A tribute to small businesses and their entrepreneurial spirit. In 1912, French engineer Georges Claude installed the world’s first neon sign above a barbershop in Paris. His vibrant, tubular lights soon adorned the storefronts of small businesses around the world and symbolized the entrepreneurial drive that formed the backbone of their communities. Today, the spirit of “Main Street” is more resilient than ever. It can be found in urban cities and rural towns, bookstores andCzytaj dalej

A tribute to the Godfather of World Music. In June of 1966, George Harrison met maestro Ravi Shankar in Bath, England. Harrison asked Ravi to teach him how to play the sitar, a task Ravi agreed to only after considerable hesitation. Their collaboration resulted in an explosion in the popularity of classical Indian music and instrumentation in the United States and around the world. Harrison called Ravi “The Godfather of World Music.” Trained in bothCzytaj dalej

The Surfing Pencil A tribute to Duke Kahanamoku and surf culture. The ancient art of surfing arrived on the coast of northern California in 1907, but it wasn’t until surf icon Duke Kahanamoku popularized the sport on the beaches of southern California in the decades that followed that it really took hold. Duke was a renaissance man. He mastered the ukulele and acted in Hollywood. He won an Olympic gold medal in the 100 meterCzytaj dalej

The Bauhaus Pencil A tribute to the Bauhaus School and its legacy of craftsmanship. When Walter Gropius published his Manifesto of the Staatliches Bauhaus in the spring of 1919, he declared that “there is no essential difference between the artist and the artisan.” In the years that would follow, his Bauhaus Art School would seek to tear down the wall that had been built between the fine and applied arts. From 1919 to its prematureCzytaj dalej

The Jackie Robinson Pencil. Breaking down barriers. A tribute to Jackie Robinson and those who fight for their passion. On July 6, 1944, eleven years before Rosa Parks famously refused to move to the back of the bus in Montgomery, Alabama and ignited the Civil Rights Movement, another individual refused to move to the back of a bus. He was 2nd Lieutenant Jack Roosevelt Robinson, and his refusal earned him a court martial for “behavingCzytaj dalej

The Investigative Journalism Pencil A tribute to Nellie Bly and investigative journalists like her. In 1887, Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World tasked Nellie Bly, a yet unknown journalist, with investigating the insane asylum on New York’s Blackwell’s Island. She was asked to look into the conditions of the asylum and “write up things as you find them, good or bad.” She did so the best way she knew, by getting herself committed for ten days. TheCzytaj dalej

The Mars Pencil If in 2019 you are goint go reach the Mars, we have something that you cannot A Tribute to the Mars 2020 Rover Mission and the Boundless Reaches of the Human Imagination. In 2020, NASA will send a rover to Mars to search for evidence of ancient Martian life while testing technologies for future human expeditions. While the engineering designs for the rover and its various instruments are finalized in CAD, itsCzytaj dalej

The Vinyl Pencil From their introduction in the late 1800s, analog records have withstood the advent of radio, the rise and fall of CDs and MP3s, and the dawn of streaming. Rather than be displaced by these more convenient ways of consuming music, the vinyl record has instead shifted from an object of convenience to one of connection. And it has thrived in the process. Just as the way we engage with pencils and notebooksCzytaj dalej

The Puzzle Pencil. Exercise your mind. The idea for Blackwing Vol. 10001 was born over a year ago, when a math teacher form New York, and in the same time a huge passionate of Blackwing pencil, wrote an e-mail in which he said that he has a perfect idea for new limited edition. Then, he described Tetsuya Miyamoto’s story, which become a real inspiration for Blackwing’s designers. “The Art of Teaching without Teaching” When Tetsuya MiyamotoCzytaj dalej