For the child, the student, the home maker and the office worker, one of the greatest inventions of all time has to be rubber top pencils. The concept is so simple, yet we went years coping with the old pencil and separate eraser scenario. This was always a very difficult situation in schools as children would work with pencils for all areas of their education, from artwork to English, mathematics to geography. So whenever a mistake was made, a child would need an eraser in order to correct it. You can imagine the obvious outcome here; tables of children squabbling over one eraser! And the outcome for adults isn’t much different; in fact you’ll find that in many offices, employees name their individual erasers! It’s not always possibly to purchase an eraser for every pupil or every member of staff, and more often than not this eraser is picked at, taken home or lost in any case. So it was clear that an alternative was needed.

The rubber top pencil was invented in 1858 by a man named Hyman Lipman who developed the patent to attach erasers to pencils! From that day forth, not only was the squabbling eraser scenario solved, but also the lost eraser scenario! You made a mistake, you simply flipped you pencil over and erased your work, with precision!

But what would be your first choice for rubber tipped pencils? At Office 365 the first brand that springs to mind for quality pencils is Staedtler. Take a look at the Staedtler 110 Tradition HB Pencil With Eraser featured.

• Manufactured from farmed cedar wood, with a quality lead that ensures maximum point strength and slow wear!
• HB grade
• Eraser tipped
• Packed 12
• RRP £7.56 – Our price just £4.65‼

Staedtler are one of the world’s leading brands of writing, colouring and drawing instruments as well as modelling or polymer clays. Staedtler products are sure to become your favourite writing instrument which seems to be evident across the globe – the brand has registered trademarks in more than 100 countries worldwide!

The Green Bit

The protection of the environment, the consumer and the employee all hold a very high degree of importance in the Staedtler corporate philosophy. For this reason they place strong emphasis on a fully-integrated and uniform environmental protection programme. Each and every employee plays a part in living up to the special responsibility to our environment. Long before the emergence of the many eco-standards and environmental seals, they were already demonstrating their corporate responsibility through environmentally friendly processes and self-imposed eco-controlling.

Being an internationally active manufacturing company, environmental protection is something that Staedtler takes very seriously. For years, the company has been implementing numerous publicly recognised pollution control measures in the areas of waste treatment, reusable material sorting, raw material recycling and energy conservation – and not only at the head office in Nuernberg. Worldwide, top priority is given to a careful use of resources and an efficient and environmentally friendly manufacturing process. When it comes to global ecology, Staedtler has gone one step further.

Does this scenario sound familiar to you?

“Kids, wash your hands and sit up the table, its dinner time!”

“Ooh what’s for dinner mummy?”

“Wait and see, hurry up, I’m dishing up now”

Ring Ring, Ring Ring, Ring Ring

“Oh! Timing – Hello?”

“Hello Madam, this is Michelle from the (doctors surgery/dentist/recruitment agency/bank/school/accounts – you get the idea), I’m calling to change our appointment date if possible, can you make it next Wednesday, say 11:00?”

“Ummm, ok, let me just get a pen and paper and right this down…ok, Wednesday did you say, hang on…my pens not working…no, it’s no use, hold on a moment while I get another…right then, oh hang on, this one’s dried up too!”

“Mum! What’s that smell?”

“Oh no! The dinners burning! Darling could you open the back door…Hello, yes, sorry about this, ok, I have another pen, so Wednesday at what time?…No! This pen doesn’t work either…look it’s no good I have to go, but its fine I’ll remember, ok, goodbye”

Why is it we never have a pen when we need one? Well that’s a lie, I normally have several, but the problem is none of them work. We all use pens, in the office, school, out and about, at home, and so keeping a good supply is essential. There will surely be a moment in every day where we all use a pen, especially in the home or office. However in some environments it’s more important than in others like at work. There really is no excuse for allowing your pen stock to dry up (if you’ll excuse the pun), it would be almost impossible to keep an office running smoothly without them.

At Office 365, we have a fantastic selection of pens pencil and writing supplies including a selection of ball point pen which was invented in 1938 by a Laszlo Josef Biro. We have brands such as 5 Star, Bic, Berol, Century, Cross, Ecolabel, Paper Mate, Parker, Pentel, Pilot, Remarkable, Staedtler, Uni-Ball and Uno.

