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The Ink Stone
Categories: Shopping Arts & Crafts Art Supplies Local Services Printing Services Art Supplies, Printing Services [Edit]
2302 Bowditch St(between Bancroft Way & Durant Ave)
Berkeley, CA 94704
Neighborhoods: Telegraph Ave, UC Campus Area
(510) 843-1162
- Hours:
Mon-Thu 9 am - 9 pm
Fri 9 am - 7 pm
Sat 11 am - 7 pm
Sun 11 am - 9 pm
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
Britt W. said: "*Upon reading the last few of my own reviews, I've decided to take it down a notch. Leggy Laura had a good point- what happens when my Grandma finds my Yelp profile? I don't want any more 'splaining to do than already necessary. So I'm…" read more »
22 reviews for The Ink Stone
Review Highlights
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"...the half crazed architecture students running around trying..." In 3 reviews -
"...wonderful array of drawing and drafting materials in an old..." In 3 reviews -
"...things here that i'm not able to find at Utrecht or Blick." In 3 reviews
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22 reviews in English
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Review from Tito Y.
Emeryville, CA
10/4/2010
The Ink Stone plain and simple has graphic "hands one" supplies such as templates, paper, eraser, ink pens, scales, architectural and engineering tools that need to be available. Head off to other similar places and you are not going to find the professional level tools. You will only find student/hobby selection, that are cheap imitations that are far MORE of a ripoff to students/professionals/artists than "so-called" higher prices. Proximity to campus is not an excuse to cater to just students, its to cater to those that need useful items -near campus.
The Ink Stone will do large sized printings and scale printings suitable for blueprints with ACCURATE scaling. The people behind the counter understand how to plot and number printed sheets so that all of the correlated correctly. You won't be missing a page or find one upside down or in the wrong order. They know the difference between a engineering scale and flat scale or what is a Rapid-o-graphic Pen tip sized 3 vs .03.
Validated Parking is available if you purchase a minimum amount, but if you can show up between 6 and 7, you'll find a pretty good amount of street parking.
You will competitive printing, supply prices. Service will require patience, but when it is your turn, you treated in a personal level, like a real life customer. I don't think The Ink Stone wants or should treat you in the same way as those thankless drones you see at Walmart. -
Review from Jennifer J.
Palo Alto, CA
2/17/2012 2 Check-ins Here
Really cute business and good for poster/sign needs. I don't come here for art supplies, but I had to make a signboard and they had all the material and they helped me with printing (large prints!) and also choosing a board. Really helpful people. Things are a tad expensive, but it's convenient
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Review from Audrey C.
2/15/2011 5 Check-ins Here
I have to say Inkstone should get 3.5 stars. It's really really convenient for any art/architecture students because you get a supply store right down the street from Wurster and it has pretty much the essentials.
Given, the prices are definitely more costly than arts and supplies stores down University, but time is money in the archy world!
if you want to plot something, this place is great for black and white. However ink prints can get really expensive. At the same time, you always want the good quality that Inkstone provides with their prints. -
Review from Eric B.
10/12/2010
The Ink Stone is located between Bancroft and Durant and you have to go up a long flight of stairs and over a parking lot entrance to get here And when I'm wandering around Telegraph Avenue, I'll make make sure that I end up here before I go.
The Ink Stone is a fun office supplies/graphic arts store that is plain and no-nonsense in its layout. Over the years, I have purchased this and that and have always enjoyed the chill service, unique selection, competitive pricing, and shopping adventure. Of course the fact that I really didn't need some of this stuff is entirely besides the point! -
Review from Lauren W.
Oakland, CA
2/3/2008
Dear Ink Stone,
Given your convenient location to UCB's architecture school, you believe this entitles you to grotesquely monstrous prices on art supplies.
Although I do appreciate your late hours and supply of e-flute (only place in the East Bay), I find what your hearty profits from the sleepless, caffeine-addicted architecture students atrocious and immoral. When ever other art store provides a student discount and beginning of the year sale... Where are you? You think you are safe huddled behind and above the walls of Urban Outfitters. Think again, your reign will end someday.
Sincerely,
A Starving Student -
Review from Liza P.
San Francisco, CA
11/4/2005 5 Check-ins Here
Ink Stone is literally in some sort of attick above a public parking garage, which is really weird!!! However, besides the crazy-tall narrow staircase leading up, it's actually a really good art store to get art and drafting supplies. Everything is a bit more expensive than other stores [b/c it is right by campus], but you will find all the essentials for any imaginable project. What irritates me about other stores is that they ALWAYS RUN OUT of the ONE thing you need when you absolutely have to have it, and then you're running around from store to store trying to find that right thickness of Bristol board. Well, your quest is over.
