PENCILITIS

I am writing this in pencil first.

Not because I want to but simply to get in tune with the topic.  Writing with a pencil takes more effort but it is also more intimate than typing on a keyboard because the words are marks and our marks are what make us human after all.

The pencil has often been called the greatest single design of all time, and not just by pencil pushers.  It has changed so little from its original form – and seems so perfect in its
look and feel – that the pencil may very well be the best we can do.  And as a tool to enhance the design process, the pencil has no doubt been a midwife for more innovations than you can shake a CAD program at.

Scribes in ancient Rome wrote on papyrus with a thin metal rod called a stylus that was made of lead.  But the first true description of a writing instrument consisting of a piece of lead held in a wooden casing only appeared in a treatise by Konrad von Gesner in 1565.  The discovery of a large mineral deposit in Borrowdale, England at about the same time made it possible to use graphite, which left a darker mark than lead.  And since graphite was softer and more brittle than lead, the idea of inserting it into wooden sticks that had been hollowed-out by hand made a lot of sense.

In the beginning a pencil was a rare sight and even as it was sold as a general writing tool by the 18th century, it never, replaced the quill pen in popularity.  The pencil might very well have languished in the cabinet of lost implements but for a breakthrough by Nicholas Jacques Conte.  In 1795 he designed a pencil made of graphite, which had been ground, formed in to sticks, baked in a kiln, then inserted into a wooden shaft, all through mass production.  That made the difference.  The triumph of the pencil, like so many designs in history, depended as much on a practical means of production as on creative insight.

Early pencils were unpainted to show off their high-quality wood casings, which made them more valuable.  But during the 1800s, American manufacturers wanted to distinguish their pencils, which used graphite from China, the best in the world.  And so began the practice of painting pencils yellow, a color in China that represents royalty and respect and is standard today.

The pencil of course is not only useful and yellow.  It has a wide range of appeals: it smells nice and is chewable.  It is cheap and portable, feels good in the fingers, makes a delicate scratching sound, is largely recyclable.  It will not roll off a tilted desk.  It can be sharpened.  It is the ultimate word, image, and idea processor.  It also happens to contain what many consider to be the second most important design innovation of all time… the eraser.

So although there has been a steady stream of pretenders over the years – from fountain pens to ballpoints to felt-tip markers and crayons and beyond – it is the pencil that should gain our respect.  A slender way to sharpen our wits and scribble our thoughts…and above all get to the point!  To the pencil then…a perfect fit for a uniquely human need.  Not to mention the uniquely human hand.