Studio of weird pen grips
The killer-gorilla-grip, the cavewoman, the burrito; it's fair to say we have some rather creative approaches to pen grips here in the Scriberia studio.
When almost everyone in the Scriberia studio failed the obligatory 'Do You Hold Your Pencil The Proper Way?' BuzzFeed quiz, we were intrigued to see if there was any research out there about the relationship between pen grips and creativity. What we found was that, however ham-handed they may look, our pen grips might actually be onto something. (Yes, even you, killer gorilla).
According to handwriting expert and type designer, Rosemary Sassoon, biros and ballpoints are an uncomfortable fit for the pen grip taught to us at school. She believes that these pens require a more upright angle to the paper for improved comfort and ease.
'We must find ways of holding modern pens that will enable us to write without pain,' Rosemary says, 'we also need to encourage efficient letters suited to modern pens. Unless we begin to do something sensible about both letters and penholders we will contribute more to the demise of handwriting than the coming of the computer has done.' Might one of our grips be the answer?
And according to another article from Creative Bloq, the standard pen grip could even be curbing your creativity: 'Quite simply, drawing from the fingers and wrist alone (which is the narrow range promoted by the standard hand writing grip) doesn't release the full potential of movement that drawing from the entire arm and shoulder affords us.
'A better grasp of your pencil will literally lead to a better grasp of drawing, because once you gain greater certainty and control over any given drawing medium, the confidence to explore what can be done with it becomes more accessible.'
Perhaps the variety of strange grips that exist in our studio were born out of creative necessity. Or, perhaps we just never did listen at school. We prefer to think the former, but either way, we won't be changing our grips anytime soon.
If you're now feeling self-conscious about your own pen grip, a quick look at Taylor Swift's claw-clasp will assure you that it could be a whole lot worse.
