< PreviousDesired objects commercialinteriordesign.com November 2021 50 Look down at your desk, in a handbag or down the back of the sofa and there's probably a Bic Biro pen or two waiting to be found. Like Kleenex, Velcro and ChapStick, the Bic Biro has become a generic trademark – trademarks of companies whose products were so successful that they came to represent an entire category. Released in 1950 by French company Bic, the Bic pen (offi cially named Bic Cristal) helped to change the pen market from fountain pens to ballpoint. By 2006, over 100 billion had been sold – and it's easy to see why, when they can be bought as cheaply as a few dirhams, dollars or pence, depending on your location, and a single pen can write for a distance of up to two to three kilometres. The pens come in four different colours: black, blue, green and red – it's reported that black is the most popular Bic colour in the UK. According to stationery blog Nanosphere, the Bic originated in France in the 1950s, the genius invention of Marcel Bich (he later dropped the H from his brand name) and Edouard Buffard, who saw the market for a cheap and simple alternative to the fountain pen. The ubiquitous product fi rst went on sale in the UK 75 years ago, on November 22, 1946. Made of a clear polystyrene casing, with a polypropylene cap and brass/ nickel tip. However it wasn't a new invention – the modern ballpoint had already been invented in the 1930s by Hungarian Bic Biro pens The biro is used by millions of people every single day, but how much do you know about this piece of design? László Bíró who, whilst working as a print journalist, noticed that newspaper ink dried quickly which meant it smudged less. The printing ink proved too viscous for a pen but, eventually he and his brother György came up with a formula that worked together with a ball-tipped mechanism. However, the price was high, the equivalent of as much as a week's salary for many. Bich saw the potential and licenced the patent for the Biro but created a cheap and throwaway alternative, which seemingly hasn't been affected by concerns over single-use plastics. Manufacturer Bic says that you can make 3,200 pens from the oil used to send a low powered car 100km and the materials used are few and non-toxic. P h ot o c re d it : R ob er t D av ie s Design classic, the Bic BiroFOR SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES, CONTACT: Rebecca Lockwood Sales Director +971 55 484 8301 Email: rebecca.lockwood@itp.com GRINCH FACE BOOK YOUR TABLES NOW FOR COMMERCIAL INTERIOR DESIGN’S QUIZMAS SPECIAL DECEMBER 15, 2021 TIMINGS & LOCATION TBC DON’T HAVE RESTING DON’T HAVE RESTING GRINCH FACE FOR SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES, CONTACT: BOOK YOUR TABLES NOW FOR COMMERCIAL INTERIOR DESIGN’S QUIZMAS SPECIAL DECEMBER 14, 2021 MCGETTIGANS JLT www.itp.events/CIDQuiz Rebecca Lockwood Sales Director +971 55 484 8301 +971 4 444 3268 Email: rebecca.lockwood@itp.com Where our heart beats – Lindner Lindner Partition Systems are the comprehensive solution for all kinds of spaces. Glass, wood or metal – choose from a wide range of varieties combined with a maximum of functionality. www.Lindner-Group.com Middleeast@Lindner-Group.com Poststrasse Ostermundigen, SwitzerlandNext >