Hasta La Ideas

If for some reason you’d like to draw pictures with the bottom of your cup, Japanese designer Fumiaki Goto has made these little vessels with the same combination of ceramic and graphite used to make pencil lead.

The process involves mixing clay, graphite and water then casting the material into the desired shape and firing it part-submerged in charcoal.

The top part is exposed to air during firing and turns white, while the bottom section is deprived of air and turns into pencil lead.

The graduated mix of graphite means users can keep their hands clean by holding the white top and use the pointed base to draw with. They come with little stands to stop them either spilling their contents everywhere or marking surfaces they shouldn’t.

Read more stories about ceramics here.

Here’s a little bit of text from Fumiaki Goto:

A pencil lead is a type of ceramic

It is made with mixing clay with graphite and baking it at high temperature. These vessels are made with the same recipe as a pencil lead. So they are not only ceramic vessels but also tools for drawing.

The special way of baking makes the white part normal ceramic and makes the black part a pencil lead. The gradation part has both of the features. The user can grab the white part and can use the pencil without making a hand dirty.

These leafy cable ties by Korean designers Lufdesign might be mistaken for plants.

Made from plastic, the Leaf Tie Cable Organisers each have one or two leaves sprouting from their ends.

As well as green, the ties are also available in less realistic colours including red and blue.

Check out Richard Hutten’s leafy fridge magnets in our story from 2008.

Here’s a few more words from online seller JetPens:

The Leaf tie cable organizers are a perfect way to add a little nature to your electronic environment.

The zip ties have one or two plastic leaves on the end, making your cord bundles look like branches and giving your cable organization a “green” look.

Let any of the six available colors bring the outside in to your workspace.

London designers Studiolav have declared the pencil redundant and redesigned it for life in a pencil-pot graveyard.

The Design is Dead Pencil has a cruciform shape and comes in black, of course.

Studiolav was founded by Central Saint Martins graduates Loukas Angelou and Vasso Asfi.

Here’s what they say about the design:

Design is Dead Pencil by Studiolav

The pencil has become redundant and widely replaced by software and other computer based tools that form the main mediums for designers to express ideas on every stage of the design process.

STUDIOLAV is paying homage to the beloved pencils by creating its sacred symbol to be place in our little “graveyard” on our desk, the pencil holders. A reminder to the extinction of a companion to our creativity.

STUDIOLAV is a creative collaboration between Loukas Angelou and Vasso Asfi. They met while studying at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and soon after decided to combine their diverse experience, common aesthetics and vision for design.

Through STUDIOLAV they aim to re-invent iconic yet banal designs and render them into contemporary projections of a new era in a playful, fun & sometimes ironic manner. They have worked as design consultants with clients including Habitat, Poliform, BibandSola, Vodafone, Lexmark and have collaborated with design studios such as VW+BS, Paul Cocksedge and Design Clarity.

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Childhood Memories by Studioroom906	From Here For Here by Ariane Prin	Chocolate pencils by Nendo

London designer Oscar Diaz has redesigned the pen pot so there’s no need to tip pens all over the desk or jam your fingers down the side to retrieve a paper clip or pencil sharpener that’s slipped to the bottom.

The silicone Pen Pal has teeth round the edge to hold pens upright while a shallow dish in the centre contains smaller items.

Diaz will present the product for Spanish company Doiy as part of an exhibition called Barcelona Design meets London at The Vyner Studio during the London Design Festival next month.

Diaz first appeared on Dezeen in 2009 with his Ink Calendar that uses the capillary action of ink spreading across paper to display the date. See all our stories about his work here.

Check out more stories about stationery here.

The information below is from Oscar Diaz:

Pen Pal by Oscar Diaz

Pen pal is a simple pen stand made of silicone. Observing pen holders and improvised pen pots I realised that many small objects are difficult to access when they are mixed with pens of different sizes.

Usually the smaller items fall into to the bottom, which makes them unreachable and they end up taking much of the available space.

Pen Pal proposes to have fewer pens, but have all of them accessible. The central can hold clips; pins and other small objects while the conical holes allow placing pens of different diameters all around the cavity.

It keeps everything accessible avoiding having to turn your pen pot upside down to find a clip.

Produced by: Doiy
Product name: Pen Pal
Year: 2011
Materials: Silicone
Dimensions: 31 x 96 mm diam.

“Barcelona Design meets London” at The Vyner Studio.

Designers: Oscar Díaz, Tomás Alonso, Aloy Mas, Causas Externas, Out of Stock and GR
Organized by: GR Industrial Design, The Vyner Studio, BCD (Barcelona Centre de Disseny)
Sponsoring: Estrella Damn, Viña Zorzal

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REC & PLAY by Yuri Suzuki and Oscar Diaz	Ink Calendar by Oscar Diaz	Found by Oscar Diaz

Can’t get enough concrete? Here’s a range of concrete stationery by London designer Magnus Pettersen.

Called Solid, the series includes a tape dispenser, pen pot and tray.

The pieces are cast by hand at Pettersen’s studio in Stoke Newington, which is just round the corner from Dezeen’s offices.

Originally from Norway, Pettersen came to the UK to study product and furniture design at Kingston University then took an MA in industrial design at Central Saint Martins.

If lovely desk accessories float your boat you can ogle all our stationery stories here.

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Anything by Michael Sodeau	Ground by Michael Antrobus	Buro by DesignWright for Lexon