Nock Co.

Nock Co.
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Founded:	August 18, 2013
Founder:	Brad Dowdy & Jeffrey Bruckwicki
Headquarters:	1841 Marietta Blvd NW, Suite K, Atlanta, GA,30318
Key People:
Products:	Carry cases, stationery
Website:	http://nockco.com/

Story

Nock Co. is a manufacturer company based in Georgia, USA, with a focus on cases and bags for stationery. It was founded by Brad Dowdy, of Pen Addict fame, and seamster Jeffrey Bruckwicki. As relayed on their history page, the duo met for the first time on August 4, 2013, and their business was born two weeks later, on August 18.

On September 30 of that year, a Kickstarter campaign was launched to help fund the launching of their original product line of six types of cases. On October 30, the campaign was successfully funded at $78,662 -- well over their goal of $5,000 -- between 2,066 backers .

On June 25, 2014 the company opened their online shop to the public, with a new case style (Fodderstack), as well as their first paper products: an A4- and note card-sized DotDash paper.

Nock Co.'s case products have thus far been named after geography specific to Georgia, USA, ranging from lakes to mountains, with one exception: the Karas Kustoms collaboration was named after the Superstition Mountains in Arizona.

Products

Dowdy and Bruckwicki as founders and creators have very high standards of their own products, and are proud of their American-made aspect. When production of the cases grew to a scale that necessitated a third-party, the duo had a high bar, and kept producing their own cases until an undisclosed, American-based factory fit their standards.

When designing products, Bruckwicki will often take an idea he and Dowdy had talked about, and sit down with some chalk and fabric to rough out designs. As mentioned in their blog, Bruckwicki presented Dowdy an array of prototypes only two weeks after the pair had sat down to discuss product ideas in August 2013.

Bruckwicki's experience as a seamster and eye for design has allowed the company to quickly iterate through prototypes, playtest and use them, and tweak until a satisfactory design is finalized.

In June 2014, Nock Co. launched their online store, and expanded their product line to include a seventh case, and DotDash paper in two sizes (A5 and notecard).

Kickstarter Launch

With the launch of the initial Kickstarter campaign, Nock Co. had a lineup of six cases for stationery and pens.

• The Chimneytop, a pop-up zip case for carrying pens and pencils.
• The Maryapple, a two-memobook bi-fold case.
• The Lookout, a three-pen holster.
• The Hightower, a three + one bi-fold case.
• The Sassafras, a five-pen bi-fold case.
• The Brasstown, a zippered roll case.

This lineup included Kickstarter-only colorways as incentive for backers.

Limited Releases

Nock Co. has released special and limited edition products and colorways for various events. This has included Kickstarter incentives and in-person, conference releases.

• Peacock Blue Hightower - As part of the original Kickstarter in 2013, there was a backers-only edition of the Hightower, their 3-pen, 1-notebook case. The limited edition colorway sported a Peacock Blue exterior and Midnight interior.
• 'Union Jack' Hightower - A backers-only incentive for The Pen Addict Live Atlanta 2015 event was a pre-release of a summertime colorway for their Hightower case, with a run of 300. The exterior bore a Forest green fabric, and the interior a Sunshine yellow, along with a special edition, 'Union Jack' logo tag, to celebrate flying Myke Hurley out to the pen show that year. The case also included a Nock Co. DotDash notebook.
• Superstition pen case - A collaboration with Karas Kustoms in late 2015 released a 120-run, limited edition colorway of the Sinclair. The zipped, 3-pen, 1-notebook case had a gray exterior, blue interior, and special Arizona flag-Karas Kustoms logo. As part of the collaboration, Karas Kustoms released a branded notebook line and a matte red and copper combination of their EDK pen. In keeping with Nock Co.'s tradition of naming their cases after geography, the namesake for the case comes from the Superstition Mountains in Arizona, home to Karas Kustoms.
• Pen Addict notebook - As a Kickstarter incentive for the 2016 Atlanta live recording of The Pen Addict, a Pen Addict-branded pocket-sized notebook was available to backers. The branding was a highly detailed embossed image of The Pen Addict logo on orange paper, with the paper inside printed with an orange dot-dash grid. 236 backers received the 3-packs.
• Lanier A5 Notebook - When Nock Co. launched their Lanier case product on Kickstarter in 2016, a stretch goal included a 3-pack of A5-sized, Nock Co.-branded notebook. The branding is another embossed logo, on gray cover, and dot-dash grid interior. The limited edition was set at 1,000 3-packs.
• Sapelo 'penvelope' ' - In funding the Pen Addict 2017 'tour', backers were able to stake their claim on a limited edition colorway of the Sapello, the previously-unnamed 'penvelope' case that carries notebooks and pens in an envelope-styled cut. This backers-only colorway had an orange interior, gray exterior and 2017 Pen Addict logo tag.