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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