Our dry markers are available in assorted, black, blue, green, red, orange, white and yellow and are available from brands Uni, Sharpie, Pilot, Pentel, 5 Star, Artline, Bic, Ecolabel, Edding, Nobo, Staedtler and Uno.

Our fineliner pens are available in assorted black, blue, green and red and in various diameter nibs, as well as handwriting type pens. Technical pens can be notoriously difficult to maintain, but we have a range of brands that have developed sophisticated constructions which give a consistent, clog-free ink flow. Choose from brands 5 Star, Artline, Berol, Bic, Papermate, Pentel, Pilot, Stabilo and of course Staedtler.

Our flipchart pens are available in assorted, black, blue, green, red, chisel tip, bullet tip, assorted and general and are used in conjunction with a flipchart pad. Choose from brands including 5 Star, Berol, Ecolabel, Edding, Nobo, Staedtler, Sharpie and Uno.

Our fountain pens are available in black, blue and red ink from standard to high quality brands Bic, Cross, Parker, Pentel, Pilot and Waterman.

Choose from gel pens in black, blue, green, red, metallic, assorted and grip options and from nib sizes from 0.3 mm to 1.0 mm and line width from 0.2mm to 0.8mm. We have brands including 5 Star, Bic, Parker, Paper Mate, Pentel, Pilot, Post-it, Stabilo and Uniball.

Grip pens are useful when grip is difficult and when learning to write. Our are available in assorted, black, blue, green, red and soft grip options and from brands 5 Star, Artline, Bic, Pentel, Pilot, Stabilo and Uni-Ball.

With many more pens to offer including Italic Pens, OHP Pens, Permanent Markers, Retractable Pens, Rollerball Pens, Steel Pens, Water Based Markers, Whiteboard Pens and Highlighters, Office 365 are the UK’s number one online supplier of all your writing supplies.

Are you looking to replenish your art supplies? Do you work in a school and your art and graphics supplies are running low? Are you out of chalk for the chalk board, maybe the guillotines seen better days, or maybe the pencils are down to stubs or have been dropped one too many times? Or maybe you work in a graphics studio and your graphics pens have dried up, you’re all out of covering film or you need a new way to store your work? Alternatively if you’re a professional artist and the tools you’re working with just aren’t up to the job; you need new knives, cutting mats, or maybe some quality pastels? Alternatively, you’re sat at your computer right now just looking for a pack of crayons for the children to keep them amused this half term. Whatever the requirement and whoever you are Office 365 are here to help.

Our range of crayons chalk and charcoal are available in many varieties; we have Stephens Superline Chalk, Bic Kids Plastidecor crayons, Staedtler Lumocolour Omnigraph Marking Crayons, Derwent Academy Oil Pastels and more. With brands such as these, you can’t go wrong.

Our cutting mats are available in A1 – A4 size and also replacement mats for trimmers, plus self healing, anti slip mats too. Used to protect your knife and your table top or surface, our selection of Linex cutting mats are also a useful measuring guide.

Our selection of drawing aids includes items such as compasses for mathematics, drafting, and navigation, for drawing circles and arcs and for measuring on maps. We also have drawing boards and stands made by Rotring in A2 and A3 sizes, sketch pads, geometry supplies including protractors, templates, set squares, rulers, school sets, compasses, stencils and transfers and a selection of miscellaneous items for specialist drawing.

We have a beautiful range of fine art pencils including Derwent Academy Colouring Pencils, Derwent Graphitint Pencils, Derwent Pastel Pencils, Lakeland Colouring Pencils, Lakeland Colourthin Pencils, Lakeland Painting Pencils, Derwent Academy Sketching Pencils, Derwent Graphic Pencils and Derwent Watercolour Pencils.

Also choose from our selection of other graphics supplies with items such as architects and drafters trolleys, clamps, drop mount wall brackets, front load binders, front load wall racks, Quickfile binders and more all made by Hang-a-Plan. We also have Linex drawing tubes, Pelltech suspension tape, R-Kive stands for rolled documents and API Tenza covering film for covering books, maps and documents.

