Colors That Get The O.k. In An Office Setting.

[cadfael_tex]

I don't work in a typical business environment but I thought I'd share a recent experience that seemed to be approriate for this thread. When I got my first FP is came with a Pelikan royal blue cartridge that I put right into it. I fill out a form everyday for about 20 differnt individuals and used the blue on it. I came back a couple of days later and a Soldier have traced over all my blue with black on the forms.

[Sandy1]

OOPS! Double Post. So sorry.

Edited September 22, 2010 by Sandy1

[Sandy1]

I don't work in a typical business environment but I thought I'd share a recent experience that seemed to be approriate for this thread. When I got my first FP is came with a Pelikan royal blue cartridge that I put right into it. I fill out a form everyday for about 20 differnt individuals and used the blue on it. I came back a couple of days later and a Soldier have traced over all my blue with black on the forms.

Hi,

 

That's nuts! If they want it in Black, just photocopy the blessed thing and have done with it!

 

On the upside, you have an idea of why I suggested the Pelikan Blue-Black as your mainstay.

 

Bye,

S1

[cadfael_tex]

I don't work in a typical business environment but I thought I'd share a recent experience that seemed to be approriate for this thread. When I got my first FP is came with a Pelikan royal blue cartridge that I put right into it. I fill out a form everyday for about 20 differnt individuals and used the blue on it. I came back a couple of days later and a Soldier have traced over all my blue with black on the forms.

Hi,

 

That's nuts! If they want it in Black, just photocopy the blessed thing and have done with it!

 

On the upside, you have an idea of why I suggested the Pelikan Blue-Black as your mainstay.

 

Bye,

S1

 

Think it was combination of being bored and thinking that it MUST be in black. Where these guys are at the photocopier isn't handy. I've got the Pelikan blue black but I used the cart that came in it first. On a side note, been using J Herbin Perle Noir in it for the last week and really like it.

[bluemagister]

My university requires that all documents be SIGNED in blue ink, so originals can be distinguished from high-quality laser copies. Other than that, I think any color is OK. I often use Kung Te Chung in a Pilot Vball to write things.

[cocojj]

I work in a bank so the environment is conservative. I have not heard of any "allowed" colors (wouldn't be surprised if there are though) but to be safe and for "professionalism," I only use black and blue for signing. However, I use whatever color I want to mark up, and I don't mind when the staff use whatever colors they want (from gel pens, I think) when they mark/initial stuff for our internal consumption/filing purposes. So far I've seen green, pink, orange and purple.

Edited September 23, 2010 by cocojj

[Brian C]

You really think your boss cares which ink color you choose? Either you have too much time on your hands, or you need a new boss. Yes, both.

[JLT]

You can't really answer without defining "office" though. If your office is the art department, it's a very different set of standards than if your office is in the legal arena.

 

I've encountered a number of law firms where the associates and partners all had different colors, either assigned or selected, just to help keep track of the source of annotations and edits on documents, contracts, briefs, etc. One is a fairly large firm, with enough attorneys to (almost) exhaust Noodler's color pallette.

 

Colors serve purposes other than self-expression . . .

 

Yup. Not in the legal profession, but we have similar procedures ..... In which I am "orange"

 

So, what's your orange of choice? I use a variety of colors in my professional journals - Noodler's Habanero is in that rotation.

[Souldrifter]

Luckily, I work in an office environment where I can write in whatever color I desire. I got my boss hooked on fountain pens, and gifted him a bottle of my Galileo Manuscript Brown. Every time I get a note from him, it's written in that color.

 

I favor Ottoman Azure, Racing Green, and El Lawrence at work, but have also used Ottoman Rose, Yama-Budo, and some shade/brand of Turquoise.

[oldstoat]

Fortunately, being the boss, I use what I want. Tend not to sign letters in purple though.

[voop]

You can't really answer without defining "office" though. If your office is the art department, it's a very different set of standards than if your office is in the legal arena.

 

I've encountered a number of law firms where the associates and partners all had different colors, either assigned or selected, just to help keep track of the source of annotations and edits on documents, contracts, briefs, etc. One is a fairly large firm, with enough attorneys to (almost) exhaust Noodler's color pallette.

 

Colors serve purposes other than self-expression . . .

 

Yup. Not in the legal profession, but we have similar procedures ..... In which I am "orange"

 

So, what's your orange of choice? I use a variety of colors in my professional journals - Noodler's Habanero is in that rotation.

 

Swaying between Herbin "Orange Indien" and Iroshizuku "Yu Yake" these days ....

