'Pens, pencils are best tool for creativity'
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Caran d'Ache President Carole Hubscher speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at the writing tool maker's flagship store in Jung-gu, Seoul, Thursday. / Courtesy of Caran d'Ache
Caran d'Ache president sees handwriting, drawing complementary to digital writing.
By Nam Hyun-woo
Take a moment and think about the last time you wrote something elaborately with pens or pencils.
We now spend most of our days tapping at a keyboard, clicking with a mouse or touching a screen. We no longer hold pens or pencils to write letters to deliver messages to others. We use email and text. Perhaps the last time you used a pen was when you were signing a credit card receipt or scribbling a quick note.
We were this way even a decade ago, and in a time in which smartphone artificial intelligence understands what we are saying and can turn our words into text, there seems to be no more reason for time-consuming penmanship, especially among Koreans who are obsessed with getting things done as quickly as possible.
So did handwriting come to its end in this country? Perhaps not, according to Carole Hubscher, president of Swiss-based writing implements manufacturer Caran d'Ache, who visited one of the most tech-savvy countries in the world to open the house's first mono-brand store and lounge in Seoul.
“I think Korea is a very innovative country. You always try to innovate something and bring new things to the market,” Hubscher said during an interview with The Korea Times on Thursday. “And it's true that a lot of times you are asking 'In this high technology world we live in today, what is the place of analogue products?'
“For me, both are very complementary. With iPhones, Samsung and so on, you consume. You consume information and are buying stuff. With our products, there is creativity,” she said. “In the world we live in today, that is changing extremely fast, it is very important to keep on being creative, which will make us different from the robots of tomorrow which will do things repetitively.”
Unlike handwriting or drawing, typing on keyboards or tapping screens can only express something within limitations that are already set by the developer. You cannot type in a sinuous letter or your own unique character unless they are on your keyboard and embedded in the system you use, which she described as thinking “inside the box.”
“The way we teach kids to be curious and think outside of the box goes together with drawing and handwriting, given the direct link from your brain or soul to your hand,” she said, citing several studies that proved handwriting increases neural activity in certain sections of the brain, which is similar to meditation.
Heritage & future
Caran d'Ache's Neocolor wax pastel
Caran d'Ache was founded as “Fabrique Genevoise de Crayons” in Geneva in 1915 and now stands one of the world's best-known makers of luxurious pens, crayons and color pencils.
As a family-owned business, Caran d'Ache does not disclose business-related numbers, but Hubscher dropped the hint they “produce color pencils the distance between Geneva to Rome every day, if you put the pencils next to each other.”
Despite the high volume, all production is handled by just 300 employees all in Geneva thanks to its highly functional facilities and their craftsmanship, which Hubscher said allows the company to be faithful to its “Swiss-made” label.
“We provide a lifetime guarantee to all of our products. Who can say that nowadays?” Hubshcer said. “And our DNA is producing ecological products. You can eat one of our color pencils and there will be no problem.”
Hubscher represents the fourth generation of a family that has been involved in decision-making at the highest level since 1930. She completed the Management Development Program at Harvard Business School and built her career as a marketing and sales specialist not only with Caran d'Ache but also other brands including Calvin Klein. She joined Caran d'Ache's Board in 2002 and has been chairing it since 2012.
Caran d'Ache showed a major expansion during the tenure of her predecessor, her father Jacques Hubscher. Thanks to his efforts, she said, Caran d'Ache has footings in more than 80 countries and she said her job is “branding,” telling customers “the nice stories behind the 102-year-old brand.”
During its history, Caran d'Ache has been at the forefront of technical invention of writing and drawing tools, Hubscher said. Those inventions include the Fixpencil, the world's first propelling pencil with a patented grip mechanism in 1929; the Prismalo, the world's first water-soluble pencil in 1931; and the Neocolor in 1952, which is one of the most recognized wax pastels among artists across the world.
However, Hubscher also agreed sensational changes to the fundamentals of analogue writing tools will not likely take place as frequently in the future as they had in the past, saying “pencils will remain as pencils.”
“You can improve the smoothness of the pen so it can have more nice touch and feel, but otherwise it will be mainly about the look of pencils. New technologies on the pen itself, I don't really believe in that,” she said.
Instead, she said analogue writing tools will not compete with digital gadgets over being primary writing tools, but rather serve as a tool for “yoga-like relaxing” and personalization.
“Time is a luxury nowadays,” she said. “You can sit down and look at your Facebook account, but what does it bring to you? Try drawing, try coloring and try sending a handwritten note to a loving person. You will feel better because you have done something by yourself and for yourself and someone you care.”
Two current trends that go with her argument are coloring books for adults and decorating one's own bullet journals, she said, adding social media helps the company grasp trends and get feedback from customers.
“You know we are living in the world where everything is the same -- we wear the same clothes and use the same smartphones. You want a little bit of personality. Why are many important things still signed by hand? It's because it is your own personality,” she said.
Hubscher said the purpose of opening the flagship store in Seoul is in line with such trends. “It is about bringing happiness to the Korean people,” she said. “When you receive a postcard or a love letter written by hand, it has a completely different feeling than receiving a text message because this means you care about the other person. You took the time to write and to think what you want to write and those things will bring you happiness.”