Choose from our quality range of cutters by Avery, Linex and Scotch, guillotines from Avery, Dahle, HSM and Rexel and trimmers by Avery, HSM and Rexel most available with spare parts too.

Are selection of knives are available in blade, disposable and knives & cutters options. Our blades are made by our quality yet budget brand 5 Star, plus other brands including Stanley and Swordfish. Our disposable variety is made by Stanley and Swordfish and our knives and cutters are by 5 Star, Stanley and Swordfish.

Lastly is our range of technical pens which are used by engineers, architects, or drafts people, to make lines of constant width for architectural, engineering, or technical drawings. Our range is by the prestigious brands Edding and Rotring.

I’ve sat and watched my children draw the most wonderful pictures. The concentration in their eyes, the pure focus, oblivious to the strange things they do while they’re so absorbed (licking lips constantly, crouching instead of sitting on the chair etc). It seems as though every time they draw, they’ve improved since last time, adding more detail, learning to shade, steadier hand etc. But what never used to change was the end result. Every time, they would hand me a picture, a beautiful picture, a masterpiece and there they were proud as punch, it was always be the same…colourless. And each time I’d say; “Where’s the colour? It needs colour to be beautiful”, and they would sigh and lollop away too tired out from all the drawing to then go and colour it in! When I asked my eldest, she said that bit was boring, the colours were dull and it took ages. So I thought we’d try something new. After looking around and also a bit of ‘word of mouth’ I came across the Bic Plastidecor Crayons which seemed to have overriding reviews about their vivid, bold colours which, even as a crayon, had excellent precision. So I bought a pack and the girls and I tried them out. They were basically like pencils in their shape precision and that they could be sharpened, but with the crayon texture and excellent bold colours! Since that day my girls have made me picture after picture after picture, and all of them, you guessed it…coloured in!

The pack of 12 Bic Plastidecor Crayons featured are the perfect size, and price for if you’re just wanting to give them a try.

• Long-lasting colouring crayon in a range of vivid colours
• Clean and strong unwrapped barrel that can be sharpened and erased like a pencil
• Ideal for detailed work and providing good coverage on large surfaces
• Extra clean on hands and fabric
• Complies with European Toy Standards
• Assorted Colours
• Boxed 12
• 21% Off!

For the price of a cheap tube of toothpaste, you could give your kids or pupils the most exhilarating creative session and allow their minds to fill the paper.  These kiddie friendly crayons are perfect for the small hand, and for the robust child, perfect for any child from the age of 2.

The Green Bit

Throughout it’s history, BIC has always been committed to responsible business practices. Today, we see the rising importance of sustainable development as an opportunity to reaffirm that commitment and the values that are the foundation of their identity. That’s why BIC has been engaged in a complete sustainable development program since 2003. The Inclusion of BIC in the FTSEGood Europe Index demonstrates the progress made by the group in this area.

The BIC® product philosophy has always been focused on simplicity, functionality, quality and the best price/quality tradeoff. Since the launch of the BIC® Cristal® pen, the style and design of BIC® products, and the materials that go into them, have had but one purpose: perfect harmony between their form and the use they are designed for. There has never been any place for the superfluous. Faithful to its “just what’s necessary” philosophy, BIC tries to find the perfect harmony between product quality and the quantity of materials used in manufacturing. For this reason, BIC has an ecodesign approach for all products. This approach means integrating environmental considerations, starting at the product design phase. They progressively integrate ecodesign into their Research & Development processes.
They recognize that nearly every aspect of a manufacturing business, including the production, distribution, and end disposal of a product and its packaging, has the potential to impact the environment, human health or safety. It is clearly their responsibility to minimize those impacts. The challenge is to develop solutions that protect people and the environment while allowing them to maintain the product quality and value that consumers demand. BIC accepts this responsibility and this challenge. Their approach is to collaborate with their employees, suppliers, customers and consumers to identify, assess and minimize the environmental, health and safety impacts resulting from their manufacturing operations, their products, and their product packaging.
The BIC Group has directed all BIC factories to establish an Environmental Management System compliant with an internal Group standard. Individual factories are free to exceed this Group standard, where appropriate, as long as they maintain a focus on continuous improvement of environmental performance. ISO 14001 certification is not implemented in the whole Group but only for selected factories that have chosen this way of making progress. However, they do not promote nor forbid the usage of this certification.

