With their first product, Paper, a creative tool for the iPad, FiftyThree set out their vision to build tools that wrap the power of a creative expert into the simplicity of the basic physical tools you keep on your desk. Beautiful simplicity, expert engineering, and quality craftsmanship inform every aspect of their suite of essential tools for mobile creation.

FiftyThree is wholly devoted to the creator, the maker, the original thinker. FiftyThree is the space to create.

Creators should be able to freely draw, erase, and blend with a simple tool focused on expressing ideas. FiftyThree’s Pencil introduces analog-inspired creative flow to a digital stylus. Seamlessness and simplicity allow users to stay in uninterrupted flow, focusing on creation instead of complex settings, buttons, or iPad connectivity.

Key features include adaptive palm rejection, erase, blend, and Kiss to Pair™. Rest your hand on the screen while sketching or writing; flip Pencil around to use the built-in eraser; use your finger to smooth rough edges and blend colors ; touch Pencil to Paper to connect without calibration or setup.

Pencil was designed by a small, collaborative, multidisciplinary team of designers and engineers. Development process focused heavily on:

Craftsmanship:

Multiple manufacturing methods were experimented with in order to figure out how to machine Pencil’s hollow unibody from a solid piece of walnut at manufacturing scale.

Interaction:

Countless hardware/software prototypes were made to prove out and refine our approach to palm rejection, erasing, and connecting to iPad.

Price Point:

Affordability required FiftyThree to simplify part count and engineering complexity without compromising functionality and quality. Pencil being high-value and affordable is the result of much experimenting with method and prototypes.

Pencil is a natural and expressive tool for drawing, sketching, and writing ideas on Paper by FiftyThree. Inspired by the beloved carpenter pencil, Pencil features Palm Rejection, Erase, and Blend. Rest your hand comfortably on the screen, flip Pencil around to use the built-in eraser, or smudge and blur colors directly on the page with your finger. Pencil’s analog-inspired interaction model enables simultaneous pen and touch interactions like zooming and writing, a built-in battery charges via USB, Bluetooth connection is simplified via Kiss to Pair™, and every Pencil is unique, carved from sustainable walnut or brushed aluminum.

Craftsmanship:

Styli are typically modeled after Pen forms, emphasizing precise writing functionality. Inspired by the beloved carpenter pencil, Pencil's form and function is unique. It’s flat body enables magnetic storage on iPad smart covers and 14k gold-plated tip and eraser sensors increases speed and accuracy. Pencil’s built-in battery pulls out with the tip and charges via USB.

Sustainability:

Pencil are carved from solid blocks of FSC certified walnut or extruded, hand-brushed aluminum, making each unique and reducing waste.

Natural Interaction:

Invent a new stylus and analog-inspired interaction model distinguishing between Pencil tip, eraser, finger, and palm.