The Universal Typeface Project Averages the World's Handwriting to Produce an Incredibly Average Font".

The thick ink flows down due to capillary action from the tube inside the barrel, to feed the ball bearing, which spins freely within a brass tip. The only exception is the BIC Cristal UP, a pen marketed by Bic that supposedly creates more vivid lines when used.The easiest way to think of it is like a tiny version of a roll-on deodorant, which works in the same way. Its hexagonal shape resembles the typical wooden pencil and grants strength and three grip points giving high writing stability. Since 1991 the pen's streamlined polypropylene cap has had a small hole to reduce the risk of suffocation if the cap is inhaled. 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.

The Cristal's design has become a target for counterfeiters, especially from the Far East and in particular from China. Of all the pure ballpoints out there on the market, however, I consider Bic Cristal and the Schmidt Easyflow 9000 to be the best options, because you don’t usually see any of these issues. The product provoked outrage and ridicule, [15] with television show host Ellen DeGeneres saying "Can you believe this?

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. The pen includes two refills, which are not normally sold alongside the Cristal as it’s been considered to be a disposable pen. The exhibition contained drawings, sculptures, a dress and even chandeliers made using the pens themselves!