We Design and Manufacture Everyday
Carry Pens and Tools for Everyone.
Over 13 years has passed since the launch of our first writing instrument Kickstarter campaign. At the time, no one could have guessed that the successful Kickstarter campaigns from CW&T (Pen Type-A) and our Render K would be signposts of a major shift in the pen community and custom writing instrument manufacturing sector.
Over the next half-decade, machine shops, designers, marketing firms, and influencers would enter the maker-space of machined writing instruments designed for everyday carry, and the explosion of the EDC community would extend from knives and pocket tools to pens, pencils, and notebooks. While we weren’t the first to enter this space, we were one of the earliest companies that had to navigate the market and with that came an understanding that we were helping to set the standards when it came to quality, design, and pricing. The current state of the machined writing instrument community and market looks dramatically different than it did in 2011, and as time has gone on, we’ve adjusted to the changing desires and demands of the consumer to position Karas Kustoms and Karas Pen Co at the forefront of brands that are often referenced as foundations of the EDC writing instrument manufacturers.
It is inevitable that changes made over a thirteen-year period would bring both positive and negative outcomes. Improvements to our advanced machinery to offset the rising demand for our product in conjunction with the rising cost of material and labor required us to eventually begin raising prices in 2016 and again in 2017. Demand for non-metal machined pens and a growing customer base who preferred fountain pens to rollerball necessitated the inclusion of models designed around plastics, resins, and industrial thermoplastics. Such designs positioned our brand in an established community of machined resin fountain pens that had its own standards of pricing, design, and quality, and as the newcomers to that community we had to adjust to those standards when it came to that type of product. These advancements, changes, and adjustments have largely been beneficial for the long-term growth and sustainability of our brand and the company as a whole, but it’s taken us far afield from our humble beginnings on Kickstarter in 2011. Which is why, after 13 years, we’ve decided to launch a new arm of the Karas Kustoms company that will be a return to many of our foundational principles while relying on the advancements made by Karas Pen Co.
Everyday Karas is a return to the foundation of machined writing instruments designed and manufactured for everyday carry use. Designs will take a step back from complexity of form to focus more fully on function. A failure-free and minimal maintenance philosophy will be used in our product designs while our prototyping and manufacturing processes will take advantage of our CNC machining technology. Minimalism and simplicity are NOT the end goal; rather they are two reference points as we journey back to the basics of our design language and they will shape the product and categories we focuses on.
Just a short walk from vibrant downtown Mesa, Arizona, sits our 8,000 square foot machine shop, shipping department, and retail space. We purchased the space 2014 and made the move from a small mixed-use commercial space a few miles down the road. Two-thirds of the space is filled with our manufacturing facility featuring numerous CNC mills, lathes, and Swiss machining centers. Interspersed around our CNC machines, we have multiple smaller machines, a lasermarking station, a full finishing area for metal and resin pens, along with staging and raw material inventory racks. The front one-third of the shop is dedicated to our programming stations, video and photo studios, inventory and shipping department, offices, and a small retail space.
In the years since moving into this space, we’ve gone through numerous expansions and changes. Moving from a relatively small shop, with much less inventory and machinery to the size we are now. While our staff is small, we have learned to maximize the efficiency of the current crew by placing the right person in the right role. Most of our employees do a variety of tasks, and don’t just have “one job”, but task flexibility and cross-training has been a huge part of being able to scale with so few employees. If a task makes sense to do it in-house, we make that decision. That mindset doesn’t just apply to manufacturing, but to our creative team as well. We outsource a small percentage of our marketing design work, but 99% of it is done by the team. This is true of our product design, research and development, website design and maintenance, and social media and newsletter marketing. Our team is small, but we’re pretty good at our jobs.
The Karas Pen Co product line is primarily machined pens made out of aluminum, brass, and copper with designs that appeal to a variety of customers from the EDC community to the fountain pen community. Karas Pen Co features a vast array of styles, colors, materials, pen types, refill compatibility, and features that make up a vast and growing collection of products and models. For the full catalog of current and past Karas Pen Co products, CLICK HERE.
