Where is the line between iteration and imitation?

Majohn (aka. MoonMan) evokes strong reactions from those who are familiar with their products. Reactions to their products’ resemblances to the pen designs of other established companies.

I received my new Majohn A1 this week. Majohn’s clipless model.

And I like it. A lot.

Majohn’s clipless interpretation of Pilot’s fantastical retractable VP and Decimo fountain pens offers a section that is comfortable to hold with my writing grip.

My thumb likes to travel right where Pilot’s clips are installed

The regular A1 is a clear copy of Pilot’s excellent design. The clip, nock, nib-protecting trap door, and nib unit assembly all mirror Pilot’s design. A pilot nib assembly will easily fit right in.

Additionally, Majohn makes a handful of concessions in their much-lower-priced A1. The two most prominent are: a matte finish that wears easily — even during my first week with the pen. And a steel nib that took skilled work to get writing smoothly out of the box. Concessions that leave me with a continued interest in a “real VP” without a clip someday.

Yet, the clipless A1 marks an important improvement upon Pilot’s design for those who share my writing grip. It’s a retractable fountain pen I enjoy holding and writing with.

New pen in hand, I’m wondering: is the A1 an ethical no-clip iteration or is it still blatant imitation? A thought experiment in ethics.

The market demand angle. Majohn’s clipless A1 fills a use-case demand that Pilot has left unmet for quite some time. A quick search of “pilot vanishing point clip” yields a wealth of stories, tutorials and requests related to removing the Pilot’s clip.

This said, Pilot’s VP design works fantastically for those with traditional writing grips. As such, the demand met by the A1’s clipless model may be so comparatively small as to make manufacturing a clipless model not worth the effort. If true, then the A1 seems an ethical iteration in a direction Pilot themselves are uninterested in.

Within this line of thinking, the clipless model offers an iteration on Pilot’s VP design that excuses the design’s otherwise imitation of Pilot’s design. Ethical iteration.

The “you know it when you see it” angle. Another barometer of ethical imitation takes the form of recognizable copying. To what extent does the A1 resemble a VP?

Researchers are generally encouraged to provide a citation wherever someone else’s ideas are readily noticeable in your own writing. Failing to do so brings us into plagiarism territory. Integrity is measured in good-faith callbacks to the people whose ideas have shaped my own.

There is no doubt that Majohn’s design is directly influenced by Pilot’s capless designs. Ideas have been borrowed, adapted, and applied to Majohn’s own product. Inside and outside. Even a moderately-close look could mistake a VP for an A1.

Plagiarized? A clear and resounding yes. As such: blatant imitation.

Another way to think about the ethics of imitation and iteration is through Rancière’s ideas about politics. The “who is allowed in” angle.

Rancière suggests that politics are a story of how the things that are not currently allowed get shifted into what people see as acceptable. So, the A1’s imitation and iteration of Pilot’s capless design are ethical — if people buy the pen.

And I bought the pen. Allowing the A1 into my collection renders the A1 an ethical product design. Heavy.

Where, exactly, is the ethical line? I’m unsure. But I’m sure of two things: that I like how the A1 writes and works as a clipless-capless fountain pen and that my interest in a Pilot-made clipless-capless fountain pen has only grown.

This week’s Inked Tines update includes last week’s currently inked writing tools.

Toolset

Pens. My Lamy Safari continually found its way back into my hand, time and again, throughout the week. A yo-yo. Ancient Copper’s prominent shading accentuates the Cursive nib’s fun line variation. A great combo for bringing joy to linear writing tasks like lecture notes and reading notes. And for keeping my attention focused during long writing tasks: journaling and letter writing. 1/3 remaining.

Nib won’t quit

• Platinum 3776 (F) — Feed. A most-excellent combo. Consistent, moderate flow in a narrow F line. Perfect for fine detailed notes and tracking tasks. Also: reading notes, meeting notes, and scratch notes.

• Karas Kustoms (EF) — Feed. Yoseka’s blue is easily visible on the page — especially against 223’s muted grey tones. Reading notes (accent), tasks in need of migration within meeting notes, and some paper marking.

• Platinum 3776 (B) — 1/5. A round nib that writes consistently, even when I rotate my pen as my hand tires, is a gift. This combo is such a gift. Longform journaling, reading notes, discussion notes, and teaching reflections.

• Safari Pro Gear (Z Architect) — 1/2. A surprisingly strong meeting notes pairing. Wet, wide zoom-side lines. Suitable for headings, emphasizing meeting and discussion notes. And Borealis’ sheen kept longform journal entries exciting — even after pages of writing. A pair that keeps you writing is a pair worth inking.

Notebooks. Work bujo. Odyssey Neptune 400 (A5). The technicalities of counting pages proves difficult this week. I built out lesson plan outlines and a weekly for this past week two Fridays ago. Both sets of outlines properly count towards my writing from two weeks ago — not this past week.

As such, I added 18 new pages to my work bullet journal in the past seven days. The week’s writing ends on page 99. That marks 100 pages of writing across six weeks. A lot of ink on paper.

