Inspired by: Jan Zander Design Studio

Jan Zander studies the world around him and transforms it into writing instruments of unsurpassed beauty and quality.

- BARRY GABAY

The poet William Carlos Williams stated that there are “[n]o ideas but in things.” He was describing sensations based on the everyday, concrete world. This is what we all experience when we hold a writing instrument, wear a piece of jewelry, or open a book. For Jan Zander, the concrete world not only infuses his profession and products, it serves as his inspiration. From Metro entrances to race cars, the tactile world fascinates and inspires this contemporary designer-artist-craftsman.

For over two decades, Zander was instrumental in designing Montblanc’s writing instruments. In fact, he was Montblanc’s first in-house designer. He still does third-party designs, such as a recent project wtih LAMY. In 2018, he founded Jan Zander Design Studio, where he creates his own exquisite writing instruments.

Zander describes his process as “driving a creative idea to perfection” while maintaining an understanding of “material and components to be formed into an exquisite fountain or ballpoint pen.” He moves from sketches to computer to workshop; with each step his or his client’s concept reaches closer and closer to realization.

By studying Zander’s vision for his current creations, we gain insight not just into this designer’s working methods but into an aesthetic understanding that reflects something about ourselves, about how we all see the world around us. But before delving into Zander's newest creations, we must first visit his earlier models.

Inspired By: Hector Guimard