Most of us don’t expect our writing instruments to do anything more than write. But after seeing the incredible things that these 14 pen and pencil designs can do, we might just raise our expectations. Going far beyond making a mark, these inventions can capture colors from your environment, measure curves, write through water and record lectures.

Color Picker Chameleon Pen Copies Colors

(image via: tuvie)

Artists sketching on the go would never have to worry about carrying around a full set of colored pencils, markers or pastels again if they had this handy gadget: the Color Picker. It’s a pen with a color sensor on one end that you can simply point at anything in your environment to instantly copy the color. The internal RGB inks mix to produce an exact match.

Write Through Water with Wet Surface Marker

(image via: inventables)

Not only will the ink in this Wet Surface Marker from Inventables stay crisp and clear when it gets wet – it will write through water. You can use it on wet surfaces.

Chromopen: Point & Shoot Tablet Pen

(image via: yanko design)

This concept is similar to the Color Picker, but it works in a much more realistic way: with a tablet computer. The Chromopen features a built-in camera that can capture colors, making it easy for digital artists to create extremely realistic replicas of the scenes they’re painting.

Construct-Your-Own Pendragon Pen

(image via: yanko design)

Put your own pen together using various components, to the length and curvature that you prefer. The Pendragon pen is much more than a writing instrument; it has a built-in lamp and comes with a dock so you can connect it to your computer and charge it. In addition to the nib, the central unit and the end part, there are expandable units including a camera, microphone, laser pointer, USB connector and WLAN receiver.

Inka Pen with a Pressurized Ink Chamber

(image via: yanko design)

This pen has a pressurized ink chamber that allows you to write smoothly from any angle, even if you’re writing upside down. It even works under water. It includes an integrated PDA stylus and closes up into a compact package when not in use.

Inkless Beta Pen Writes with Metal

(image via: vat19)

It writes like a pencil, but is permanent and smudge-proof like a pen – and you’ll never run out of ink. The Inkless Metal Beta Pen works by depositing tiny amounts of metal alloy onto your writing surface, and never requires sharpening or refills.

Sharpie Liquid Pencil – No More Broken Pencil Lead

(image via: sharpie)

Sharpie has come out with a new writing instrument that combines the erasability of a pencil with the smooth writing quality of a pen. The concept of the Liquid Pencil is interesting, but may require further refining, as consumers report a lot of problems with skipping.

Constrained Ball Drawing Aid

(image via: design boom)

Attach the ‘Constrained Ball’ to your pen and you can draw straight lines without using a ruler. Essentially, it stabilizes your pen while you’re writing using a brace and a tiny wheel. The tool also measures as you write, so you can create a line to the exact length that you need. It can draw lines horizontally and vertically, as well as in 45-degree angles.

LED Pen Ruler Traces Distances

(image via: monocomplex)

Plot a course or measure a curve with a handy LED pen ruler that records distances as you write. Shaped like a six-sided wood pencil, the pen ruler has a twisting end that allows you to choose your preferred unit of measurement, and includes a digital readout on the side.

Flat Bookmark Pen by Steve Yang Che-Hsiao

(image via: tuvie)

This bookmark pen concept by Steve Yang Che-Hsiao opens totally flat to hold your place in a book, with a clip keeping it secured. To use it as a pen, you simply fold it into a three-dimensional triangular shape.

Ball-Shaped Pen Support Helps the Disabled Write

(image via: yanko design)

This idea is incredibly simple, but it could make a huge difference for people who don’t have full muscular control of their hands. A pen or pencil is inserted into the center of an hourglass-shaped rubber knob, enabling the user to push the instrument around on  paper.

Spiral Chamber Holds Double the Ink

(image via: yanko design)

How do you fit more ink into a standard disposable pen? Make the cartridge a spiral. This concept, the T&T Pen-Ink Chamber, doubles the amount of ink in that comes in a pen, reducing plastic waste.

