Diamine Inkvent 2024: Day After
Inkvent has come to an end!
Another year, another Inkvent over, and if you’re still here, welcome back! It’s been a few months since I began working on these reviews and it’s presented me with quite a few things to reflect on, including not just this year’s calendar, but Inkvent as a whole. Like last year, before we start I’ll lay out a few stats:
Out of 25 Inks we’ve had:
6/25 Standard inks
5/25 of Diamine’s new “Extreme Sheen” inks
2/25 Scented
12/25 Inks with particulates
4/12 of those were standard shimmering inks
6/12 were Chameleon
2/12 were Star Bright inks
So, fewer shimmers than last year (although, more chameleon than I would have liked). It’s still shimmer heavy, but better balanced.
So how was the calendar this year?
Well, Inkvent this year has left me with a lot of thoughts. Some are positive, a lot of them are negative. I had many of the same concerns this year that Diamine would struggle to keep the calendar’s thematic relevance, and while they didn’t completely drop the ball then, I think they did now. We’ll get back to that in a moment, though, because there’s still some good to discuss: a lot of the inks themselves were great! For the most part, I enjoyed Diamine’s new Extreme Sheen inks. Sure, they won’t be for everyone, but then a lot of inks in the calendar rarely are. Sleigh Ride in particular catches my attention because sheeny browns aren’t that common, and if you ask me, it’s the most thematically appropriate ink this year. It’s an easy one to add to the bottle list. On the other hand, high-sheening blues or purples like Vibe and Cosmic Glow aren’t anything new, but I have to admit, they do it well and they look great. The Extreme Sheens are nice inks, and for being such high sheeners, they perform better than you’d expect.
I’m also really glad to see more Star-bright inks this year. I loved the concept in the Purple calendar, but we only got one. I’m glad to have another couple this year. Chilly Nights in particular is insane and easily on my list of favorites this year. I would have preferred more Star-Bright inks over the chameleons, but at least we got what we got.
And now for the bad:
I’m going to skip right over Lemon & Lime and aim at Fruit Cocktail because it’s just that offensive. Honestly, how can something be so bad, and why do they even continue to make scented inks? I’ll admit Forest Gateau wasn’t bad, but Fruit Cocktail? Why would you do that to your fellow human beings? I’ve noticed a trend of the scented inks ending up on the freebie tables at pen shows and honestly, that’s messed up. A victim you can’t see is still a victim. Maybe find a toxic waste disposal or something.
Now that that tragedy is out of the way, I want to talk about Inkvent as a whole (and yes, we’re still talking about the bad). I was somewhat excited for this year’s calendar when it was announced, but I don’t think I’m alone in saying the excitement quickly died down. The calendar has a few high points, but I was barely 10 days in before realizing how tedious it was starting to feel. Why is that?
Well, how many wintry or festive, Inkvent-feeling inks can they really make? Potpourri, Lullaby, Cosmic Glow, the list goes on; how relevant are they really? How about Nutmeg, Winterberry, or Mint Twist? More appropriate? Perhaps, but now let’s compare them to some of the inks from the first Blue calendar: Gingerbread, Jack Frost, Seasons Greetings, Ho-Ho-Ho. You don’t even need to know what those look like to know that they are not the same. What I’m seeing here is what I can best describe as some truly bottom-of-the-barrel ideas and arbitrary decisions duct-taped together as an excuse to make another calendar. And I want to be clear — I liked a lot of those inks, but the calendar as a high-concept? The idea is tired. We’re done. We did it. We won. We don’t need any more.
A common complaint I see people fall into after Inkvent is over is that now they’re left with a bunch of inks they can’t use, and the ones they do like are ones they’ll use during the holidays. I like to think that was more acceptable when Inkvent was in it’s prime and all 25 inks were great idea after great idea. But now? Look, Diamine has hundreds of Ink colors available in their general catalogue. If they’re going to barely maintain relevance to the Christmas season anyway, why not just make a calendar that functions more like a sampler? At least plenty of them would be usable year-round. Still want to add some holiday cheer to it? Go ahead, create a few new festive inks, but do you really need 25?
By the way, there’s a whole 3 extra seasons. Yeah! Crazy, right? We call them Spring, Summer, and Fall. Maybe look into that.
So! That concludes Inkvent this year, and I thank everyone who followed along each day, and for the kind words and thoughtful comments I’ve received throughout the month. If you enjoyed it, why not consider donating? It goes a long way to allow me to put more content like this together (and hopefully, make it even better!), and every little bit is an immense help. Interested in more? There’s a few more reviews scheduled before the end of the year, and some end-of-the-year reflections on Patreon (available for free). Otherwise, I hope everyone enjoys a very happy New Year!
