Ken, I've long admired you knives. To me you are a master of simplicity and clean design. Your lines are deliberate and not excessive; you take basic shapes and work wonders with them, without adding unnecessary frills.
Your blades and handles, to me, have a kind of living quality about them. No only do they look like they were designed to go together, but each also has a kind of life-spirit about it. For example, you get the nail nick placement just right, and the angle of that nick. They evoke eagle's heads, hawk's heads, and other animals to me. Each nick just works with the profile and grinds of the blade. That's just one simple example of how your design elements come together in a way that looks just right, in a way in which each element doesn't compete for overall attention, but each contributes to your greater overall vision for that particular pattern.
The thick black letters of your latest maker's mark take away from that. The busy-ness draws my eye away from the simple, straightforward beauty of the knife itself. A stamp would be an improvement, or better yet, a simple symbol (that those other guys' fish or "D with an arrow" symbols--understated but meaningful). Clean, understated, and not competing for visual attention with your masterful, overall design. [If you decide to stick with this lettering, I'd suggest reducing the kearning on the "I-C" and "O-N" letter combinations].
I don't have any true customs in my small rotation of knives, and in truth I couldn't handle more than 2 overall customs because I use them, I don't collect them, and I would want to keep them in frequent rotation. But I would be honored to one day put my name in your queue for one or both of those customs because your design, to me, is that exceptional. :thumbup:
:thumbup
