My problem: it's hard to use unusual colors at work.
If you think that the legal profession is generally stuffy and conservative, you're wrong. It's ultra-stuffy and ultra-conservative (culturally, not politically). Lawyers even write things a certain way for no other reason than it has always been done that way. That comment applies to style and content, but is probably applicable to form as well.
In other words, I don't think you're going to see an outbreak of J. Herbin Orange Indien or Iroshizuku Yama-budo at American law firms any time soon. When it comes to law firms, I'm betting that 99.5% of all ink used is black or blue. And, if a lawyer is feeling exceptionally daring, he might go out on a limb and sign something in blue-black, thus proving himself a renegade.
One week I signed a letter in Private Reserve Black Cherry (which looks just like it sounds) and another in Iroshizuku Tsukushi (a reddish-brown). It made me as self-conscious as if I'd worn shorts to the office. And I've got something like 60 more ink samples to try out.
So, I got to wondering, what are the limits of "professionalism" when it comes to ink choices?
Let's start with the lawyers out there (I know I had a few of you following me for a while). How "daring" do you get with your ink colors? Would you sign a court document in Private Reserve Avocado? A letter to another lawyer with Noodler's Apache Sunset?
And what about everyone else? Do you feel similarly constrained in your profession, or do you feel free to send a "from the desk of" note written in Waterman Green? How liberal does your job allow you to be with your choice of ink?
