Interview about Lumin Mechanical Pencil, winner of the A' Art and Stationery Supplies Design Award 2025
Lumin is a design made 100 percent from alluminium. Without a mechanism, the elasticity of the material is used to hold the graphite. It is produced using different numerical control machining processes, with a manual finish in each one of them. Identified with its engraved serial number and accompanied by packaging that authenticates its originality. Its designer wanted to represent in Lumin the emotion of emptiness. A fragment of the brilliance that lives in each person, not perfect but authentic. In this way Lumin invites introspection and personal reflection.
View detailed images, specifications, and award details on A' Design Award & Competition website.
View Design DetailsLUMIN was born at a moment when I needed to understand myself. A hexagonal aluminum bar left in the workshop where I taught became the medium through which I explored that search. With no complex tools—only a lathe and the freedom to experiment—I began turning, drilling, and subtracting material. In the act of emptying the aluminum, I was also emptying something within me. From that simplicity emerged the project’s philosophy: letting the material define the mechanism. The natural elasticity of aluminum replaced traditional systems and gave shape to the graphite-holding clamp.
The shape of LUMIN was born almost by inertia of the material itself: the hexagonal aluminum bar defined the initial gesture. When I saw the first prototype holding the graphite, the aluminum was opaque, without shine, and I understood that this object was not only a tool, but a reflection of myself at a time when I also felt out of step with my times. LUMIN ended up being an honest way of giving form to that emotional authenticity.
In my country, education—and especially public education—is a flame that we seek to protect and keep alive. LUMIN was born while I was teaching, in an environment where manual work and critical thinking retain a fundamental value. In contrast to the digital world, the mechanical pencil proposes a return to the origin: to the idea that appears as a vortex and is honestly materialized through graphite. It is a reminder of the importance of practical learning and the moment when hand and material build knowledge together.
In the production of LUMIN, I never wanted it to be just a piece that emerged from a CNC machine. That process brings precision, but I felt the need to leave a more human mark. That's why the final finish is a completely manual polish: it doesn't seek industrial perfection, but an authentic surface, with small variations that speak of the gesture of the person who worked on it. That blend of mechanization and craftsmanship connects each piece with the person who safeguards it.
The decision to produce only 100 units arose from thinking of LUMIN as a fragment, a part of a personal process that colleagues encouraged me to share. I wondered how many fragments could exist without losing authenticity. Thus was born the numbered pre-series of 100 initial pieces, almost as a way to let the project breathe and see how far it could go. Today, a new series crosses the ocean.
From the very beginning of the pre-series, I understood that LUMIN needed packaging that extended its narrative. The packaging represents the emptiness we can all find ourselves in at some point, a silent space where form has yet to emerge. Only when we find our own breaking point does the light manage to pierce through that emptiness. Thus, the packaging is not just a container: it is part of the project's central message.
Winning a Silver A' Design Award was an incredible recognition. Beyond its professional value, it confirmed that LUMIN was not just a commercial product, but a message that could be heard. It reinforces for me that design can be an intimate expression without losing its place in the commercial world.
With LUMIN, the user experience is linked to the memories each person builds with the object. The aluminum records these memories with marks, scratches, or dents that are etched like tattoos on the skin. This imprint transforms the mechanical pencil into an emotional key: a tool that not only writes but also remembers.
The most profound lesson was understanding that every process needs its time. From understanding an idea to going through it and embracing it, each stage has its own rhythm. LUMIN taught me that artistic vision and industrial production can meet when each finds its place, without time, without rush.
LUMIN was the answer to a personal quest and a trigger for conversations with others. It gave me absolute freedom to balance design and emotion. That process opened a new chapter in how I think about objects: understanding that an instrument can be minimalist and, at the same time, contain profound symbolism. That balance will continue to guide my future developments.
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