What can you expect to find on this site?

Anything related to stationery and fine writing, really! Reviews, informative articles, long-winded-but-sincere ramblings on pens, inks, stationery accessories, and anything to do with them.

About my ink tests:

With my ink reviews, consistency comes first. All ink tests on this website are done by myself to ensure that the pressure and writing angles used remain the same across my tests. All the inks I review are obtained brand new and factory sealed in the standard bottle size unless specified otherwise. I never use ink samples for my tests as I cannot guarantee the integrity or consistency of the sample. I only use two pens for all my ink tests: one TWSBI Diamond 580 for standard inks and another for inks containing particulates (such as shimmer inks). Each pen is thoroughly cleaned and dried between tests to avoid cross-contamination with the previous ink. To avoid changing the characteristics of flow in the pens, I do not use any kinds of soaps when cleaning the pens as they can act as a surfactant. Save for the architect and needlepoint nibs that were ground for me by J.C. Ament at Nib Tailor, the nibs on each pen have been hand-tuned by myself to ensure that they’re all performing at the same medium wetness. With each ink test, I use a fresh wrist guard to prevent my hand oils from transferring to the paper and affecting the results.

All of my materials are scanned using a CCD scanner and cross-checked across multiple screens to ensure the best possible color accuracy. My writing tests are performed to provide a realistic usage scenario for each ink. I will never try to force any properties out of an ink to make it appear to do more than what is feasible in normal writing circumstances.

To follow up I’ll provide a quick Q&A:

 Q: Why is there both a Scan and a Photo of the swatch?

A: While I use a scanner to get the closest possible color accuracy, I also use a photo to provide an alternative view of the swatch that you simply can’t get from a scanner. Please note that while I use both the scan and the photo, the scan will always be the most color-accurate reference.

Q: I have an ink and it doesn’t look or perform like what you have on your site. Why?

A: Unfortunately, while I try my hardest to provide the most accurate results I can, I can’t account for the many reasons that an ink may perform or look different to another user. Screen color accuracy isn’t always a guarantee, and the colors you see in real life may appear different depending on what lighting they’re in. Climate can be responsible for differences in not only the performance of your ink, but the paper you’re writing on too. All pens write differently and can put down varying amounts of ink depending on how they’re tuned. It can even come down to your writing style – I write with a very light hand and colors can appear very different depending on the pressure applied by the user. This can also influence your flow, dry times, ink properties, and more.

Q: How does the score work? Why does it sometimes contradict your final thoughts?

A: The score is meant to provide a more objective view of the ink. Often an ink that I really like personally will perform poorly and vice versa. You’ll probably notice that the available points equal a total of 100, but the final scores are all significantly lower than that. The problem is that any individual characteristic of an ink tends to affect another. Higher scores in one category can often come at the expense of lower scores in another. Sheening, for example, often affects writing performance, dry times, and difficulty of cleaning. Shading inks can often be dry. Price and quality of the bottle often go hand in hand, etc. In the end, the system balances well, but it’s impossible to get 100/100. Most inks – if they’re doing their job correctly – should sit somewhere in the 55-64 range. To provide a quick reference, the scores are color-coded:

  Purple: 70+ Outstanding

Bright Green: 65-69 Great

  Green: 55-64 Good

  Yellow: 50-54 Below Average

  Red: -49 Bad

Q: Why do you rate the bottle?

A: Imagine opening wrapped ink as a gift. It’s a standard bottle of Diamine, in its functional-but-all-too-art-supply-esque packaging. Now imagine the person next to you opening theirs and it’s a Diamine Inkvent ink in its beautifully decorative and festive bottle – It’s practically designed to be gifted to someone.

Whether or not the bottle matters is subjective, but that bottle certainly matters to someone.

Q: What’s with the lazy cow?

A: Don’t you think that poor dog has had enough?

Q: Will you ever review _______?

A: Probably.