To be able to express yourself through art is a talent many of us have, or wish we had. It is one of the greatest ways to relax and can be one of the most fulfilling and satisfying hobbies! However unless you’re a young child, it really is a complete waste of money to buy bog standard crayons. Spending that little bit more on some quality art crayons is an investment well worth making. The end result after working with quality medium is in a league of its own, plus working with such fine art pencils is a real pleasure. At Office 365 we like the Derwent brand of pencils which have been produced at their Keswick site since 1832 by local craftsmen and women who have used their unique skills to perfect the art of the Derwent pencil making. In fact, their expertise has enabled them to develop the finest quality art materials in the world!

Our Derwent smooth artists pencils featured are a perfect example of the Derwent quality we’re talking about. The traditional round-barrelled artists pencils have a soft, smooth texture which blends beautifully to produce an infinate spectrum of hues and tints.  They’re traditional round barrel and wide core makes them perfect for broader strokes and free, animated illustrations. The slightly waxy texture is perfect for adding layer upon layer and blending to produce deep, shaded and vivid drawings.

• A wide 4mm colour strip produces strong lines and expressive tones.
• Layer multiple colours to create different tints and hues.
• Use crosshatch techniques to produce varied tones and colours.
• Apply different pressures to develop contrasting tones or smooth gradients
• 24% Off – Now just £21.57

The Green Bit

The Derwent factory is situated in one of the most beautiful parts of England, in the heart of the Lake District National Park. The company is therefore probably more aware than most how important it is to protect the world around us. Derwent comply with the internationally recognised environmental management standard, ISO 14001 and are committed to ensuring that their materials, processing, products and services have minimal environmental impact. For example, in 2002 they were awarded a Queen’s Award for Enterprise for developing a unique, solvent free paint application system which has greatly improved the air quality in this production area.

Derwent have also been awarded the BOSS (British Office Supplies and Services) Federation Environmental Award for the past 11 years. This comprehensive award scheme covers a wide range of environmental issues, such as reducing energy consumption and improving their employees’ working conditions.

More from our ‘Santa’s Useful Ideas’ range…

Today we’re bringing you another useful idea which will please every child, big or small. An old traditional favourite; a stocking filler we’ve all been happy to receive once upon a time. Going with the ‘encourage their creativity’ concept, which at Office 365 we strongly back, our artists pencils selection is perfect. I still clearly remember waking up on Christmas morning (so early it was dark outside) and feeling something heavy on my feet. I remember that rustling noise when I moved an inch and just knew what it was. That was it, I was from that moment until my head hit the pillow in the evening, a ridiculous over excited little person. Nothing’s changed really! Except now I’m the one creating that excitement for my little people. Colouring pencils where always a favourite stocking filler of my brothers and I, plus they came in pretty useful too. If it was still dark outside and obviously far too early for mum and dad’s poor weary heads; then we’d open them up straight away and put them to use making beautiful pictures from the magic in our heads.

Our Lakeland Colourthin Colouring Pencils featured to the right are the ideal stocking filler for any child. These traditional full length coloured pencils have a hexagonal barrel and a hard wearing core so that they can be sharpened to a fine point for detailed work. This pack of 12 includes a variety of different coloured pencils and is available with a generous 22% off the RRP! Lakeland are a popular brand by Derwent who are most popularly known for their pencils. The Lakeland pencil variety has been a firm favourite with generations of children for many years and it’s easy to see why. They have achieved a consistently high quality finish at already excellent value for money, plus there’s a great variety of products to choose from too!

The Green Bit

The Derwent factory is situated in one of the most beautiful parts of England, in the heart of the Lake District National Park. The company is therefore probably more aware than most how important it is to protect the world around us. Derwent comply with the internationally recognised environmental management standard, ISO 14001 and are committed to ensuring that their materials, processing, products and services have minimal environmental impact. For example, in 2002 they were awarded a Queen’s Award for Enterprise for developing a unique, solvent free paint application system which has greatly improved the air quality in this production area.

