The Pencil

Contents:
-What is a pencil?
-Materials used in a pencil (past and present)
-History of the Pencil. {timeline of how it has
changed/developed over time}.
-Purpose of inventing the pencil
-Explaining the physical and functional atrributes
-Advantages and Disadvantages to different groups of
people.
-How it is similar to a pen.
-Bibliography
***shorten contents after finished***
***add pictures/animations in every slide***

What is a pencil?

In the present right now, a pencil is a long narrow object
that is used in many different ways by different groups of
people. Below I have listed what a pencil means/is to a
range of different people. . . Pencils also come in different
shades and tones like HB, 2B, 4B, 6B and they are all used
for different purposes.


For Artists and Drawing: To an artist, a pencil is a tool or
instrument that is used for drawing lines with and
creating. In most cases; artists have the most wide range of
choices for tones, because artists need it for creating
shading, 3D effects that make it look more real, and
sometimes for contrast and making the picture pop and
stand out more.

Everyday Students: In the present now in most schools, a
pencil to students like us is an everyday essential that is
needed and required for school. We need this product for
writing in our books while we learn and for homework. The
shade or tone we use in our books is mostly HB because its
not too dark or too light for using in school books.

Adults: For adults a pencil can be used for writing down
important things, doing paperwork or jotting things down
that you dont want to forget like shopping lists. Writing
down a shopping is very important because we usually get
all that we eat and need through our weekends so it
wouldnt be nice forgetting. Also for the people and adults
who still write diaries or journals; a pencil is always a great
tool to use and write with.

Materials used in creating a pencil
(past and present)

Materials used in the. . . .

Past: Materials used to make a pencil in the past were
pretty simple and did not involve that many materials.
There were only 2 main materials. (2 pieces or wood and
graphite located between the 2 wooden pieces.) The
Graphite in the most earliest times were not really solid,
and were pretty soft as the solid graphite had not been yet
discovered until 1835.

1858 - Present: From 1858 to the present now, most of the
pencils we use are made with wood surrounding the solid
graphite with a rubber attached to the top, which is
attached to the pencil by a piece of metal shaped cylinder.
(glue is sometimes used as-well.) With the rubber at the
top; it is either made from vinyl (this is the kind of erasers
with different colours) or vulcanized rubber impregnated
with pumic stone (pink type of rubber). The rubber is also
named rubber because of how it can rub out pencil marks.
But before us humans discovered the rubber, bread crumbs
were used.

History of the Pencil. . .

In the pre-historic times when the pencil was not yet
discovered, humans only used sticks and chalky rocks to
write with on surfaces such as cave walls, the ground and
animal hides. On the papyrus Greeks and Romans also
could draw faint lines on it, with a flat piece of lead. But it
was only in the late 1400s that the pencil had started its
most earliest stages of development. . .

1565- This was when a sparkly black-grey substance was
first discovered in Borrowdale, Cumberland Hills in
England. The substance was said to be greasy when
touched and would stain on your fingers. Later on the
substance was more famously known as black-lead. It was
discovered to be easier to draw in than ink or pen. Because
you could quite easily remove or erase the substance.

1761- In this year a man named Kasper Faber settled into
Stein, Germany to make some of the first, simple pencils.
The Graphite was cut into long ticks with a pointy end,
then places between into 2 pieces of wood. Later it was
smoothed out. The picture below is one of the first ever
pencils made, and is one of the oldest.



About 200 years later from 1565 (in the late 18
th
century), a
Swedish Chemist named Karl Wilhelm Scheele said that
this black-grey substance was kind of like a crystallised
type of carbon. Sort of like diamonds but a pretty big
difference in structure. The Swedish chemist then named
the sucstance Graphite coming from the Greek Term
Graphein.

1794- This was the year which a process named Graphite
Clay was invented. The powdery graphite was to be mixed
with different amounts of clay, shaped like a narrow piece
of lead, then later on put into a kiln set on high
temperatures. The more graphite contained in the pencil,
then more softer and darker it would be when you wrote
with it. So therefore, the more clay it contained then more
harder and lighter the pencil would turn out to be.

1835- In 1835 the solid graphite emerges and is discovered.
The inventor named Henry Bessemer invented this
method to turn the powdery grapite into a solid.

1858- On the 30
th
of March 1858, Hymen Lipman first
discovered the idea of attaching a rubber to the end of a
pencil.

1900s- Through most of the 1900s the pencils looked quite
flash and had already gone to a stage when the looked a bit
like the picture below. . .


Present- Most of us still use pencils with the simple wood
around the graphite with an eraser on top. But now there
are mechanical pencils. Firstly, Mechanical pencils are
great because you dont need any sharpeners, which you
have to use for sharpening often; which can get quite
annoying. Secondly, with the mechanical pencil you dont
have to constantly change pencils because the old one has
gone too small for you to hold. This mechanical pencil
always stays the same size. All you need to do is carry
around a compact container with many leads inside.

Even better; now there are such things of combining a
mechanical pencil, pen, highlighter all together into one.
Pencils such as these can be purchased at the very famous
smiggle. Examples shown below:







Physical and Functional Attributes. . .


Pencil






Physical Attributes
(features/products
appearance.)
-first feature would be the
eraser attached to the top of
the pencil.

-The pencils nowadays look
very stylish, colourful, and
come in a huge range of
patterns and design. A great
shop to visit if you are
looking for those things is
smiggle, because this
particular shop always has
different themes/pictures on
their products, and they
always have new products in
store every once in a while.
The website to visit would
be:
http://www.smiggle.com/
-The pencil also is a long
cylindrical shape, with a
long point at the bottom
when sharpened and in use.
The silver part we see and
which goes onto our paper
when we write is the
graphite (lead).





