Modern Fuel EDC Fountain Pen – 2024
Based in Texas, Modern Fuel is a well established brand for premium writing instruments. Modern Fuel’s popular line of all-metal pens and pencils are designed to last a lifetime, with metals ranging from titanium to bronze providing durability, balance, and style. The brand successfully balances the line between boutique luxury and mass-market appeal.
In 2023 Modern Fuel asked for our help expanding their product line into a new space, fountain pens. This is a product category with hundreds of years of pedigree and innovation, and very particular customers. Our mission was to create a product that was unmistakably Modern Fuel, with enough innovation to be enticing and enough familiarity to be inviting.
After months of design, development, and testing, the Modern Fuel Fountain Pen was launched through a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign and is now an iconic member of Modern Fuel’s regular product offering.
Development
Our aesthetic target was well defined by Modern Fuel’s existing product line: clean, seamless, refined, and purposeful. Simple forms with well considered proportions and balance. We wanted this product to expand the product line, while living comfortably within it.
We studied the history of fountain pens, and built a collection of some of the best every-day-use models available today. We lived with them day to day, noting what we loved, what we found frustrating, and where our opportunities were.
Next, we needed to establish the primary architecture and design character of the pen. We used refined CAD, 3D-printed study models, and renders to explore varying relationships between body, cap, grip area, and fastening features. We considered hand-feel, balance, pocket-ability, manufacturability, relationship to the existing product line, and visual styling.
We chose an approach where the cap meets flush with the body in both capped and posted configurations, with the grip area featured prominently on the pen body, never covered by the cap. This solution created a unified silhouette in both capped and posted configurations, and parting lines between the components were always hidden by the grip area and body finishing. It felt perfectly “Modern Fuel.”
We focused on keeping the product’s exterior design as clean and simple as possible while packaging precise engineering details inside. The interior volume is sized to fit ink cartridges and converters, while the body’s exterior diameter and length is fine-tuned for weight and writing comfort. The cap is designed to thread onto the back of the pen’s body, creating a seamless extension while posted.
Custom threads work with o-rings to seal the cap and body, eliminating hard-starts and protecting against accidental leakage.
We worked through detailed engineering, design, and production refinements with rounds of 1:1 machined metal prototypes. We spent time building, writing, and living with the prototypes to make sure every element of the user experience was perfect.
A modular parts system was developed, letting the user choose configurations for clip, lanyard, smooth or grooved grip sections, and even different pen body lengths.
Crossing the finish line into production, we helped develop premium packaging that accommodates several possible configurations of pen and accessories.
The Modern Fuel EDC Fountain Pen launched on Kickstarter in May 2024, was featured as an official Kickstarter “Project we Love” and successfully raised over $120,000 in orders. Now generally available on Modern Fuel’s website in five different metals, the Fountain Pen remains a strong seller and a core pillar of the Modern Fuel product line.
