These flat simple pencil cases have been transformed into trans-dimensional objects by Japanese stationary designers sun-star with isometric projection. The 3D illusion was created through geometry and by adding some simple cartoonish drawings to humorously illustrate fixtures such as labels and buttons. The name of the Fakus pencil case is of course derived from the word fake due to the fake nature of many of the pencil case’s elements.
To create their 3D illusions, these pencil cases employ an artistic device known as trompe l’oeil. An example of this would be a painting in which the subject interacts with the frame to appear as though it’s jumping out of the canvas. In the case of the Fakus pencil case, the troupe l’oiel technique has been incorporated to create the illusion of a detailed 3 dimensional object. Physical elements such as buttons, labels and indeed the stationary piece’s 3rd plane have been called into ‘existence’ with mere illustration and isometric projection.
Fakus pencil cases are designed in a range of 3D shapes including cuboids, cylinders, and triangular prisms and these in turn come in various colours. The pencil cases were originally designed by Japanese stationary retailer sun-star although you’ll no doubt find their website unnavigable unless you can read Japanese. Fakus are also available on Japanese site Bundoki and through this site they cost between 577 and 787 yen (£4 / $6 / €5) thanks to their super simple design and intentionally fake fixtures. This Japanese insight was gained from Spoon & Tamago, a Japanese art, design and culture blog.
As for western sites, these pencil cases can be found on Amazon at an absurd markup for between $57 and $100 – no doubt someone somewhere is making a lot of money out of these. However we did also manage to find Fakus pencil cases on US-based site JetPens with a reasonable markup. Here they’re being sold for $12.50 each although their stocks levels are low at the time of writing.
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