Pen + Sprayer: Write on Your Hand, Peel it Off

(image via: yanko design)

Have you ever written something important on your hand, like a phone number or a reminder, only to find that it has become unreadable after just an hour or two? Most of us occasionally turn to this tactic when there’s no paper around or we’re afraid we’ll forget something. The Pen + Sprayer concept makes it a little more practical, although it would be a bulky extra item to carry around on the off chance that you need it. It sprays a writable surface onto the palm of your hand, which can easily be peeled off when you no longer need it.

Continuous Pencil Never Ends

(image via: yanko design)

There’s nothing high-tech about this, but it’s still a smart design: the Continuous Pencil makes it easy to continue using stubs long after they’ve grown too short to comfortably hold. Once connected, you can simply continue sharpening the extended pencil until it’s too short again, and start over.

It’s always nice to see an artist’s unique talents showcased. Hamburg, Germany-based artist Chan Hwee Chong is definitely a talented artist, and his incredible spiral portraits were the subject of a recent commercial for Faber Castell art pens.

(all images via: Faber Castell)

In the commercial, Chong is shown creating an incredible spiral drawing of the masterpiece painting Girl With a Pearl Earring. The ad is meant to display how precise the Faber Castell pens are, and it definitely does that – but it also illustrates Chong’s remarkable skill.

Beginning with a blank sheet of paper, Chong begins in the middle and draws in an ever-growing spiral, adding detail and subtle movements as he goes. By the time he has reached the outer edges, he has somehow recreated a famous painting.

Watch the video as many times as you like – you will almost certainly be amazed each and every time. This awesome display of talent is kind of humbling, even to other creative types.

It is absolutely mind-boggling to think how Chong accomplishes these drawings. He incorporates texture and varied line thickness to create the kind of depth that is difficult to find in any pen drawing – let alone one drawn in spiral. Besides Girl With a Pearl Earring, Chong also recreated Mona Lisa and Van Gogh’s Self Portrait for the Faber Castell campaign.

I feel great joy when I stumble upon a mundane, everyday object, that is always dull, and find that someone has taken the time to customize it in an interesting and exciting way. Enter the pen: something used in different forms for thousands of years, and even in the age of computers, still necessary. When someone is using something more exciting than a cheap plastic pen, it’s interesting, and if someone is using the pens below, it’s astounding. Here are some fantastic pen related innovations and customizations:

(Images via garagejournal, pichaus, wikipedia, gizmodo, walyou)

While the appearance of pens has always modified slightly, but remained basically similar for the last several decades, what’s on the inside has not remained so stagnant. Pen tech is always improving, and in some cases, to a ridiculous degree. Some pens are now able to double as calipers, to store and transfer data from SD cards, or flash drive. Some pens have evolved back into an earlier form, more like a brush than a typical pen, that allows one to practice kanji or create beautiful art. One of the odder example above is able to read specific sheet music and play it out loud, serve as a metronome, and even determine whether your instrument is tuned.

(Images via jdorganizer, wired, totallykewlstuff, craziestgadgets, awesomecoolpics, crazyjunkyard)

With pens, comes pen holders. While 90% of desks hold pens in a dusty, dated, coffee mug, there are some who seek to add a little flair to their office in any way possible. Along with endless variations of people and animals being stabbed by pens, there is also the mythical Atlas holding forth your mighty pen, or weapons of war in the form of a knight’s helmet, missile launcher, or futuristic blaster.

(Images via wired, smashinglists, wired)

Thank goodness for ergonomics! The science that keeps our seats comfortable and our cabinets at the right height, is also a huge factor in pen design. Few examples are as striking as the Jean Pierre Lepine creation called “The Free Ride”. This $140 pen looks almost too ergonomic to be comfortable for anyone who has a hand that lies outside the most average size. The pendragon is no different, as its curve is visually appealing, but also odd and uncomfortable looking.

(Images via universeofluxury, htmccann, theposhreport, instablogs, luxist, luxurylaunches, luxist)

If you want a pen that’s more expensive than the checks you’re writing, check out Montblanc’s gorgeous creations. These pens are more a work of art and jewelry than anything else. Montblanc is known for quality pens so expensive that they have their own display cases (just like you’ll find in a jewelry store). While most people would never consider spending their money on something so frivolous, there’s always someone out there who feels differently.