A STORY BEHIND THIS PRODUCT

Long seller product ‘SMASH’ has been on the market since 1986.

The original concept for this product was to create a mechanical pencil that has great features of the former professional mechanical pencil ‘graph1000’ and to make it to user-friendly.

As the target user was universal, features had to include user friendliness. Smash has not even had any minor changes since it has been on a market, which proves its perfection of the product design. SMASH has the exact same mechanism that had been used in graph1000. The specific feature is that their chuck is made out of metal. Chuck is the part of the pencil which adjust the length of the pencil lead when clicking.

Usually, a cheap mechanical pencil uses plastic materials on this part, which often cannot resist high writing pressure and/or cannot adjust the lengths of the pencil lead to the length you want The metal chuck can strengthen and add accuracy to the SMASH.

The head of SMASH is designed to help stabilise its writing. The push button is covered with a device similar to a bellows hose.

The product design aims to have integrity and toughness in its design. The inspiration for this design came from a shock absorber that attaches to a motorcycle. The mechanical pencil for drafting usually has a small window that shows the hardness of the pencil leads.

The SMASH is not a mechanical pencil for drafting specifically, but it has this window as one of the unique design elements.

The mechanical pencil that was created for those who seek comfort and professional use at the same time.

Relative story about Japanese culture: Working attitudes

Pentel Co., Ltd.

The concept of this product is the drafting mechanical pencil, but for general use, not professional. Without a separate front tip section or completely different base for the grip section, the Smash tends to look more ‘one-unit construction’ rather than ‘assembled of multiple components’. The rubber grip bumps improve the grip and can be easily felt under your fingers. I found this a little disconcerting at first, but quickly got used to it. It certainly is a superior grip, although I imagine the rubber bumps would wear over time.