Zebra Arbez Eo Ballpoint Review

The Zebra Corporation holds a competition each year for young designers where the winner gets their product produced under the Arbez name. The 2011 winner was the Piirto, an icepick-shaped ballpoint from a Finnish designer. In 2012, the British winner designed a set of pens around the London transportation system, with the double decker bus styled Eo 0.7 mm ballpoint taking center stage.

The design of the Eo is fantastic. It is unique and eye-catching, but may not fit everyones grip comfort needs. One side of the barrel is flat, the opposite side is rounded, and the other two sides gradually connect the two. Essentially, a capital D shape. For me it works well, but others may not like it.

If that doesn't bother you, then this is a fun pen to own. The bright red barrel features a slick white racing stripe running the length of the barrel, and both the tip and end caps sport a translucent ink color section. I find myself continually marveling at how well designed this pen is.

For a standard ballpoint it writes well. The lines are clean and sharp and very little white shows through. I enjoyed it but I wonder if the Arbez competition would be better suited to design around the Sarasa gel ink refill instead?

Regardless, a part of London's transportation system now resides on my desk. Time to take a ride!

(JetPens is an advertiser on The Pen Addict and I received this product at no charge.)

The Pen Addict Podcast: Episode 70 - Bullet Journal Time

Myke and I had a great conversation with Ryder Carroll, the creator of the Bullet Journal system. Ryder gives us the details behind its creation, tips on how to roll your own, and how your input helps drive future changes. We also update on a few items we will be covering in depth in future episodes.

Thanks for joining us Ryder!

Show Notes & Download Links

Pilot Super Petit Marker Review

I thought I'd take a moment to introduce myself before plunging in to my very first review. My name is Lisa Needham, and I'm a longtime pen lover and lurker here at The Pen Addict, and I'm thrilled to get the opportunity to tackle some reviews as Brad builds his Nock pen case empire. I write at a few other places on the internet, but I never get to write about something as interesting as pens!

Fair warning: I'm a longtime italic pen user (fountain and marker) because it makes my otherwise jagged handwriting a bit neater, so I approach these non-italic reviews with some trepidation. Also, have you seen Brad's handwriting? This is what I'm up against.

For my inaugural post I'm going to take a chance and look at a non-italic pen. The Pilot Super Petit Marker is an eco-friendly sign pen with a slightly thinner point than a lot of sign pens. A bargain at under $2/pen, it would make a replacement for the ubiquitous PaperMate Flair pens your office probably has by the dozen. Brad reviewed this pen's...cousin? bigger brother? about a month ago when he took a look at the Pentel Fine Point Sign Pen. The Pilot has the same build as the Pentel, as you can see from the photos, but with the thinner tip is probably a better choice for everyday note taking than a thicker, more traditional marker-type sign pen.

I find it a bit hard to hold, to be honest, but that might be because I have relatively small hands and something the size of the Flair or a similar pen is likely to be something I'd reach for first. However, that isn't a design flaw of the pen - I think it is a design flaw of my hands, actually.

Here we go!

(You can read more of Lisa's work at Lawyerist.com.)