DEVELOPMENT STORY
August 23, 2024
The Development Story of FRIXION, the Erasable Ballpoint Pen: Part 2: Pen Ink That Disappears, 2002 to 2024
Metamo Color, an ink that changes colors through heat, was discovered through one researcher’s inspiration in 1970. At the time, research continued as PILOT developed a variety of products using the ink as printing ink to enjoy color changes, and the ink continued to evolve for more than 30 years until it came to be used as an ink for writing instruments. In Part 2, we retell the story of the FRIXION erasable ballpoint pen’s creation and evolution to today.
〉〉〉Part 1: 1970 to 2002
“Can we make a ballpoint pen with ink that changes from color to transparent, rather than from one color to another, like the ILLUSION pen?”
This remark, directed at the Metamo Color development supervisor, came from the marketing manager at PILOT’s European subsidiary after seeing the ILLUSION ballpoint pen released in 2002, which changed color when rubbed. “If we can make the ink transparent, that would mean erasing the writing itself. An erasable ballpoint pen would surely be a hit.” The confidence in this statement was unmistakable. At that moment, the latent demand of European consumers aligned perfectly with Metamo Color technology.
Behind this was Europe’s distinctive writing culture. Unlike in Japan, where students commonly use pencils while studying, in Europe, traditional pencils and mechanical pencils were mainly regarded as drawing tools. In France especially, all elementary school children were once required to use fountain pens, embedding a strong culture of using fountain pens, ballpoint pens, or other ink-based pens for study. When mistakes were made, students could erase them with correction pens (or correction fluid), but they could not rewrite over the corrected areas with the same pen. A separate special pen had to be used instead. For children in France and across Europe, being able to write, erase, and rewrite meant needing at least three different pens.
Japanese researchers were simultaneously working on the final challenge in applying Metamo Color to writing instruments: expanding the range of temperatures at which the ink color would change. With a range of only 40°C (from 0 to 40°C), it was not possible to maintain the color in some places during summer, when temperatures exceeded 40°C, or in cold regions where temperatures dropped below freezing. They continued their research and experiments to develop an ink with a temperature range that would not be affected by ordinary fluctuations in temperature.
Eventually, they succeeded in developing a new temperature-controlling agent that could maintain ink color over a range of 85°C (from -20 to 65°C). With this expanded range, there was no risk of the ink unexpectedly disappearing or reappearing in everyday environments. And because the ink turned transparent (erasing the writing) at 65°C, even small children could easily erase their writing by rubbing with the pen’s eraser, generating heat from friction. At last, researchers had cleared the final condition necessary to commercialize a ballpoint pen using Metamo Color.
In 2004, PILOT decided to commercialize the erasable ballpoint pen, and the FRIXION project officially began. Even though the performance of this new ink could be achieved in small beaker-sized quantities in the lab, producing the same quality ink in large quantities on the production line was extremely difficult. Researchers made repeated trips between the lab and the factory in pursuit of quality that would meet the standards of mass production.
At the same time, the product was given the name FRIXION, combining “friction” with the letter “X,” symbolizing innovation and strength.
For the FRIXION Ball, which was first released in Europe, a tattoo-inspired design popular among young people was adopted for the pen body. Many popular football (soccer) athletes in Europe have tattoos, making this design a hit among children. This is another episode that illustrates cultural differences between Japan and the world.
The long-awaited erasable FRIXION Ball ballpoint pen, which debuted in Europe in 2006, was met with great enthusiasm and became a major hit. It revolutionized the classroom experience. Instead of erasing with one pen and writing over mistakes with another, students could now write, erase, and rewrite neatly with a single pen.
After making a splash in Europe, the FRIXION series was launched in Japan the following year, in 2007.
Erasable ballpoint pens that could be erased with an eraser were sold by PILOT and many other manufacturers in the past, and some of those pens were a hit. This showed that there was a market for erasable pens in Japan. But the friction-based erasable FRIXION Ball was different from these conventional erasable pens. They were distinctive in that they didn’t produce any eraser shavings, didn’t tear the paper, and cleanly erased the ink without leaving any markings behind, all features that made them well-suited for market acceptance.
For the Japanese launch, consideration for the target customer was revisited. Since Japan’s writing culture differs from that of Europe, the FRIXION was marketed not to students who often use mechanical pencils, but to businesspeople who use ballpoint pens more regularly.
To test the reaction of the Japanese market, a test launch was held for three days at major stationery stores before the full launch of the FRIXION Ball. 3,000 pens were set aside for this test, but long lines formed far beyond the expectations of the sales staff, and sales reached nearly three times the planned amount.
Based on feedback from this test run, the much-awaited Japanese launch occurred in March 2007, generating a major response.
Only 6 months after the initial launch, the thin, 0.5 mm writing tip model was launched. While preparing the launch of the original 0.7 mm model, development of the 0.5 mm model had already continued.
Sales launched in Europe with the 0.7 mm model, as a thicker line width was standard in regions with alphabet-based languages, and this model was sold as-is in Japan for the launch. But with so many small strokes in written Japanese, 0.5 mm pens were the standard size for water-based ballpoint pens in Japan. But to allow the already large particle size of the FRIXION ink to pass through an even smaller tip at 0.5 mm required further technological improvements. The ink components were improved so as not to disappoint customers with the 0.5 mm model, and sales were launched.
The turning point for the series occurred in the summer of 2010 with the release of the click-action FRIXION Ball KNOCK. ( FRIXION Ball CLICKER) The development of retractable type pens, which had already gained great popularity in Japan, was planned even before the launch of the initial model. However, to achieve a retractable type erasable pen, it was essential to develop ink and a pen tip that would not dry out from exposure to air and could maintain consistent quality. Because FRIXION ink particles were large, the gap between the pen tip and the ball was also larger, making the ink more prone to drying out. This posed a major challenge for developing ink for retractable type pens. Even so, through repeated experiments to precisely refine the internal structure of the pen tip, a retractable type erasable pen was developed. This also made possible the development of the multi-color ballpoint pen FRIXION Ball 3, firmly establishing the FRIXION series as a pen for everyday use.
There are now nearly 40 different FRIXION products developed over more than 18 years since its initial launch. In addition to various ballpoint pen models, many other writing instruments have been created. New products such as highlighters, colored pencils, color pens, and stamps were introduced one after another, expanding the lineup to meet user demand. In 2022, the FRIXION Ball KNOCK ZONE was released with deeper-colored ink, and in March 2024, the thinnest model in FRIXION history, the 0.3 mm FRIXION SYNERGY KNOCK 03, was launched. In this way, the FRIXION series established a new fourth category of ink in the ballpoint pen market, following oil-based, water-based, and gel inks.
The FRIXION series elevated the ballpoint pen from a practical tool for writing and recording to a tool for thinking, allowing users to write, erase, and write again, deepening their thoughts and refining their ideas. Around the time the FRIXION was released, the first smartphones were also introduced, and just as they transformed the world’s values, FRIXION changed the way we think about writing instruments.
The FRIXION series was brought to market through the efforts of many people and has since expanded into a wide range of products. We will continue to take on challenges with an eye toward new developments.
〉〉〉Discovery of Ink that Changes Color with Heat (Read part 1)
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