Back to School
'Think Different': A Creative Pencil Design for the Artsy Back-to-School Crowd
Most back-to-school pencil imagery is decorative — a small icon next to the real design, doing background work. “Think Different” flips that: the pencil, drawn in a more artistic, illustrative style, is the entire design.
Making a familiar object feel intentional
A pencil is about as generic a back-to-school symbol as exists. What changes here is the treatment — instead of a flat, clip-art-style icon, it’s rendered with the kind of linework and detail you’d expect from an art-class subject itself, which makes it feel like a design for creative people rather than a design about school in general.
A subject-specific design, like “Rulers”
This follows the same logic as Back to School Rulers — narrowing the audience on purpose by building around one specific tool instead of a generic back-to-school symbol. Where Rulers speaks to math class, “Think Different” speaks to art class, and both land better with their intended audience for it.
Who it’s for
Art students and teachers, obviously, but also anyone who wants a back-to-school design that reads as “creative” rather than “academic” — a different flavor than the more motivational picks like Mind Full of Knowledge.
Shop the design
Find “Think Different” in the Back to School collection, or check the back-to-school gift ideas guide for more of the season’s designs.
Frequently asked questions
Is 'Think Different' aimed at art students specifically?
It's built around a creative, artistic pencil illustration, so it naturally appeals most to art students and teachers — but the 'think different' framing is broad enough to work for anyone who identifies with a creative mindset over a purely academic one.
How does this compare to 'Back to School Rulers'?
Both narrow their appeal on purpose by centering one specific school tool — rulers for math, a pencil for art — rather than using a generic back-to-school symbol that could apply to any subject.
