Soap Magazine
Illustration by Maria Black
reduction of fees. Nobody is making money. It used to be that you’ d get a call, meet, talk, and then bring the work in a couple of weeks later. Now the client looks on the computer, finds a couple designers, calls them and whoever gives the lowest price gets the job. It’ s not just happening in graphic arts, but everywhere.”
Peter Ragonetti: ballpoint pens
Peter Ragonetti, a multitalented industrial designer, oversaw production of the new Retro Pen for the ingenious Dutch firm Kikkerland that recently opened a shop in Soho.
“ At Pratt, we were given an assignment to work on a drawing until the pen ran out. It took about 12 to 14 hours. They probably don’ t do that one anymore. As an industrial designer, whether I’ m making a martini glass or a racing car logo, it’ s fun to work in ballpoint, because I go quickly and there is no going back. It pushes me. But the other thing about a ballpoint is there is always one around. You don’ t have to find a special tool, and you can illustrate on a napkin or scrap of paper quickly. As a friend of mine says, you know a good designer if they can pull out a ballpoint pen and not get scared.”
Maria Black: Staedtler. 05 mechanical pencil
The English-Danish jewelry designer Maria Black’ s edgy, elegant pieces are worn by the likes of Scarlett Johansson and Maggie Gyllenhaal.
“ I’ m a mechanical-pencil girl. It is true to the nature of my drawings. The design universe that I use isn’ t flora and fauna; it’ s much crisper, sharper, more geometric, and so I need a very precise pencil and use a Staedtler 0.5, which I get at the Graphic Arts Center in London. I don’ t call what I do sketching; it’ s doodling because that feels less pretentious and usually something unfolds. My doodles start on Xerox paper and there are drawings all over my office, fluffing around in piles. Six months later, a design will jump out at me, as if it has been sitting and waiting, developing – that doesn’ t happen on the computer. Loads of jewelers design on a CAD program but the thing about drawing is, I think, the human error, the small imperfection.
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