Lumin 機械鉛筆 by Alexis Zapata is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 A' Design Award 銀獎 in 美術用品設計 Competition Category.

銀美術用品· 2025

Lumin 機械鉛筆

by Alexis Zapata

Client: Lumin

A' Design Award 銀獎 Winner in 美術用品 Category

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Colors

The Design

About Lumin 機械鉛筆

Lumin係一件百分百由鋁材製造嘅設計作品。無需機械結構，純粹利用材料嘅彈性嚟固定石墨。製作過程採用多種數控加工技術，每道工序都經過人手精心打磨。每支產品都刻有專屬序列號，並附有證明其原創性嘅包裝。設計師希望透過Lumin呈現空靈嘅情感——象徵住每個人內在嘅一縷光輝，並非完美但真實無偽。Lumin就係咁樣引領使用者進行內省同個人反思。

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award 銀獎

Lumin 機械鉛筆是 A' Design Award 銀獎得主，這是授予頂級、華美而令人印象深刻的設計的極為崇高的認可。銀獎得主是極其卓越、極具創造力的作品，展現出其設計師傑出的專業技能、才華與敏銳。預計Lumin 機械鉛筆將成為一件出色的典範之作，兼具非凡的專業性與深刻的創新性。這件贏得 A' Design Award 銀獎的設計是一項備受矚目、令人欽佩的發明，造福並拓展藝術、科學、設計和技術的界限。Lumin 機械鉛筆是一件令人羨慕的創作，它喚起渴望，帶來積極的情感，並激發驚嘆與讚嘆。

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Lumin represents an emotion, of emptiness, to give rise to the new. A fragment of light, not perfect but authentic, that shines one's own brilliance. Materialize the intangible.
In its packaging, emptiness is symbolized. Where, for the light to find us, we must find that breaking point.
The pencil, what must always shine, protect itself, defend...Education.
"Alumina,
light that propagates through the emptiness.
Lumin, born from absence."
Dimensions & Packaging: Mechanical pencil, material aluminum alloy 2011, weight 90 grams, dimensions 100 mm x 19 mm, between the faces of the hexagon
Packaging material 300 gr illustration, printing full color, finish matte polypropylene on both sides, die cut digital, finish 2 double sided, dimensions 140 mm x40 mm x 40 mm
Tags: emotion, intangible, emptyness, authentic, light, absence, aluminum, alumina
Production Technology: Lumin is an exclusive design, made 100 percent from aluminum. Stripped of any mechanism, it uses the elasticity of the material to hold the graphite. It is produced using different numerical control machining processes, with a manual finish in each of them. Identified with its engraved serial number and accompanied by the packaging that authenticates it.
Design Challenge: From 2017 to 2022, I was a professor at a university in the model and prototype workshop. After the pandemic, classes were taught online, so the workshop became unnecessary. This made me think about how education changed, and today I think the pencil was an act of protest to defend it. It wasn't easy to find a CNC lathe operator willing to make only 100 units at first; they usually order 1,000 units. Costs also increased due to devaluation in my country. Even the cost of the packaging was high, given the small quantity, so I had to do it using digital offset.
I made virtually no profit, nor was I interested in making any. It was a process through which I was able to understand the anguish I carried inside, and by materializing it, I was able to face it and thus let it go.
Research: The initial idea was to create a mechanical pencil using discarded aluminum. Information was collected on different mechanical pencils and their possible mechanisms. At that time, as a teacher in a model and prototype workshop, I had access to lathes where the first six prototypes were created. They were so popular that I began researching how to mass-produce them, since making them individually is time-consuming. Today, it has become a coveted object for designers, architects, and artists. I would like to make a more democratic product, making it accessible to everyone, but production costs are high for the quantities I can make.
Inspiration: It was an exploration of personal introspection of my emotions.
Lumin was the key to a new stage. It was my breaking point, to change my reality.
Project Duration: At the end of 2020, 6 functional prototypes were made and the pre series was launched in July 2023.
It participated in Buenos Aires, Argentina in INNOVAR 2023 with the ID 23902 and Sello Buen Diseño 2025 with the ID 5834.
Operation Flow: Release the lead from the packaging by pushing the tip of the mechanical pencil inward from one side to eject it from the other side and pulling to remove it. Do not open, disassemble, or break the packaging.

The lead is 5,5 mm and is adjusted when released, vertically with the tip pointing down, always opening slightly to the sides. Hold the lead with both hands on a horizontal surface to prevent the lead from falling out.
If it has been held for a long time, you may need to open it and simultaneously press the lead on a horizontal surface to release it from its internal grip. The lead should fall freely when the clip is opened.

Reload from the rear vortex by inserting a 5,5 mm lead, positioning it vertically with the tip pointing down, fitting the lead into the front hole, and opening it slightly to the sides again to adjust the length.

The length of the graphite exposed is adjusted using the same procedure. Place the clamp against a horizontal surface and adjust it to the desired length.

-The opening is minimal. While the material holds the graphite, it is not very elastic. If the graphite is moved without opening it, it will wear down and the clamp will no longer work.
Patents: -Patented. Patent No 103.171. Alexis Zapata. 2022. Argentina.
-Trademark belong to Alexis Zapata, 2024, registration number 3.504.852.

Intellectual Property Institute of the Argentine Republic
https://www.argentina.gob.ar/inpi
Image Credits: Image #1: Photographer Federico Ariel Serrano, 2025.
Image #2: Photographer Federico Ariel Serrano, 2025.
Image #3: Photographer Federico Ariel Serrano, 2025.
Image #4: Photographer Federico Ariel Serrano, 2025.
Image #5: Photographer Federico Ariel Serrano, 2025.