YEN’s first experience with Graphite Pencils (True to life story)

Problem/Need Recognition
Sir Ponce required us to bring graphite pencils next week for an activity. He wants us to purchase 4 varying
shades of graphite pencils; 6B, 3B, B, and H, but he didn’t specify or recommend any brands. With that, I
need to find out myself which brand of graphite pencils to get. Preferably I want an affordable but good
quality brand.

Search
So, I looked up YouTube reviews on graphite pencils and graphite artwork tutorials to list out some
options. Through my YouTube search I found some youtubers recommending brands that are available in
the Philippines. So, I added them to my list of options. From YouTube I got three brands of graphite pencils,
Staedtler, Faber-Castell and Prismacolor, they were the highly recommended one’s. But then I thought
that my options weren’t enough, so I also asked my friends and classmates what they recommend or what
would they be buying for themselves. So, from my inquiries I was able to get three brand
recommendations again. Derwent, Koh-I-Noor and again Faber-Castell.

Evaluation of alternatives
Going to a nearby National Bookstore I gathered up all my options. I first evaluated them by "feel", how
each one felt in my grip. From my test I didn't like the results of Koh-I-Noor and Derwent. Their shape was
triangular, it didn't feel great to hold it for long, and imagining the long hours I would use it to draw, I can
already feel the pain.

For the next test I surveyed the quality of each. I did a small shading test for each brand, and from that
examination I liked Prismacolor the most. The shading I did with that brand was so smooth even with my
little effort to do the shading properly. Following Prismacolor is Staedtler, then Derwent, Faber-Castell,
and Koh-I-Noor.

Finally, I compared prices. So Prismacolor is the most expensive brand out of the selection, next is
Derwent, then Koh-I-Noor, and then Staedtler. But the cheapest brand is Faber-Castell.

Purchase Decision
So, for my decision I sticked to my original preferences, which was affordability and quality, that's why I
decided to get Staedtler. Though it didn't have the quality of Prismacolor that I wanted, it was still the
second best for me. And Staedtler is also the second cheapest brand, so I say it's a win.

Post-purchase evaluation
The day came where I had to use the graphite pencils. We had a practical activity. And I conclude I made
the right decision of picking the Staedtler brand. My artwork looks great, and I still have money to buy
another set of Staedtler graphite’s. Unfortunately, I need to, because I managed to use up two of graphite
pencils already, even though these pencils should have lasted a semester. So, it was a great decision to
get a cheap brand because I'm too wasteful and have no right in buying the expensive ones.