Derwent have also been awarded the BOSS (British Office Supplies and Services) Federation Environmental Award for the past 11 years. This comprehensive award scheme covers a wide range of environmental issues, such as reducing energy consumption and improving their employees’ working conditions.

Pentel, one of our most reputable and popular brands for writing equipment are the feature of today’s blog. Like many, I often only purchase a product if it is made by a brand that I know and trust. Like for example you’re in the market for a new printer and you’ve found that HP are the better choice. Well this is the same for Pentel who are globally one of the most popular brand choices for writing equipment. 

Pentel are a privately held Japanese company who produce stationery and writing instruments. Some of their products include mechanical pencils, erasers, pens, correction fluid, pencil lead, and felt-tipped pens. Pentel are also the inventors of non-permanent marker technology. Most of Pentel products are manufactured in Japan, Taiwan and France. Their UK offices are based just outside Swindon Wiltshire.

Pentel Pens are one of our most popular brands of pens at Office 365 and the Hyper G Gel Pen featured to your right among the most commonly purchased. With 25% off the RRP and a free Cholet Womble (for a limited period), it’s not difficult to see why!

Pentel’s mission is to develop pens that offer their customers a more satisfying writing experience, correction products that give better value for money and art materials that allow their users to release their true creative side! They are proud that they have been responsible for the development of ideas behind two-thirds of the writing instruments in use around the world today. From the first acrylic fibre tipped pen, to no less than 26 shades of pigment gel ink, their goal is to create products that make all forms of written and artistic communication not only effective, but inspiring. Specialising in the production of mechanical pencils too, Pentel cover all areas; take for example the Pentel Mechanical Pencils featured to your left. These A300 Automatic Pencils have a non-slip rubber finger grip and a fixed metal sleeve to help prevent the leads from snapping. Also on an offer with 25% off, you’ll make a satisfying saving with us.

The Green Bit

Pentel is about to embark on phase two of its high profile national campaign supporting the Recycology brand of filing and presentation products and writing instruments.

The first stage of the campaign began in spring this year, running into early summer, featuring 18cm by three columns advertisements in the Daily Mail and The Times. Stage two commences on 22 August, with advertising in the same national newspapers, plus a two-week burst of Tube car panel advertising on the London Underground, starting on Bank Holiday Monday.

The Tube campaign will yield 75 per cent of the London Underground audience over the duration of the campaign. Pentel has also been supporting the Recycology brand with advertising activity in specialist end-user press, plus promotional offers including a free desk-size wheelie bin pen pot made from recycled plastic, targeted at office products purchasers.

Wendy Vickery, Pentel Marketing Manager says, “With the second phase of the Recycology campaign about to start, just as the August Bank holiday arrives, the exposure of the London Underground, complementing our national press activity, will give us opportunities to reach significant numbers of end-users, including students starting a new school or college term.”  

The pencil originated from ancient Rome where scribes wrote on papyrus  which was an early form of paper, with a thin metal rod which was called a stylus. This left a light and just about readable mark. Further early styluses were made of lead and today we still refer to the core of a pencil as the “lead” even though it is made from nontoxic graphite. However, did you know that Graphite has been in widespread use since its discovery in Borrowdale, England in 1564? Graphite leaves a darker mark than lead, but is so soft and brittle that it requires a holder. At first, sticks of graphite were wrapped in string, but later, the graphite was inserted into wooden sticks that had to be hollowed out by hand. This was the time in which the wood-cased pencil was born.

The hardness of the graphite is marked on the pencil in numbers, look for a number such as 2, 3 or 4. The higher the number, the harder the graphite and lighter the mark left on the paper. As the graphite becomes softer which happens through the use of lower proportions of clay, it leaves a darker marking as it deposits more graphite onto the paper. Softer pencils will become ‘blunt’ faster than harder leads and will require frequent sharpening.