My last trip to InkStone was to get a portfolio for my midterm review... and of course I bought the damn thing about 10 minutes before the review started... and everything worked out. Thank you Ink Stone for always having what I need when I need it!
...
UPDATE:
I have developed a new level of gratitude and appreciation for Ink Stone. They can scan and plot [large format printing] just about anything, their quality is pretty good, and they can usually get this stuff done FAST. When working against deadlines this is INCREDIBLY useful. They still get four stars, because plotting and scanning is expensive. -
Review from Maurice C.
Austin, TX
5/30/2009
It gets a ding because of course it's not going to be as cheap as online, but boy, this place crams a lot into a small space! Get your t-squares, drafting pencils, Moleskines, erasers, vellum, and whatever else art/drafting/stationery related stuff you can think of here.
This place has saved me with their printing services too - more accomodating than Kinko's, which is ok but too restrictive in what/how/format they will print for you.
Plus, I love it's location nestled away above the parking garage on Bowditch =)
Great art and architecture supply store. And pretty much your only option near campus, but luckily the workers are friendly and knowledgeable, and prices aren't too bad. Excellent selection. -
Review from Kat C.
Boulder, CO
2/15/2006
Inkstone rocks.
They will special order you things and treat you well if you're not too huffy with them.
I especially enjoy seeing the half crazed architecture students running around trying to get projects done and watching the patient employees calm them. It's like they're therapists. -
Review from Markito M.
Oakland, CA
12/3/2009
I starting going into this little place back in 1978 when I began college at UCB. Let's not mention the year that I finally graduated but there were many trips to the ink stone to get just the "right" pen.
They have a wonderful array of drawing and drafting materials in an old-school atmosphere.
If I were in the area more I'd visit much more often. -
Review from Rachel E.
Berkeley, CA
4/25/2006
Inkstone is the little beloved art store for the community of planners, landscape architects and regular ol' architects that reside in Wurster Hall at the College of Environmental Design of UC Berkeley.
The store is teeny, and the selection is sometimes a tad sparse, but its convenience factor outweighs any downfall of the place. Employees will also let you browse around behind the counter for stuff they keep away from the regular aisles. I bought a stencil tonight in this very way.
Only pet friendly art store I've ever been to. And they also have some really cheap stuff - $8 studio lamps on special at the beginning of the term.
The downside about the Stone is that they are kind of lazy about restocking items. For two weeks, people in my drawing class went there and asked if they had any watercolor paper of a certain grade. Each time we were told that they just ran out but it would be available tomorrow. For those kinds of items their reliability is sort of a joke, so you learn to go to Blick or Utrect for the kind of stuff that requires diligent restocking attention. -
Review from Catherine K.
Berkeley, CA
6/10/2009
I needed a paper banner printed immediately so I went on Yelp to look for a nearby printer who would do it for cheap. Copy Central and ZeeZee were too expensive and University said they didn't do paper banners.
Ink Stone saved the day! Cheap price ($18 pre-tax for a 24x36 print) and they did fast work (took about 15 minutes, mainly because we had to wait for the guy to get back from his coffee break), and the banner turned out beautifully.
Less one star because the employees there seem to be specialized and don't necessarily know how a particular thing works or is priced. When I first called, the guy who answered the phone had to ask someone else all of the questions I was asking him, and when I got there the employee in the store said to please wait for the other guy to get back since he knew the print process much better. He said it politely though! -
Review from Gypsy J.
Berkeley, CA
5/21/2011
It was a lucky day when someone told me Ink Stone was up that skinny stairwell on Bowditch. A place I can buy supplies and not have the lug them for miles or on the bus? I found the best sturdy flip notebook here, too, that's made my job more comfortable. If I randomly need industrial glue or Velcro, it's here, a block and a half from home, and they stay open pretty late. The employees have also been helpful and given me good advice on projects even if it meant not buying something they sell. And I have to say, the prices have been great. For what I buy here, I can't remember paying more than $15 for a bag of items. I know you can find cheaper art supplies elsewhere by bargain hunting or going to Blick, but the prices here are comparable to what I've seen at most shops.
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Review from Lauren G.
San Francisco, CA
1/16/2007
They provide me and my office with a plethora of foam core in all the right sizes!
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Review from Sofi P.
