PININFARINA SEGNO - LIBRA inkless pen
Born in the sign of the equilibrium, LIBRA is the inkless pen with clean and sophisticated lines, which combines aluminium and rubber for a classic look meant to live forever. Libra is synonimous of balancing, strength, stability and symmetry.
Designed by Marco Schembri and handcrafted in Italy by Pininfarina Segno
The idea was since the beginning to realise an incredibly sophisticated product, combining new technologies with traditional high quality and durable materials. Back in time I had heard about this company named Forever which developed this innovative material (Etergraph) taking inspiration from the special technique of the silver tip used by Leonardo Da Vinci and retriving the oxidation principle taking place during the friction between the metal tip and the paper (This incredibly innovative metal tip will basically allow the pen to write forever without using any ink).
So starting from this material I tried to develop a concept synonymous of balancing, strength, stability and symmetry...the same principles Leonardo was use to carry along his projects.
I would say that Rhinoceros has been a great partner all along the way to arrive to the final prototype and I used Keyshot to develop most of the renderings used for communication and marketing.
As usual everything started from the paper, from different sketches. After that, there was a first selection which immediately turned to a final decision to proceed with the 3D modelling and engineering.
After defined the main shape, one of the main goals was to combine in a perfect way, metal and rubber. Aluminium on its side, was too flexible if left hollow in the middle, and rubber wasn't the best material to stick on its polished surface. It took years of continuos development and tailor made solutions, from special glues to optimised manufacturing processes, to arrive at the final product.
At present, we can now say that LIBRA is the result of the combination between a good design and the capability of a big company like Pininfarina Segno to selected artisans, true artists of the materials, able to express with their own hands all the attention to details and quality of the Made in Italy.
I was sure since the beginning that the simplicity and the innovation would be easily appreciated but I didn't expect so many people interested in knowing more details about the project and giving extremely positive feedback in this short time.
The project is in continuous evolution and still at a very early stage so we don't exclude to add further colour combinations and play with new material's finishing.
Nice one, really made me curious.