross boxes of relatively cheap pencils, so the Black Warriors have been something I pick up when they are on sale for my own stash. I am not so sure that the Black Warriors haven’t changed a bit with the various company mergers and acquisitions, but I can’t say for sure. And I just bought 12 dozen for 12 dollars on Amazon; I’m not sure why the price was so low. But I do understand that they usually sell for $3 or $3.50 a box of 12, so I know that your comparisons would be based on this price. Thanks for any information/opinions you can share.
I did a little comparison shopping but at 12 dozen for $12, that’s a hard deal to beat. However, I find the Mirado Black Warriors to be a bit dark and soft, especially for kids. Pencils.com offers some of the Prospector, Forest Choice and Golden Bear pencils in a gross. But they are more than twice than the sale-priced Mirados.
I also really like the General Pencil Company but their site lists only 3 doz. pencils at a time for about $24 which is much more expensive than those Mirados as well.
So I decided I needed to consult the experts at the Erasable podcast for their insights.
Andy Welfle said:
I do think that the Black Warriors have changed a bit, for the worse, in the last few years. Of course, I really dislike Paper Mate, I think they cheapen everything they make, and when they acquire good quality brands and start putting their logo on stuff, it also accompanies standards being lowered.
But that’s just, like, my opinion, man.
(Meaning: I’ve never really done any sort of comparison, so that statement is not scientific by any means.)
As for the cheapness, I’m willing to bet that if he wanted to buy in bulk, Amazon would be the way to go. I’m sure those pencils cost nothing to make, so if he’s cutting out the big-box store middleman by shopping direct on Amazon, he’s cutting out their profit needs.
I’ll defer to Tim (Wasem) on what the best pencil to buy for students might be, since he’s going through that right now, but I’d heartily recommend the Golden Bears. They’re super good quality for the price. It’s definitely still more expensive than the Mirado, but damn, they’re worth it. 😀
And Johnny Gamber said:
Hey, Comrades!
The Blackwarrior is a strange beast. While the finish, country of origin and even the wood have become…PaperMated, the core/lead is very nice. But I think Ana’s right that it might be soft for students, and office paper shreds that point.
For cheap bulk school pencils, I’d hit Walmart right now and stock up on their big boxes of USA Gold pencils, even the USA Silver. For the price and ease of getting them, they are hard to beat.
Happy Back to School!
Unfortunately, Tim was unavailable for comment. He must be busy sharpening all those Palomino HBs he’s got squirreled away.
Do you have a pressing pen, paper, pencil, ink or other stationery item issue? Use the “Ask The Desk” link in the navigation bar to send in your questions!
Lots of shops and brands are offering 16- and 17-month calendars and planners so that you can start to get organized today and don’t have to wait until 2016. And boy, are some of them beautiful! How do you pick just one?
While I’m talking about planners, the 2016 Frankie planner and Wall Calendar are currently available for pre-order right now. It ALWAYS sells out and is a favorite with beautiful printed pages and lovely cloth covers. If that’s something you might want,order yours now and it will ship in October from Australia.
Other goodies:
Pen Chalet is currently having a Back-To-School sale. Save an extra 10% off your order with the coupon code SCHOOL10, good until Monday.
Goldspot Pens has 2016 refills for Filofax. Order yours today so you won’t get caught empty-handed.
Big thanks to JetPens for the chance to giveaway a set of 3 mini bottles of Pilot Iroshiizuku. I love these little mini bottles and the 3-bottle sets come in a great little box. Our little gift to you! You can choose between Set A, Set B, or Set C.
What do you have to do? Just leave me a comment and tell me which set you would want and why. Easy peasy.
FINE PRINT: All entries must be submitted by 10pm CST on Sunday, August 23, 2015. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Monday. Winner will be selected by random number generator from entries that played by the rules (see above). Please include your email address in the comment form so that I can contact you if you win. I will not save email addresses or sell them to anyone — pinky swear. If winner does not respond within 30 days, I will draw a new giveaway winner. US residents only please. Shipping via USPS first class is covered. Additional shipping options or insurance will have to be paid by the winner. We are generous but we’re not made of money.
