Art director & brand designer
a pen company
dec. 2024 – onwards
- flagship
More than 9 billion pens are thrown out every year. I made one that isn’t.
Role: Brand founder
Scope: Visual Identity, Art Direction, Website, Packaging, Communication & Brand Strategy, Campaigns & Content
Insight
9.000.000.000 pens thrown out every year
In a digital world, the pen has become essential. We spend thousands on laptops to think and work, yet treat writing by hand as disposable. One of our most basic creative tools is used without care and replaced without thought. A Pen Company exists as a counterweight. Writing by hand creates focus and commitment. When everything is designed to be replaced, there is value in tools made to stay. The product is reduced to its core. One pen, built for durability in both material and form. A free refill system and a lifetime guarantee reinforce ownership over replacement. Not an object to consume, but one to keep.
Creative direction
It's time to draw the line
The creative direction of the brand is deeply rooted in the time we find ourselves in. The tension between AI and authenticity. AI driven art direction has played a central role in the communication, with imagery that carries a raw, snapshot feel, giving the AI images an imperfect yet editorial quality.
The design of A Pen Company’s visual identity is rooted in the typography Alte Haas Grotesk, a font with a bleeding characteristic that resembles pen ink. Every touchpoint, from packaging to the e-commerce experience, reflects the simplicity of the product itself. There is a certain banality to the brand. Even the name reflects that, which I find humorous in its own right.
I have developed the brand and strategy, the Shopify webshop, and everything surrounding the brand. Because to truly understand clients and their relationship with a brand, and what it takes to create one.
Industry nods
Featured on site of sites
DDA Entrepreneurship Grant
Tools
Shopify, Kive, Figma, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Lightroom, WordPress, Midjourney, ChatGPT, ElevenLabs, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Runway