a b "Everyday Icon #3 The BIC Biro". Phaidon. Archived from the original on 15 May 2013 . Retrieved 16 May 2017. For a few years now, pen manufacturers have been making broader pen points than 1.0 mm, which for a long time used to be the most standard nib size (I am guessing) commonly available. Of these larger sizes that started appearing in the stores, 1.4 mm and 1.6 mm seem to be the most common. (I don't recall ever seeing a 1.2 mm nib. Do they exist? Would they be that much different from 1.0 to be able to tell any difference at all? Inquiring minds, etc. etc.) I would look at these pens and think, "Who in the world would want to write with that chunky thing?" And then I would buy them. And try them. And generally not care for them, so the answer to my question would be, "Not me, obviously."

The BIC Cristal (stylised as BiC Cristal and also known as the Bic pen) is an inexpensive, disposable ballpoint pen mass-produced and sold by Société Bic of Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine, France. It was introduced in 1950 and is the best-selling pen in the world, with the 100 billionth sold in September 2006. It has become the archetypal ballpoint pen and is considered ubiquitous, [1] to the extent that the Museum of Modern Art has made it a permanent part of its collection. Its hexagonal form and design mimics a standard pencil and it is sold in six types of point and 18 colours around the world. a b c d Fletcher, Alan, ed. (2006). Phaidon Design Classics – Volume 2 (1. publ.ed.). London: Phaidon Press. ISBN 0-7148-4399-7. a b Stamp, Jimmy. "The Universal Typeface Project Averages the World's Handwriting to Produce an Incredibly Average Font". Smithsonian . Retrieved 15 March 2017. In 1944, near the end of the Second World War, entrepreneur Marcel Bich bought a factory in Clichy, a suburb north of Paris, [2] and with business partner Edouard Buffard founded Société PPA (later Société Bic) in 1945. "PPA" stood for Porte-plume, Porte-mines et Accessoires; pens, mechanical pencils and accessories. During the war Bich had seen a ballpoint pen manufactured in Argentina by László Bíró. Between 1949 and 1950 the Bic Cristal was designed by the Décolletage Plastique design team at Société PPA. [3] [4] Bich invested in Swiss technology capable of shaping metal down to 0.01 millimetres (0.00039in), which could produce a stainless steel one-millimetre (0.039in) sphere which allowed ink to flow freely. [5] Bich developed a viscosity of ink which neither leaked nor clogged and, under a ballpoint pen patent licensed from Bíró, launched the Cristal in December 1950. [3] In September 2006, the Bic Cristal was declared the best selling pen in the world after the 100 billionth was sold. [9] Design [ edit ] Four Bic Cristal pens and additional caps

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Vinjamuri, David. "Bic For Her: What They Were Actually Thinking (As Told By A Man Who Worked On Tampons)". Forbes . Retrieved 17 April 2017. In 1961 Bic Orange pen was introduced, featuring a fine 0.8mm (0.031in) point and an orange barrel instead of translucent. Bic makes this pen at its own plants in Europe. Smith, David (14 June 2008). "It's 70 today, but our favourite pen just keeps rolling along". The Guardian. The pen's dimensions are 5 + 7⁄ 8 by 1⁄ 2 inch (14.9cm ×1.3cm) with the cap, [10] or 14.5cm ×0.7cm ( 5 + 11⁄ 16in × 1⁄ 4in) without the cap. Liszewski, Andrew (28 January 2014). "The Classic Bic Pen Now Works On Your Smartphone Display Too". Gizmodo . Retrieved 17 March 2017.

Bich invested heavily in advertising, hiring poster designer Raymond Savignac in 1952. That year Bic won the French Oscar de la publicité award for advertising. [2] In 1953 advertising executive Pierre Guichenné advised Bich to shorten his family name to Bic as an easy-to-remember, globally adaptable trade name for the pen, which fit in with product branding trends of the post-war era. [5] Early Bic advertisements in France referred to the Cristal as the "Atomic pen". [6] Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the Bic Cristal's writing tip and ergonomic design helped shift the worldwide market for pens from fountain pens to ballpoints. a b Waka, Brenda. "Response Strategies of Haco Industries Kenya Limited to the Challenges of Counterfeit Products in East Africa" (PDF). Haco Industries Kenya Limited . Retrieved 21 April 2017– via University of Nairobi Digital Repository.a b c Lemon, Michael (28 April 2015). "Bic Cristal Pens | The World's Most Popular Pen". OSU.EDU. Ohio State University . Retrieved 26 March 2017. A Book for Her by Bridget Christie review – a hybrid of writing and performance". the Guardian. 20 July 2015 . Retrieved 4 June 2021.

a b "Humble Masterpieces" (PDF). New York: The Museum of Modern Art. 27 September 2004 . Retrieved 13 March 2017. Hauser, Christine; Anderson, Christina (21 April 2017). "At This Museum, Failures Are Welcome". The New York Times. However, hope springs eternal, and I keep buying and trying these types of pens. I want to like them, but somehow they never seemed quite right. Until now.

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