[jgrasty]

I use whatever ink I want in my engineering notebook. Today it was Diamine Midnight; yesterday was Noodler's Bad Blue Heron. And Caran d'Ache Saffron for action items.

[dgturner]

I use whatever ink I want in my engineering notebook. Today it was Diamine Midnight; yesterday was Noodler's Bad Blue Heron. And Caran d'Ache Saffron for action items.

 

For my own notes I use whatever color suits my mood. Although I do have a "system":

• Darker colors for the main body of notes
  iron gall inks, Noodler's Squetaugue, PR Ebony Purple, PR Velvet Black are in the current lineup
• Brighter inks for important info (e.g. failed methods, problems, etc.)
  Violet Pensee, PR Tanzanite, Red mixes, Levenger Shiraz, Noodler's Hunter Green
• Lighter colors for Annotations and Headings (I use Cornell Style sheets based on the Levenger FreeLeaf Pads)
  Noodler's Violet Vote, Noodler's Kiowa Pecan, Levenger Empryean Blue, Diamine Teal, Noodler's Hunter Green.

I have found that color coding my notes helps me tremendously in finding information, and remembering while working with it.

 

Written documentation for consumption by others mandates a more conservative ink choice (my goto ink for this has varied between PR Black Magic Blue and Midnight Blues, but I am out of both), currently I vary between Lamy Blue-Black from a Bottle (an iron gall ink), and Noodler's Squetaugue in a F/M nib (it appears darker this way), occasionally straying back to PR Velvet Black or Parker Black Quink.

 

No one has ever said anything regarding colors (other than a comment about the Violet Pensee from a French Born employee walking by with an Airbus visitor -- they both commented about memories of school). I alter my pallet because I personally do not think some of the wilder inks look professional, and frankly I would make a judgement if I received a formal/semi-formal document in an odd color (a quick note, edits, annotations, marginalia, et. al. do not count -- those need to stand out).

[Ingleside]

My teachers tend to get picky with what colour the student writes their notes in. My Science teacher says black or blue. While my History teacher only wants dark colours - black, blue, red, purple - because she has bad eyesight and doesn't want unreadable test answers.

[SilentK]

As a student, I only use pretty much any ink colour that fits my fancy for that particular day, unless it is something such as a test or assignment which will be turned in. In a case such as that, I try to stick to Black, Blue, or Blue-Black. But for my own notes, anything goes! I certainly hope that teachers have better things to do than concern themselves with what colour their students use to jot down notes.

[Feanor]

You can't really answer without defining "office" though. If your office is the art department, it's a very different set of standards than if your office is in the legal arena.

 

Quite true. I work in a very laid-back work place, and I don't think I've ever had to hand anyone else anything handwritten; all my writing is notes for myself. I've used red, orange, green, blue, violet, brown, and black. Pretty much everything but yellow. I fax my timesheets to the main campus (I work in a department offsite), so as long as the color faxes correctly (which all of them have so far), I'm set.

 

And when I was in college, I took tests in green, blue, and purple. No one ever commented on it.

[Blade Runner]

Only black and blue allowed at my place, so I use MB Oyster Grey which is dark enough to pass as a light black. Hehe.

It also happens to be my favorite these days.

[KCat]

Is there a blue-black that is parallel to PR ebony purple, which looks black in some lights, purple in others? The blue-blacks I have seen so far are either blue-green-black, as PR ebony blue looka to be, or more like blue-grey (Noodler's Blue Black). Is there one that is close to black but with true blue showing through?

 

FPN Starry Night. Or Tulipe Noire. Starry night is a blue black - and in most lighting in a fine nib, I can't see much blue. Tulipe Noire is also extremely dark but shows a burgundy-purple shade in some lighting. I don't use the much for those reasons but they'd work for someone wanting sublte but close-to-black color.

[KCat]

My boss doesn't care what ink I use. But I give him hell when he uses the wrong colors! I have to read his tiny little AR engineer handwriting hidden in a document I'm trying to update because he used pencil or black pen. ARG! I have given him several red pens and pencils. He tries to suck up to me about it. He only gets away with it because I'm sleeping with him.

Edited September 24, 2010 by KCat

[LedZepGirl]

At school I have a prof. who only excepts work in blue or black ink and I'm sure he wouldn't mind blue/black. At work nobody ever said anything about my unusual ink colors, but then again I worked in print shop, where weird colored inks are the norm. It was not out of the ordinary to get requests for all sorts of Pantone colors from clients.

Edited September 24, 2010 by LedZepGirl