Functional Attributes
(functions/what you can do
with it)
-you can write with it.

-helps you remember
important things e.g-
shopping lists, helps you
with diary/journal writing,
homework and drawing/
being creative.

- you can erase things
with the rubber
attached to the top.

-it is also recyclable once






Advantages and Disadvantages of a non-mechanical
to different user groups:

Advantages Disadvantages
Small Children Since little kids Disadvantages to
love to draw all
the time, pencils
give them
advantages
because. . .
1.) They are easy
to write with.
2.) Pencil marks
can be easily
erased.
3.) Marks drawn
on shirts with a
pencil can be
washed out easily.
4.) There are not
many sharp
corners that could
easily harm the
toddlers/small
children.
the small children
would be. . .

1.) Since they are
still small,
children like to
put many things
in their mouth;
therefore this
could lead to the
child getting sick
from
eating/swallowing
the graphite lead.
2.)Any sharp
edges/ small
particles could
harm them. This
includes the metal
part securing the
rubber on top. If
the part is loose or
is about to come
off, it could harm
the child.
3.) Playing
around/ jumping
around on soft
surfaces while the
pencils are lying
around can be
very dangerous.
Because this could
cause the pencil to
easily snap, and if
the wood goes into
your skin, it would
cause a lot of pain,
bleeding and
possibly infection
if the wound is not
treated well.
Teenagers 1.) Firsty, pencils
are easy to write
with, and are
great for school
since teens
nowadays go to
school; and going
to school meaning
theres going to be
homework, and
pencils can help
you write.
2.) Pencils are a
compact size so
they can easily fit
into our pencil-
cases and bags.
3.) We dont need
electricity and
energy to power a
pencil, as most
things we use
nowadays like
computers, phones
etc. do.
4.) Pencils are
recyclable as teens
at school now are
encouraged by
teachers to reduce,
reuse and recycle.
5.) Pencils do not
cost that much so
we can all afford
1.) Since a lot of
people use pencils
for school, a
disadvantage
could be your
fingers hurting/
turning red after
you spend a long
period of time
writing.
2.) Having a pencil
means you need a
pencil sharpener.
Youll have to
carry this along
with you
everywhere along
with your pencils,
because without
the pencil
sharpener our
pencils would
always be turning
blunt; therefore
we would not be
able to use them
for a long period of
time, before
having to replace
it with a new one.
3.) Pencil shavings
can also leave a
big unwanted
mess in our pencil-
them.
6.) As most of s
know, pencils
come in many
different shades,
so advantages for
teens are they can
create more
realistic and eye-
catching artwork
without having to
just work with one
boring shade and
tone.


cases if we dont
have a good-
designed pencil
sharpener or a
sharpener with a
loose lid.
The Elderly 1.) It is easier to
rub out the
mistakes
because a
rubber is
attached at
the top. So
the elderly
dont have to
get up and
walk around
much.
2.)They give
you
something to
do in your
spare time as
the elderly
get a lot if
spare time.
3.) Pencils
will not
1.) As we get older
we tend to easily
forget things, so a
disadvantage
could be that
writing with a
pencil onto a piece
of paper. Because
there will be no
one/nothing to
correct your
spelling or
grammar unlike a
word processer.
2.) It may be
harder and more
tiring to hold a
pencil when you
are older, so
another
disadvantage to
the elderly is that
create stains
on your skin
which are
hard to rub
off.

it is harder to
make more copies
of the
picture/written
words on the piece
of paper.
3.) Pencils may be
too hard and small
to hold especially
for people with
sicknesses such as
arthritis. Pencils
can be really hard
to grasp for people
with arthritis; and
as we get older, we
tend to get more
sicknesses easily
and one possibility
would include
arthritis.


Similar product to a pencil:
The Pen.

I chose the pen because it is almost the same as a pencil.
By this, I mean functions, similar looks and size.

Below in the table I have used product evaluation for both
of the products so you can easily see the many similarities
and differences between them. . .




Pencil


Pen




Size
Normal un-used
pencils:
17.5cm 18.cm
tall.

They are also very
small and compact
so they fit into our
school pencil-cases
very well.
.




Function
A pencil is
designed for. . .

1.) The main
function is for
writing/ jotting
things down.

2.) The eraser at
the top can rub
out the mistakes
easily.
A pen is designed
for. . .

1.) Main function
is for writing/
jotting things
down.

2.) Sadly, normal
pen marks cannot
be erased.

Safety
There are hardly
any sharp edges so
they will not harm
us.
No sharp edges/
corners to harm
people with.



Ergonomics
It is designed to fit
in the human
hand because it is
not too short, long,
big or small to
hold.
It is designed to
comfortably fit the
human hand of all
ages. The pen is
not too small, big,
short, or long to
hold.



Aesthetics
Pencils come in a
large range of
colours, designs
and patterns to
suit all tastes and
Pens also come in
a wide range of
shape, size, colour,
pattern and
designs just like
styles.

-Pencils are a long
cylindrical shape.
the pencil.

-In most cases;
pens are also long
cylindrical shaped.

Which age group
is this product
designed to be
targeted at?

The pencil is
deigned to be
targeted at all age
groups as it is
something
everyone uses
nearly everyday.
The pen, (also
very similar to the
pencil) is targeted
at all age groups.
Although the pen
may not be used
as much because
most pens arent
erasable.






Bibliography:

http://www.faber-castell.ie/34507/All-About-Pencils/Pencils-
A-History/default_news.aspx
-for the history of pencils (timeline

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080227180
444AAvY33R
-materials used in a pencil
www.presentationmagazine.com
-presentation title page