Split Ruler
A cleverly subtle (and totally Japanese) update to the classic wooden ruler, the Split Ruler by Tokyo-based Cina has a pencil-shaped cut-out for placing pens or pencils when not in use. The duo behind Cina are the same two behind the snowflake-patterned flash drives that have been circulating around the internet this week, but in this case we're more captivated by the reinvention of even older technology.
Made of laser-cut beech wood, it's a more graphic interpretation of a tool that, by conveniently and neatly locating the writing implement within reach for making a line, is as useful to proper third graders as it is to grown-up type-As. No word on price but contact Cina to preorder.
