These tools were my grandfather's.
He was machinist.
Among other things he built control panels for submarines and after the war, some of
the first animatronics.
These were tools of making; of precision, used to meet military specifications.
I recall as a child my grandfather deliberately selecting the right watchmaker's forceps and
donning his twin loupe eyepiece before pulling a splinter from my toe.
It seemed my grandfather had a tool for everything.
These were made to be used, made to last; to pass down.
I don't use a lot of these tools in my work, but I keep them close because they remind
me of him and his life's work, hidden away behind control panels and inside of automatons.
As the holidays near, I wanted to propose a thoughtful, humble - if not abbreviated
- gift guide.
Well actually, it's hard to even call it a guide, rather it's a gift idea.
In the spirit of my grandfather's tools, it's a gift that encourages making and one that
could be passed from one generation to the next.
I'll show you an idea for wrapping it that feels just as designed as the gift object
itself.
I'll put all the links in the description below and on the video cards using them won't
cost you anything extra but it will help me to keep making these videos.
OK, on to the gift idea, which is: a beautifully crafted, wood lead holder.
This lead holder is made by E+M; a family owned and operated business founded in Nuremburg,
Germany in 1899.
Incidentally, the Nuremburg area is known as the pencil capital of the world, it was
the first place to begin mass-producing pencils in 1662.
This clutch retails for between sixteen and eighteen dollars on Amazon or Jetpens.
At first glance, eighteen dollars may seem a bit extravagant for a pencil, but this is
really an investment in quality, it's a bespoke object.
E+M fabricates their writing implements from natural materials and like all of their products,
this one is made from FSC certified wood.
In addition to the black, it's also available in natural beech and mahogany.
The grip is ten millimeters in diameter, which is about three-eighths of an inch; and it
feels like a chunky crayon in your hand.
There are two lengths available; the "pocket" is the shorter version it's just under four
inches while the long one is five and a half.
Unless you have unusually small hands, I think most will prefer the longer one.
You can see it fits my hand comfortably and its weight - just over an ounce - provides
lots of control, but also the potential for hand fatigue after a long session of sketching.
Because the lead retracts, the workman clutch slides easily into your pocket.
Now, for a gift set, you might pair this with: E+M's matching cube sharpener, which retails
for $5.50 or perhaps a nicely cut piece of sandpaper.
Some lead, a 6-pack is about $8.00.
It does come with one stick of HB lead, but you'll probably want to pick some more up
of varying densities or perhaps even some white chalk lead; I know Koh-I-Noor makes
some which fits the clutch.
And perhaps a nice sketchbook.
Now, I've tried countless sketchbooks, right now I'm really into Kraft paper sketchbooks
as I can use graphite, colored pencil, ink, and white chalk pens on it.
Japanese paper is some of the finest, most versatile paper in the world and I like the
Midori sketchbooks.
Fountain pen users particularly like Midori's paper as it accommodates the water content
of fountain inks well.
The same is true for chalk pens, which have more liquid in them.
For size, this one is roughly five by eight and half inches long, which offers enough
room to sketch at a variety of scales without my hand falling off the edge.
Pocket sketchbooks are great for their portability but I find them too small to be truly functional.
The wire bound edge is my favorite as it allows the paper to lay perfectly flat.
Lastly, you might add in a pencil case.
I like the clear plastic ones by Muji, which are inexpensive and unobtrusive.
The case, in this instance, gives us merely a container to wrap the object in.
Okay, now on to the wrapping.
The idea here is to make the wrapping every bit as considered and designed as the object
we're gifting.
You'll also notice that everything is recyclable or reusable in some way.
I began by filling the pencil case with wood shavings; this keeps the pencil, lead and
pointer from rolling around.
Next, we wrap the pencil case and the sketchbook in Kraft paper, which again can be recycled
or burned in the wood stove if you have one.
For tape, you might use Washi tape, black cloth tape or even drafting dots, which would
be an upgrade from the Scotch tape that I used.
I designed a cover sleeve as a place to write the recipient's name or a message, this will
fit around the wrapped pencil case, as you'll see.
Here I'm testing a few different options printed on heavyweight gray card stock.
If you have one, use a bone creaser to get nice crisp folds.
I cut the back of the sleeve with a slit to act as a keeper for the sleeve, but tape will
work too.
After a test fit I begin assembling the package.
An extra large black rubber band fastens the packages together and its topped off with
a minimalist laser cut ornament designed and cut in-house.
All-in, this gift falls well under $50 even when you add in the wrapping materials.
It's a chance to show someone how design can enhance life's simplest of gestures: the act
of giving a gift and perhaps this will one day be an object that they too hand to their
grandchildren to remember them by.