Come to Your Senses: Designing Analog Tools for a Digital World
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Time to read 3 min
How do you design analog tools for a digital world where technology and everything else are competing for our attention?
That was the question at the center of Blackwing’s 2026 SXSW talk, where we joined a conversation about creativity, storytelling, and the role of analog tools.
Blackwing at SXSW 2026
SXSW is held in Austin, Texas, every year, where thousands of creative professionals gather to celebrate technology, film, education, and art. We were invited to SXSW 2026 to participate in a Fireside Chat, sharing insights about how we resurrected the Blackwing brand, our design philosophies, and the future of analog. We also answered audience questions about how to stand out in a digital world.
Blackwing's Roots
Grant Christensen, President of Blackwing, and Alexander Poirier, Vice President of Development, introduced Blackwing and how they helped shape the company into what it is today at the beginning of the talk at SXSW.
Legendary Grammy, Emmy, Pulitzer, and Academy Award winners have created with the Blackwing 602 pencil. Blackwing's roots go back to the 1930s, when the 602 was first introduced by the Eberhard Faber Pencil Company. Over the years, the pencil with the unique rectangular eraser became synonymous with quality. Then, in 1998, after several corporate acquisitions, it was discontinued, but not forgotten. Fans began paying as much as $40 on eBay for a single Blackwing pencil.
In 2007, we introduced our Palomino range of pencils using genuine incense cedar and premium Japanese graphite. Artists and writers started comparing them to their beloved Blackwing 602s, and folks began asking us to consider reviving the brand.
We tapped into over 100 years of family-run pencil industry experience to reintroduce Blackwing in 2010. In the 10 years since its revival, Blackwing has grown from a single pencil into a culture, one that's all about living mindfully and finding balance in our fast-paced lives.
Designing Analog Tools for a Digital World
Grant and Alex’s SXSW conversation touched on everything from building the Blackwing brand to designing products that offer a counterpoint to the pace of digital life.
"It's really about connection. We live in this world of constant notifications, texts, and social media, and it actually leaves us less connected."
There’s more information coming at us than we could ever process. Social media gives us a constant stream of what everyone else is doing, often without leaving room for reflection. It can feel like noise is always present.
"I'm sure you've all probably sat in on a session or two this week talking about AI and how it's either going to save or end the world. I really think this is the counterculture. Analog tools are the counterculture. That's the energy we bring when we're designing products."
Everything with Blackwing is intentional. We want to remind people that these tools are designed to help them block out unwanted noise and be present with the moment and with themselves. Discovering new artists, tools, and stories with Blackwing is all part of a larger picture. It's the counterculture to the digital world.
How does Blackwing approach innovation?
One audience question focused on innovation and how it shapes Blackwing’s product development.
Alex: "For us, innovation revolves around storytelling. That's where we push the envelope with our pencils. When we're telling a story, we're not just telling it with written words, we're trying to tell it with the product itself. Think about the pencil as a canvas, a very thin, long canvas that wraps around itself. Telling your story is what pushes us to innovate. Thinking about a pencil that way isn't really something the industry does, and that's where we push innovation, through design."
How do young brands build community connections without a hundred years of history to lean on?
Another question asked how younger brands can build meaningful community connections without decades of history behind them.
Grant: "We had a bit of a shortcut, being able to point to John Steinbeck and people like that. But really, from day one, we focused on the users of tomorrow. Being musicians ourselves, we started seeding pencils to musicians early on. Music fans are a very loyal audience, and we identified that group and focused on it. Find a loyal audience. There are a lot of them out there; music fans are just one example."
A Reminder to Keep Creating
People are motivated by the fast pace of the digital world to put their pencils down with no solution on how to slow down or stay connected. We are here as a reminder to tell you to just create, to keep making things even when things get tough. Give yourself the time and space, and it will keep pushing you forward through the other difficulties of life, even if it doesn't happen right away.
WATCH: How to be Analog in a Digital World - Blackwing Session at SXSW 2026
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