Qui Magnetic Pencil Holder by Piero Quintiliani is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2021 Silver A' Design Award in Art and Stationery Supplies Design Competition Category.
SilverArt Supplies· 2021
Qui Magnetic Pencil Holder
Client: Ozio design
Silver A' Design Award Winner in Art Supplies Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #110009The Design
About Qui Magnetic Pencil Holder
Qui is a magnetic clip holder for pens and pencils. The name means here in Italian. The clip fits pens and pencils of different sizes and attaches to any metal surface. An adhesive magnetic disc is included for non-metallic surfaces, such as a wall, a computer, a bag or a notebook. The body is made of ABS by injection molding, and the metal parts are cut and laser engraved. Qui measures 38 mm in height, 12 mm in width and 13 mm in depth. Bright colors make the holder easy to find at a glance.
The Recognition
About the Silver A' Design Award
Qui Magnetic Pencil Holder is a Silver A' Design Award winner, an extraordinarily prestigious recognition granted to top-of-the-line, gorgeous, and impressive designs. Silver winners are tremendously brilliant and exceedingly creative works that illustrate the outstanding expertise, talent, and acuity of their designers. Qui Magnetic Pencil Holder is expected to be a wonderful, showpiece work that is remarkably professional and profoundly innovative. This Silver A' Design Award-winning design is a highly notable, admired invention that benefits and advances the boundaries of art, science, design, and technology. Qui Magnetic Pencil Holder is a vastly envied creation that evokes desires, introduces positive feelings, and sparks amazement and wonderment.
Where to Get It
Industrial Product Design Services
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Grand Interview
Your innovative approach to the Qui Magnetic Pencil Holder beautifully merges functionality with emotional connection - could you share the journey that led to conceptualizing a product that makes everyday analog tools feel more precious and personal?
The idea for Qui was born from a very simple but meaningful observation: many people still have a “favorite pencil” or pen, and they feel a small but real sense of frustration when they cannot find it. Analog tools move constantly—from the desk to a notebook, from a bag to the sofa—and this creates both clutter and mental noise. With Qui, I wanted to transform this daily friction into a small ritual: “your pencil is here.” From that insight, we worked to create a minimal object capable of restoring emotional value to analog tools and making them feel more personal and precious again.
The Qui Magnetic Pencil Holder's adaptability to different writing implements presented unique technical challenges - how did your team overcome the engineering constraints while maintaining the clean, minimal aesthetic?
One of the main challenges was ensuring that Qui could accommodate different writing tools while maintaining a clean, minimalist aesthetic. We didn’t want a complicated object; we wanted a quiet presence. This required careful work on proportions, tolerances and internal geometry, supported by multiple rounds of prototyping to fine-tune the relationship between weight, grip and magnetic strength.In addition, Qui is not a single object but a complete system: an ecological pencil, a magnetic accessory and a thin metal disc with an adhesive backing. The disc makes the set compatible with any non-metallic surface, which added another layer of engineering complexity because the product had to perform reliably in very different environments and materials.
What inspired you to name the Qui Magnetic Pencil Holder 'Qui' (meaning 'here' in Italian), and how does this name reflect your broader philosophy about helping people maintain meaningful connections with their analog tools?
We chose the name “Qui”—Italian for “here”—because the project is fundamentally about giving a clear place to something that is part of your everyday life. Naming it “here” emphasizes presence, intention and care. When your pencil has a specific “here,” it stops being just another object on your desk and becomes a companion you return to. This reflects my broader design philosophy: good objects should quietly structure our routines, reduce noise and help us protect what truly matters.
Behind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- Are you looking for a pen or pencil amongst the chaos of your home or office? Look no further; here is Qui. Qui (which means “here” in Italian) is a magnetic pen and pencil holder that allows you to attach them wherever you like. The adhesive metal disc can be applied to any surface. Just hook Qui to your pencil or pen and, thanks to the magnet, you can hang it wherever you want, so that you will always know where to find it.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Product dimensions
Height 38mm x Width 12mm x Depth 13mm
Package dimensions
Height 76mm x Width 76mm x Depth 21mm - Tags
- holder, pencil, magnetic, stationery, disc, metal, office, home, accessory, minimal, colors,
- Production Technology
- Injection molding of ABS, metal cut and laser engraving of the logo for the metal components
- Design Challenge
- We have worked to create a unique object that stands out on the stationery market for its originality and particular function. We wanted to design a product capable of surprising the user and stimulating his imagination. Among the design challenges, the most difficult one was to make the object adaptable to the different formats of pencils and pens available on the market. Numerous technical constraints have been overcome, such as assembly and quality control over the entire mass production.
- Research
- Although technology has invaded everyone's life, many people love to use analog products. For all these people, pens, pencils, charcoals etc. besides being useful are also objects of affection. In terms of data, despite the growing trend of digital products (notebooks, ebooks, smartpen, etc.), there is still a good part of the population that prefers paper instead of screens. With Qui we have worked to meet the needs of this particular group of people. Our intent is to give a special place to analog tools that are indispensable for activities such as reading, writing, drawing, studying, etc.
- Inspiration
- Leisure represents the time in which we are free to devote ourselves to our passions and interests. In order to regain our perspective on the world and to truly be ourselves, we often have to escape the constant flow of everyday worries. This is what inspires us: the time a person dedicates to himself, deciding to ignore, at least for a little while, the frenzy of an increasingly fast-paced and stressful world. A world which has ended up making us feel more often dissatisfied than truly connected to our needs.
- Project Duration
- The project started in November 2019 in Pisa and finished in September 2020 in Pisa.
- Operation Flow
- The magnetic clip fits your pen or pencil and allows it to stick to any metal surface. For non-metallic surfaces - for example, if you want to clip the pen to your diary or agenda - Qui comes complete with an adhesive magnetic disk that can be attached to any surface: on a wall, on a computer, on a bag or on a notebook. With Qui your pens and pencils are always where you want to find them, with the benefit of a splash of color that makes it easier to spot them at a glance.
- Patents
- EUIPO Registered 03/02/20 No 007654793-0001
- Team Members
- Design director: Piero Quintiliani
Industrial designer: Giorgio Mastropasqua
Industrial designer: Ivan Vecchia - Image Credits
- COPYRIGHT Pq design studio
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