Three pages house meeting notes. Kylo REN’s F nib drove my short meeting with student council. All quickly-jotted summary notes recorded immediately following the meeting. A longer administrative meeting took up two pages — recorded with both the Architect and EF sides of the Sailor. Shiny.

I also alternated two combinations of pens for a pair of student-led roundtable discussions. The Lamy and Sailor offered reliable and wet writing for one class. Excellent for quickly-jotted notes made made while students spoke aloud. The Lamy returned to alternate topics with the Platinum B nib for a second set of complimentary fall colors: Ancient Copper and Rikyu-cha.

Two more pages of writing, total.

Return of the Lamy

I then tapped Kylo Ren with the Sailor, and then with the Laurel Green Platinum, as I sketched out presentation notes for back to school night. Greens for growth. Broad nibs for easy reading from a distance. Functional.

Just the bones … pretty green-brown bones

And then a new two-page monthly brainstorm for October. Brainstorms help me to affirm my priorities for the month. Done all in grey ink. Driven by Kylo Ren. I want my goals to sit center stage.

The remainder comprise my prep for this coming week: a two-page weekly and six lesson plans. Every pen met paper. A success in fall finery.

Busy busy.

Journal. Life x Kleid Noble Note (B6). Fourteen new pages in my personal journal. Reflections on my continuing recovery from COVID — six pages.

One page of scribbles and test writing as I tuned my new Majohn A1’s EF nib.

Mmmm, candy marsala

I turned to my wide nibbed options for my targeted, analytic journal entries — which make up the rest of my journaling last week. The Sailor’s Zoom Architect, the Lamy’s Cursive nib, and my Platinum B nib.

The Tremendous Trio

Only five pages remain of this lovely B6 notebook. An experiment gone resoundingly right.

Written dry. Two pens are down to only their feeds as I write this. The Kylo Ren Platinum carried two weeks of daily driving. A tall task. And a challenge our dear Sith Lord rose to meet nib-on.

Subtle colorway, perfect (for me) F line width

The Karas Kustoms paired wonderfully with my newest ink. This pair consistently produced European-width EF lines. Accent notes in a blue bright enough to leap off the page. Rock on.

Newly inked. I entered the week with five inked pens. That left one lonely pen slot in my Franklin-Christoph penvelope. A case that I filled with the Majohn A1 within the first hour of coming home after work on the day it was delivered.

I chose Ferris Wheel Press’ Candy Marsala for the inaugural fill. The brown-red lent an additional leaf-turning rouge to the week’s fall-inspired color palette.

The collection

Incoming / new orders. The Majohn A1’s arrival on Tuesday sparked an evening of nib tuning and assuring my partner that I am, in fact, not bleeding — despite copious amounts of Candy Marsala on my fingers.

The reason for my inky hands is that the A1’s nib arrived with tines hugging one another. and I excitedly inked the pen before inspecting the tines through my loupe.

The small, narrow nib left little purchase from which to spread the tines to allow for ink to flow in between. So I needed to pull the nib. Which did its duty and delivered ink through the feed and nib.

In hindsight, a red ink was a worrying choice for nib repair. This, I assure you, is blood-free paper.

A trip to my nib block expanded the gap between the nib’s tines. And careful tuning underneath a loupe brought the tines into alignment.

The result is a consistent, moderately wet writer. And true-to-size EF lines.

And a retractable nib fountain pen in a section shape that suits my writing grip.

Outgoing / trades or sales. My TWSBI Eco-T has been out on loan for two weeks. My new pen friend, AA, returned it to me on Thursday evening. He had inked it with Montblanc’s Oyster Grey. A wonderful grey ink for writing narrow, precise lines. And an ink combination I chose, too, a year ago.

A’s first TWSBI experience. And a welcome return to my prodigal pen.

Don’t give me that look. You’re still on the list for a future re-homing.

Currently reading and listening

Fiction. I attempted to continue my journey alongside Redwall’s Martin the Warrior on five separate evenings. I fell asleep after only reading a few pages on five separate evenings.

Despite an active jailbreak.

I listened to my body’s signals and let sleeping mice lay. All told, I read 31 iPhone sized pages.

Nonfiction. My attention shifted between reading historical analyses of the Epic of Gilgamesh to essays on current events. 26 pages letter-sized pages in total.

I used an Apple Pencil for making annotations and highlights on the essays. GoodNotes is my website annotating app of choice.

I’ve installed the colors of my favorite inks (Diamine’s Earl Grey and Kyo-no-oto’s Aonibi) in GoodNotes’ pencil tool. And the highlighter tool offers the colors of my favorite Mild Grey and Purple Mildliners. Digital, meet analog.

Music. I turned to Keaton Henson’s collaboration with Ren Ford for my teaching and reading soundtrack last week. Romantic Works is an older album from 2014. But age ain’t no thing if the music is good.

The instrumental record sports sad-sounding strings over classical arrangements. Lovely piano parts play underneath. Music for deep-thinking and reflection.