Artemis Pencil by Mohammad Reza Khakpour

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DI: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?

MRK : Inspiration came from my love of sketching and my desire to offer people an experience of a new feeling.

DI: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?

MRK : My goal was to create a pencil that you could not feel in your hand while writing, a pencil that could eliminate itself by integrating in the hand.

DI: What are your future plans for this award winning design?

MRK : Our future goals consist in customising this pencil design so as to create different ones for different hands.

DI: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?

MRK : From the moment it was conceived as an idea it took me six months to finalise it.

DI: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?

MRK : As a matter of fact, it started as an idea which when it was transformed into reality, it received quite a lot of supporters and fans.

DI: Is your design being produced or used by another company, or do you plan to sell or lease the production rights or do you intent to produce your work yourself?

MRK : For the moment, our design is not used or produced by any company, we are holding the production rights; however, we are open to suggestions.

DI: What made you design this particular type of work?

MRK : My experience and my long hours of sketching; I am an Architect, you know.

DI: Where there any other designs and/or designers that helped the influence the design of your work?

MRK : Architects such as Zaha Hadid and Frank Lloyd Wright have greatly influenced my own way of creation.

DI: Who is the target customer for his design?

MRK : The customer for this design can an artist, a designer, a writer or an Architect but also anyone who enjoys writing.

DI: What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?

MRK : The are no similar designs of pencils that could provide the same or similar experience. With this pencils writing does not only become easier, but the pencil is just becoming one with the hand.

DI: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?

MRK : It is funny. Our five-month old daughter wss supposed to be called Artemis, receiving the name of the Greek goddess of hunting. The pencil got its name instead as it resembles the arrow of Artemis with which you can hit the prey.

DI: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?

MRK : I have my wood chisels that helped me through the creative process.

DI: What is the most unique aspect of your design?

MRK : Its ergonomic and harmonic shape along with its natural feel of the wood.

DI: Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?

MRK : My partner in life, my wife, is also my partner at work. She is an Arts Manager and together we research and study every design.

DI: What is the role of technology in this particular design?

MRK : Technology has not been decisive for this design, as it has been made exclusively by hand.

DI: Is your design influenced by data or analytical research in any way? What kind of research did you conduct for making this design?

MRK : Well, we have neasured the palm, fingers and handling of pencil of nany different people of different sex, age and occupation and we have come up with one basic design in our pencil.

DI: What are some of the challenges you faced during the design/realization of your concept?

MRK : The challenge was to create a universal pencil that could fit anybody's hand and I think we succeeded.

DI: How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?

MRK : From the beginning, we believed that it was a new idea and a great design; later on, we realised that it encountered a lot of success with the people. So we decided to check its dedign quality through an international competition.

DI: What did you learn or how did you improve yourself during the designing of this work?

MRK : I improved my precision and my persistence and patience in designing with the hand. Creating something exclusively by hand work needs a lot of careful, precise work and concentration.

DI: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?

MRK : The beauty in proportions of the final product and the amazing texture of the walnut wood make Artemis pencil a unique piece.