San Jose, CA
4/3/2007
This place has all of your creative needs. I go here often to get my supplies of art stuff & various things of the sort
I've been to like 5-6 stationary/copy stores to find what I needed and only ink stone had what I wanted. I needed a large & long poster sheet or butcher paper. I wanted to make banners out of them. For my gf's bday I made a banner for her that said Happy 19th Bday and decorated w ribbon, glitter, markers/drawings & hearts. Another time I did something stupid so I bought a blue spray can from here and another long poster/banner paper and I wrote "I Heart U" w/ the spray can and posted it on the apartment building that was across from her apartment, so that when she looked out her apartment she could see the poster on the wall. Let me tell you, it was not easy I almost fell down 2-3 stories and would have landed splat on the ground. I basically posted the poster on the wall of the highest floor/roof and had to lean over the wall to do so. Scary!
The people are really nice they'll let you browse the entire store and give you what you want even if item isn't suppose to be used for certain things. They charge pretty cheap, I mean 10 cents for every feet of paper. Not bad and they gave me a tube to keep the paper in.
Awesome store inspires awesome ideas -
Review from T'sters M.
Sacramento, CA
4/25/2010
The Ink Stone is a great place for art supplies and basic school supplies. They have lots of canvas, drawing paper, and tools. Prices are comparable to other art shops in town. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable.
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Review from Pat T.
Berkeley, CA
7/2/2007
My favorite art store in the Bay Area. It's small but has a charming mom-and-pop been-here-since-the-1950s feel. An island of calm in an Urban Outfitter world (just around the corner).
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Review from Stephanie P.
Berkeley, CA
4/16/2008
You've never seen such a staggering selection of pens, notebooks, and unidentifiable (to my naive non-architecture-student eye) gadgety things as is available at Ink Stone. Please, go into this store and see if you aren't blown away by the sheer variety of, say, X-acto knife blades of all shapes; or felt-tip pen points (calligraphic, paintbrush-style, and on and on). Reviewers bemoaning the high prices, you'll notice, still have to admit that the goods for sale here are unique, available nowhere else in Berkeley --and honestly, "expensive" to a student just means that we get no special discount (horror of horrors). Ink Stone has saved me several times when I've run out of some art supply while working in the campus art studios nearly across the street. I wish people would shop at this charming creative haven instead of the massive faceless icky Student Store.
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Review from Ryan Y.
Berkeley, CA
3/21/2009
Artists and architects. Get your crap printed here. Student groups, get your banners printed here. they will do a 24x36 full color print for $20 so get to it! Other art supplies are a tad more expensive but otherwise reasonable for being in good proximity to campus. As for the prices, art students can get over it - art students have condemned themselves to studios and cardboard boxes because art supplies are expensive in general.
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Review from Susan L.
San Francisco, CA
9/26/2010
I don't know why people here love inkstone. They consistently try to rip us off and over price items(the -EXACT- same items you can find at other places) because of their proximity to campus. Taking advantage of students isn't what I call a great establishment. Their service is sluggish at best and totally rude and incompetent at worse. $17 for a "color" PLOT is not worth it. I've never liked this place since freshmen year and I still hate it now that i'm about to graduate.
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Review from jamie k.
Oakland, CA
7/13/2009
Had some black line prints done here and they were very helpful and fast. Great little architecture supply store...found things here that i'm not able to find at Utrecht or Blick. Very reasonable prices. Knowledgeable staff. Will go back for all of my printing. They also validate parking for right under their building if you spend more than $5 in their store....this is so worth it rather than fighting for a parking space.
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Review from Seb. M.
Hayward, CA
3/29/2010
Parking can be a pain and not always free, so please account for that. Speaking with one of the girls that work there, they do validate, but it's only for the first 15 or 20 minutes. Please call first to verify this info.
They are a little difficult to find at first since it's tucked away on the second floor. You must enter through a fairly steep and narrow staircase on the right-hand side of the building.
They're prices are also a little more than I had imagined. To be fair, there are items that are equivalent if not cheaper than other art stores.
However, they do have quite a bit of model making supplies. More than what you will normally see at a bricks-and-mortar storefront. This is also one of the few places that carries architectural chipboard, which is a bit more on the grayish side, rigid, and of higher quality than regular chipboard. Gives you a cleaner cut, and better for glue adhesion. -
Review from Lauren G.
Berkeley, CA
3/15/2011
This place has a lot of great supplies. I picked up butcher paper (only $0.20 a foot), and some paint for a school project. The location is conveniently located on campus, and they had great customers service. They helped me find exactly what I needed, and then took care to package up my paper so that it wouldn't get wet in the pouring rain.
