Stationery Storytelling

One of the most popular inks in recent years has been Writer’s Blood, created by Diamine in collaboration with the r/fountainpens subreddit. It’s a burgundy colored ink. When it was released in 2021, people rushed to buy it - and I don’t think it was because it was the best burgundy out there, or because of the cost, or even the properties.

Writer’s Blood by Diamine (photo via Amazon)

People connected, and continue to connect, to the story evoked by the name.

“Writer’s Blood”! How incredibly cool. We love to write with our pens, and so many fountain pen lovers identify as writers, or people who want to become writers (whether published or not is irrelevant). Too often, the process of writing feels like scribbling with one’s own blood. It is relatable. Or perhaps one imagines inking the pen with the blood of famous or obscure writers who drained their veins in pursuit of Story. Or perhaps one is working on a dissertation - BLEEDING WORDS!! is certainly relatable then. Many fountain pen folks in my writing community bought a bottle.

The name played a major part in the ink’s popularity. “With a name like Writer’s Blood, of course I needed this ink,” wrote Sarah Read for Pen Addict. “The Reddit Fountainpen community have done it again. Another great ink created with a great name too – Writer’s Blood,” wrote Nick Stewart. The reactions to the actual product were less glowing. “…it does lack surprise or the “wow” factor,” was the verdict from the reviewer at Ink-Addict. And, most frustratingly, numerous reviewers on Reddit and the Fountain Pen Network agreed that the ink is simply too wet to use.

Yet, the ink remains popular — it is currently ranked as the ninth most commonly owned ink on Fountain Pen Companion! The name continues to play a major role in the success story of Writer’s Blood. Stationery is not just about color, or properties, or writing experiences - it is about story, and the best product promoters know all about this one weird trick.

I did not buy Writer’s Blood when it came out, or later. I’m not much of a trend follower, but truth is, the actual reason I was in no rush to acquire Writer’s Blood was because I already had my perfect burgundy, which also came with a story that moved me. That ink is Encre du Désert, created by Montblanc to pair with the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry pen series. Encre du Désert is a burgundy, which is perhaps odd for an ink called “Ink of the Desert”, but it makes intuitive sense to me. The ink’s box showcases Saint-Exupéry in aviator garb, a plane, and a celestial navigation chart. The color is that of a deep evening sky tinted by the last of sunset. The packaging design, the name, and the color come together for me to evoke both Saint-Exupéry’s Night Flight (1931) and his lesser-known book Citadelle, translated as The Wisdom of the Sands (1948). I love Saint-Exupéry’s work so much, have loved it since childhood, and at the same time I am so often just arguing with him, and this is especially true in case of The Wisdom of the Sands. This association creates a richer, deeper story for me, a chewier experience. The ink itself is wonderful - saturated, shading, with a hint of golden sheen, medium-wet, perfectly behaved across a range of pens. It’s also a LE, and out of production, which is an issue with many Montblanc inks.

I bought the book from the wonderful Haunted Bookshop in Iowa City, Iowa. The pen is a burgundy Scribo Piuma with an EF 18k nib. Funnily, just today I saw a first edition of Le Petit Prince (in French) at an estate sale and passed on it (the price was too high and I was already buying many other books), but now I regret it. Next time.

One of the reasons I love Montblanc inks is the combination of storytelling, product delivery, and ink quality and properties. I do not love the price, but I’d rather have this one bottle than 2-3 others, so it’s fine.

What is not fine at all is that Montblanc began to repackage their inks across multiple existing product lines. During #montblancgate, it was revealed by @fountainpenmemes that Montblanc repackaged Petrol as 80 Days Around the World Blue, Homer Greek Blue as Napoleon Blue, Spider Metamorphosis and Starwalker Grey, and James Dean Rebel Red as Sherlock Holmes Scarlet Red AND as Year of the Tiger Red (this triplication was originally discovered by my friend Josh). That’s three different names and boxes, for the same ink.

Let’s put aside the question of whether or not it’s ok to offer the same expensive product three different times to unsuspecting customers under different names (it’s not). What especially frustrated me about all this is that the ink did not have the same story. James Dean Rebel Red is about rebellion, social estrangement, young American masculinity, and a life story that is at the same time tragic and triumphant. Sherlock Holmes Scarlet Red is about a genius loner detective who knows all about the color of fresh blood, and the mystery writer who penned A Study in Scarlet. Year of the Tiger is about the joy of celebrating Chinese New Year, and the powerful energy of tigers. That is not the same story, not even close. This duplication and triplication creates cognitive dissonance for me - I am very narrative oriented. What IS the ink about? Can the same ink mean something else three different times? I don’t think so. I own Scarlet Red, but this situation makes it difficult for me to use it, and I am considering letting it go.

A bottle of red Montblanc ink.

What's the story with this one? Nobody knows.

For the moment, it's Scarlet Red.

As far as I know, Montblanc did not publicly respond to #montblancgate, but they have not repeated this same process since then - all inks since then seem to be unique - but it made me feel that the brand is not taking the storytelling part of their work seriously. Product storytelling is an illusion, but a precious and important one - a good product story becomes a shared world, a speculative space which the company creates and which the buyers enter - to be charmed, delighted, validated, surprised, inspired. If the company cannot be bothered to maintain trust in the story, the process falls apart.

Storytelling through marketing can be very powerful. In the 1990s, Subaru executives came up with an idea to market their cars to lesbians - a group of women who already liked the cars. By creating ads that showcased lesbians at a time when it was rare to see queer people in advertising, the company was not only selling a product - it was validating the community. And the community appreciated the marketing and bought even more Subarus. “It was such an unusual decision—and such a success—that it helped push gay and lesbian advertising from the fringes to the mainstream”, writes Alex Mayyasi for The Atlantic. It’s 2023 and the Subaru-lesbian connection is still going strong, a beloved (well, largely beloved!) cliché. Lesbians are often stereotyped as outdoorsy, low-key, Subaru-driving dog owners :) These cars are such a community staple that even I considered a Subaru. I’m not a lesbian, drive an old Toyota, have no pets, and am so indoorsy I’m writing a fountain pen blog! - but the story of Subaru as the iconic queer car certainly appealed to me. The best product stories resonate with our sense of who we are, and have the power to last for decades and more.

Storytelling is an important part of how I enjoy my stationery.

A book about edges of books, and an ink about an elephant.