Why are most pens (that we use to write) blue in color? [closed]

Question

Not a curiosity. I have emailed several ink and pen&pencil production companies and until now I didn't get any kind of logical answer. The question is why most pens contain blue color rather than any other color? Is there any secret behind it being blue? Does blue color have any special features or additional characteristics that makes it used over any other colors?

I searched several suitable places to ask this question and I found that UX StackExchange is the best place to post such a question.

Answer 1

OK, I have found what it occurs to me as the most likely reason: a combination of technical issues dealing with gall and ferro-gallic inks on fountain pens and knibs, extensive chemical testing and research which ended on official instructions from several governments, including Prussia (the famous Prussian blue) , UK and United States. Then market adapted to this, based on new discoveries like aniline and synthetic French ultramarine

This can be found in a book from 1904 by David Carvalho, Forty centuries of Ink or A chronological narrative concerning ink and its backgrounds

It explains in great detail the whole process to obtain inks, how different inks where needed for pens and much more, a really interesting lecture. But even more important: UXers will be shocked as how this author researched based on nowadays common UX techniques.... more than 100 years ago. Furthermore: the reasoning behind the inks selection was made based on user needs, with a wide array of user cases

For those interested on the OP's question, you can skip directly to around page 150 and further

As a curiosity...

A little known fact…Charles Dickens increasingly wrote in Prussian Blue ink towards the end of his writing career. His famous last novel the Mystery of Edwin Drood is almost entirely written in Prussian Blue ink.

Disclaimer: I obviously didn't read the whole book!

Answer 2

Because the first widely used ink was iron gall which had purple-black or blue-black colour.

And the color remained as a standard until today.

text written with iron gall ink

Detailed explanation:

The pervasiveness of blue ink has to do with the type of ink that preceded the modern dye based inks.

From about the 5th century to the late 19th or early 20th century, standard ink used in Europe was iron gall ink. Iron gall ink, made from iron salts and tannic acid derived from oak galls, was superior to carbon based inks as it adhered better to parchment (i.e. didn't smear) and was waterproof.

The ink was (and is) also valued for its permanence. The color of the ink is a dark blue/black, though it may turn to a brown over the centuries. The ink does have a drawback however. The tannins in the ink are corrosive and can eat away at parchment over long periods and more quickly with paper.

In the 20th century, ink manufacturers started to develop other formulas for inks, synthesizing new dyes that would not corrode the metal parts of fountain, dip, and ballpoint pens. New inks, both waterproof and non-waterproof, were introduced and in an array of synthetic colors. Iron gall ink continued to be used for much of the century, though, particularly on governmental documents, due to its superior permanence.

As stated, the color of the ink ranges from a dark blue to a purplish black and modern usage of predominantly blue and black inks is in imitation of the older ink. Blue ink is considered acceptable in situations where other colors would not be because of the longstanding cultural precedent set by the blue tone of iron gall ink.

link to original article

Answer 3

Nowadays the "popularity" of blue (not in every country) probably has more to do with established conventions and as an easy way to differentiate between printed text (black) and handwritten text (blue).

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• Why use dark ink?

As paper color is usually white, a dark color creates contrast. (Contrast was specially useful for faxes)

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• Why use a different color than black?

A different color than black helped differentiate an original document from a copy. Before photocopiers or printers existed copies where made with Carbon Paper, a different color than black (such as blue) could make evident the document was original. It also helps differentiate between handwritten text (or signatures) and printed one.

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• Why use blue?

@KristiyanLukanov gives the origin about the blue ink in his answer, so for centuries this has been the established color.

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An interesting reference.

Answer 4

Many people choose blue ink to indicate original copies as copies made afterward would all be black. In the prison system, Sc/o's use blue ink. Unit managers use red and c/o use black.