Tuesday, January 31, 2012

PENS!!!!

You can tell a lot about a company from the free pens they pass out at conferences. So let's be judgmental about unrelated products and services based the quality of their associated novelty writing instruments.  First up is Kreatech Diagnostics, a biotech company that primarily sells dyes for conducting karyotyping (counting your chromosomes in order to figure out what is wrong with you).




Let's start with the color - orange.  Brilliant choice.  Only the best color in the rainbow.  I also appreciate the novel design of the clip.  The Swiss cheese design with an aluminum finish gives it the faux-industrial feel that we all enjoy at our local Chipotle.  The thick body of the pen provides for solid gripping for your most challenging writing conditions.  The big button for retracting the tip is responsive and its size means thumb injuries from missing the button in instances of emergency tip withdrawal will be limited.  The overall look of the pen is hurt by the semi-opaque nature of the pen.  The shadow of the inner workings of the pen show through disrupting the otherwise clear lines of the pen.  Also, it shows a lack of commitment on the part of the pen designer.  Either hide the spring and let your spring flag fly.  Don't play cutesy with me.  Finally, the heft of the pen is wanting giving it a cheap feel despite the otherwise slick appearance.  It may be made of flimsy plastic but it shouldn't feel that way.  Put a rock in that thing.

So what does that say about Kreatech and their products?  In my opinion, based on their pen, Kreatech is a company of all style and no substance.  They pretend that they believe in corporate transparency but they are really have a lot of dirty secrets that attempt to hide.  They make up for the poor quality of their products with pretty packaging.  You know that extra chromosome 21 you thought you had?  Turns out it was just a French Fry that Kreatech accidentally packaged in their reagent.  See what a free pen can tell you.

This blog post is sponsored by Carmichael Industries.


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