Starting Scribblers
Wednesday, January 30th, 2008
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Filed under: Chit Chat
As with so many companies, Scribblers evolved from a simple idea.Back in 1996 I was teaching calligraphy evening classes. I really enjoyed these classes; the students were all keen and motivated. That is motivated until they had to rule up!When planning the lessons I would think “OK we’ll need 5 nib widths of a William Mitchell No. 2 nib for this exercise” In the planning I would assume it would only take a couple of minutes to do , but the reality was students would spend ages ruling up their paper.After a while I started to write down the measurements so I could tell the class the text height (x-height) rather than going through the process of making nib marks on the paper and measuring these off and then ruling up. On a piece of paper I had the nib widths for column headings and the nib sizes going down the page. This sheet soon filled up with x-height values.A while later it occurred to me that it would be nice to present this data in a better more user friendly way – a type of slide rule seemed a good idea. Using a spreadsheet, paper, glue and scissors I produced a prototype. This made reading off the measurements so much easier.After some refinements the X-Height Calculator was ready.
Once manufactured I started to sell the X-Height Calculators to my calligraphy classes. I also had a leaflet inserted in ‘The Edge’ calligraphy magazine, which is produced by CLAS . I was very surprised with the response.Although the X-Height Calculator was proving to a great time saver in the classroom, the students still had to measure up. This is when I had the idea for the “X-Height Measuring Discs”. There is one hexagonal disk for each size of William Mitchell nib. For each disc (nib) each edge has increments marked on it at a certain number of nib widths apart. So all the students had to do was for example, select the disc for the number 2 nib, and find the edge that corresponds to 5 nib widths. Then that edge is used for marking up the paper ready for ruling. This saves a huge amount of time when ruling up the paper.When running these evening classes I would produce a list of equipment and materials the students would need. The following week they would walk in smiling, holding a bag of bits they had purchased from the local art shop. “The shop did not have William Mitchell Square Cut Nibs in stock, but they said this left-oblique fountain pen is just as good!” I quickly realised the art shops did not fully understand my students requirements. I decided it would be a good idea to sell calligraphy supplies as well as my calligraphy aid.When the classes started the following September, the students all had the right equipment, materials and an aid to help them rule up. They were ready to write!
We are sorry about this. We had a serious systems problem, which has now been resolved 
Computers are great when they work, but when they don’t ……. May be that is why calligraphy has become so popular in the last few years – it’s nice to escape from computers for a while.
