On our pencil
On our pencil
This page is meant to be an eulogy to pencil: the main communication and creativity - used and abused - symbol. I also take the chance to explain the reason why it has become my Logo and, at the same time, give an answer to all the people asking me: why? (implying or imagining in some way a lack of creativity on my part).
Well, the reason for my attachment to this instrument and for my choice to use it not only in B&G's logo but also in our advertising pages is that the pencil in the picture (just that pencil), is my father's blue Staedtler, where he used to inscribed one notch for every successful project or competition (four on it).
It's a chance to offer a tardy dedication to his memory (he passed away in 1996) and thank him for all the things he did for me.
With regards to the features of the pencil, I would like to cite a quotation from the dialogue between a grand-mother and her nephew, taken from Paolo Coelho's "Like the Flowing River":
"...but more important than the words is the pencil I'm using. I hope you will be like this pencil when you grow up.'
Intrigued, the boy looked at the pencil. It didn't seem very special.
'But it's just like any other pencil I've ever seen!'
'That depends on how you look at things. It has five qualities which if you manageto hang on to them, will make you a person who is always at peace with the world.
First Quality:
You are capable of great things, but you must never forget that there is a hand guiding your steps. We call that hand God, and He always guides us according to His will.
Second Quality:
Now and then, I have to stop writing and use a sharpener. That makes the pencil suffer a little but afterwards, he's much sharper.
So you, too, must learn to bear certain pains and sorrows, because
they will make you a better person.
Third Quality:
The pencil always allow us to use an eraser to rub out any mistakes. This means that correcting something we did is not necessarily a bad thing; it hepls to keep us on the road to justice.
Fourth Quality:
What really matters in a pencil is not its wooden exterior, but the graphite inside. So always pay attention to what is happening inside you.
Finally:
The pencil's Fifth Quality, it always leaves a mark. In just the same way, you should know that in everything you do in life will leave a mark, so try to be concious of that in your action."
From Ruggero Pierantoni's book
"Vortici, atomi e sirene":
"Gli uomini avanzano nel labirinto del mondo da sempre armati di matita. È stato il primo utensile per comprendere il mondo, e sembrerebbe essere anche
l'ultimo. A giudicare, almeno, dai profili dei mammut e dalle immagini digitali. La propensione a coprire con linee, a tempestare di punti, a graffiare pietre e tutte le superfici a disposizione appare intrinseca all'essere uomo".