Anderillium Flying Squid Blue
Ink Review #10
*Please note that the scan is the accurate representation of this color.
Overview
The color/properties:
Flying Squid Blue is a dark cerulean that has a high degree of both shading and sheen. The saturation of the ink provides a deep gradient between shades of vibrant blue that are striking to look at. There’s a lovely sheen around the edges where the ink pools that I found to be the most consistent on the Midori MD and Tomoe River paper. This isn’t entirely a sheening ink, but you will most likely get sheen under fairly typical circumstances.
Ink splat
Ink droplets
Performance on paper:
Flying Squid Blue performed well. There was some bleeding with the higher nib sizes on the Kokuyo paper, but otherwise, I didn’t experience any feathering or bleed-through on the others. Dry times were average but better than I expected. The finer nibs take hair longer than normal, but you can expect it to be dry within 20 seconds. Note that this ink does have a sheen. You may be able to close a book on it after writing within that time, but there’s a chance it may never fully dry and could potentially smudge with any amount of residual moisture on your hands. Water resistance was unfortunately poor. The higher saturation leaves a blue cloud anywhere the water lands, and it will most likely be illegible, but if you’re quick enough to dab the water off it might be salvageable.
Water resistance
Chromatography
Performance in the pen:
For such a saturated ink, Flying Squid Blue performed exceptionally well. There was a wet flow that was consistent across all my test nibs. The ink felt well lubricated, providing for a silky glide while writing, but not so slick to take away tactility. Given the high saturation, I expected to run into hard starts, but I never experienced any hard starts, skips, or stops during the tests. The ink didn’t require more than a typical cleaning, but the color does linger longer due to the saturation.
Value/cost per ml:
At the time of writing, Anderillium Flying Squid Blue is available for $14.50 for a 45ml bottle from select US retailers, making this ink $0.32 per ml.
The bottle/packaging:
Anderillium Flying Squid Blue comes in a great hexagonal jam jar-style bottle with a black cap that not only looks good but is very functional as well. The bottle has a wide opening that will fit just about any pen (and syringe or pipette when the ink level gets too low), and the bottle feels very stable for filling.
The outer packaging is a basic white box with the same artwork from the bottle depicting a Flying Squid.
Score: 70/70
Price per ml: 7/10
Performance in a pen: 10/10
Performance on paper: 9/10
Color saturation: 7/10
Sheening: 5/10
Shading: 5/10
Dry time: 7.5/10
Water resistance: 4/10
Ease of cleaning: 7.5/10
Bottle form: 4/5
Bottle function: 4/5
*Only 70 of the 100 available points are required for an outstanding score.My personal thoughts...
In a catalog featuring many already impressive and noteworthy inks, Anderillium has one that still manages to stand out to me above the others. It’s a visually striking color with a pleasant sheen, and while it may not be attempting to push the boundaries of a sheening ink, it presents itself in a way that retains the same appeal without the drawbacks. Even in the absence of sheen, the color is so vibrant that it remains captivating. This was one of the colors that immediately caught my attention at the Anderillium table at the DC Pen show, and after having plenty of time with it, I’m even more impressed. I’m looking forward to including this ink in my rotation in the future.
Written on 52gsm Tomoe River paper with a Pilot Vanishing Point (Medium)
More images/info:
Tools and materials used in the writing samples:
A TWSBI Diamond 580 AL with 7 nib units including a Needlepoint grind, EF, F, M, B, 1.1mm stub, and an Architect grind. All nibs are tuned to perform at the same medium wetness.
A Rhodia No16 A5 DotPad
A Leuchtturm1917 A5 Notebook
A 68gsm A5 Tomoe River Notebook
A Maruman Mnemosyne A5 Spiral Notebook
A Kokuyo Campus A5 Notebook