Maszat
Our first-year industrial design project focused on designing a unique pencil sharpener. Inspired by a childhood memory, I reinterpreted sharpening as a way of producing pencil shavings for drawing. The design lets the shavings fall directly onto the paper while collecting the wood waste in a foldable leather container that also functions as a handle.
Brief
How to separate pencil sharpening and wooden shavings when drawing with hands?
Approach
What if I don't even let the two components get mixed up in the container?
Core idea
A half-opened container lets the coloured pencil shavings reach the paper, while keeping the wooden shavings inside.
Ideate and Prototype
I was looking for a foldable structure, emphasizing the item's DIY aesthetic.
Leather MVP
Then I found the optimal cutting pattern with synthetic leather.
Testing
After I tested it with a class of 10-year-olds, and observed the need for a separate colour container / palette.
Finalize
Came up with a foldable structure for the colour palette, which also functions as the case for the sharpener.
Maszat was exhibited at the 2024 MOME Best of Forma show - an early confirmation that a first-year brief could produce an object people wanted to actually hold. It shaped how I now look for the overlooked step in any routine action.