Why are so many pencils painted yellow? The answer traces back to a prizewinning pencil, luxury branding, and graphite ...

We independently review everything we recommend. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more› By Melanie Pinola Confession time: I’ve never liked mechanical pencils. The lead ...

Save this article to read it later. Find this story in your account’s ‘Saved for Later’ section. Back-to-school shopping means loading up your cart with notebooks, pens, colorful stationery doodads, ...

Perhaps we’re biased, but there’s a unique beauty to drawing pencils that isn’t matched by your everyday writing pencil. Usually painted in a pleasing color and embossed with their name and grade, ...

Though simple in appearance, the pencil is one of the most enduring and versatile writing tools in history. It has accompanied artists, students, architects, and writers for centuries, quietly shaping ...

We independently review everything we recommend. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more› By Laura Fenton After considering dozens of colored-pencil sets and spending six ...

It started eight years ago without any fanfare, just a simple little blog post appropriately titled "First post." And that seems appropriate for a blog that is singularly, obsessively concerned with ...

Almost every syllabus, teacher, and standardized test requires a No. 2 pencil. Are there other choices out there? Indeed there are. Pencil makers manufacture Nos. 1, 2, 2.5, 3, and 4 pencils—and ...

Save this article to read it later. Find this story in your account’s ‘Saved for Later’ section. Because they are erasable, pencils are often the first tool creative people use when sketching out a ...

In all likelihood, if you rummaged through any given school desk in the U.S., the first pencil you'd encounter would be a number two pencil. Here's why. Danny Ortega The United States tends to do its ...

Yellow wasn't always the default color for pencils. Here's how one manufacturer's branding choice caught on around the world. Head to a stationery store, and you’ll doubtless see pencils in all manner ...