The 'Lift' Pen

With a brief of a commemorative pen to celebrate the Wright Brothers I produced a prototype, advertising and a Point-of-Sale display mock-up.

For the pen itself, I decided on an aerofoil shape but with a rounded-off, triangular grip.

To make the prototype a plasticene positive was used to create a plaster mould. This was then heavily coated with shellac, wax and a release agent.

I was particularly keen to get a dull grey colour with a hint of blue. Sculptor, Eric Schneider came to the rescue with the colour mixing. The coloured resin was poured in and given plenty of time to cure. The rough form was filed and sanded into shape before being line bored in a lathe. The hole was to accomodate the nib section which would also join the resin components.

I cut the model into two pieces with a Japanese saw at a 45 degree angle so that the cap would always sit in the same position. A thin aluminium plate was cut and fixed to the body side of the separation line for cosmetic reasons and also to replace the material lost to the saw.

A length 6mm clear acrylic tube (with a scavenged fibre nib) was glued into the body with araldite then the lid aperture was eased out to ensure an easy sliding fit.

The clip was made in two parts from aluminium sheet and rod then discrete-riveted together. To finish it off it was stamped with a capital "L" before being araldited into place.

The Point of Sale display owed a lot to Photoshop. Rather than make four pens in different colours I photographed the finished model in folds of calico and changed the the colours there. Printing them on gloss paper and making the package lid from curved acrylic provided enough reflection to confuse the eye.