You will also see letter markings on pencils. The letter “H” indicates a hard pencil and likewise, a pencil with the letter “B” indicates the blackness of the pencil’s mark, and a softer lead. The letter “F” is also used to indicate that the pencil can sharpen to a fine point. A pencil marked “HB” is hard and black; a pencil marked “HH” is very hard, and a pencil marked “HHBBB” is very hard and really very black! You will find that most pencils using this HB system are designated with a number such as 2B, 4B or 2H to indicate the degree of hardness. For example a 4B would be softer than a 2B and a 3H harder than an H. Have a look at the chart at the top of the page for a visual guide.

Office 365 offer many Graphite Pencils, by some prestigeous brands, like for example, Derwent (a personal favourite). Featured to your right are the Derwent Graphic Pencils with Pencil Shades from 6B-4H.

These high quality graphite pencils come in a tin with an extensive range of degrees from 9B to 4H which are suitable for writing, sketching and design. I would personally reccommed these as they where my first Derwent purchase and due to their quality I have since purchased their Pastel Pencils in tin sets and as seperates and their Drawing Collection sets, as well as Natural Graphite, Charcoal Pencils, Compressed Charcoal and Coloured Charcoal. I treasure them and am so impressed with their quality that I keep them in a beautiful wooden 3 draw artist box. Why not start your Derwent collection too with the most commonly used first, these Graphic Pencils. I only wish I’d seen them here first when I bought them, as they can be purchased for just £7.48 from Office 365, thats 19% off the reccommended retail price, even though I payed a staggering £12 for mine!

Prices correct as of 24/03/2010

Mechanical Pencils By Rotring – Our Architects Choice

At Office 365 we highly recommend and support Rotring. Without one known complaint regarding their products (through us that is) they are truly faultless. Rotring is the brand used by people who value the power of ideas and visions and who strive to give these the highest form of expression. Providing you with the best possible product solution for every situation is one of Rotrings key areas of competence. Every product bearing the red ring is a perfect marriage of ergonomics and design, enabling you to work with precision and inspiring you to realize visionary ideas.

Rotring Tikky Mechanical Pencils – Packed 3

The fine lead Tikky mechanical pencil is given a new, modern design. An innovative mixture of hard and soft materials gives the Tikky the perfect grip. The tapered triangular form and the ring clip round off the Tikky’s pleasing design. This premium fine lead pencil in the familiar four line widths can now be used for virtually any occasion . Extremely comfortable hold thanks to the new dual material grip and new barrel design. It comes complete with a high quality eraser and re-fillable hi-polymer HB leads under the chrome plated cap. Create sketches, technical drawings and texts cleanly and precisely with the line width most suitable for the font. Hi-Polymer leads ensure high flexibility and durability while keeping the lead support tip clean. 

• Ergonomic wave grip for control while writing

• Classic design mechanical pencils, great for office and school use

• Button, clip and tip are non-tarnishing

• Fixed sleeve offers an unimpeded view of the page, making it excellent for drawing with a straight edge or template

• Set of three includes: 0.35, 0.50 and 0.70mm

For further mechanical pencils and automatic mechanical pencils just visit the site, there is plenty of variety and discounts throughout.

Well, we’ve all heard of these different pencil shades; HB, 2B, 4B, 5B etc, but what do they actually mean?

I’ve had to do a little research on this one myself as I’ve never understood it. I understood that some were softer and darker than others but only buy experimenting. For the keen sketchers out there, wouldn’t it be handy to know how to use these pencils without the trial and error? Here go’s;

EXPLANATION

HB Stands for ‘Hard Black’ this is your standard pencil, the one we all having lying around. Simply, the H means hard and B means black. H pencils, because they are hard, leave less graphite on the paper, so are lighter. B pencils are softer, so leave more graphite on the paper, and so are darker. F means Fine Point, and it is quite a hard pencil – easy to keep sharp, but generally a bit too hard for general drawing. When we get to the number’s for example, 2B, 4B, 5B etc the progression in number means the softer the pencil so in this list 5B would be the softest (and there for blackest) pencil.

So, to sum it up lead from softest to hardest is 6B, 5B, 4B, 3B, 2B, B, HB, F, H, 2H, 3H, 4H, 5H, 6H, 7H, 8H & 9H.

We have a selection of Art Pencils at Office365, take a peek online or just select the link to take you straight there.