By analysing a well-known tool, we can uncover important insights about articulations, mechanisms, and other key elements. A tool may function well, but that does not necessarily mean it has reached its optimum design.
Expressive, vibrant, and accurate: these are the sensations intended through the graphic and technical analysis of the adjustable pliers, explored through various methods.
01. Expressive Analysis
The varied angles and geometric shapes created by these perspectives become the main point of interest, represented through the tool’s own colour palette: grey and variations of orange.
02. Function
The pliers’ mechanism and articulation are what make the tool recognisable to the user. Two main joint movements are shown: the rotary movement used to open and close the handles, and the sliding movement used to adjust the grip.
03. Calculated Zoom-In
A key aspect of the pliers is its “teeth,” which enable the sliding movement of the opposite handle. This is abstracted at an enlarged scale, with movement expressed through focal perspective and interlocking circles.
04. Precise Detail
The exact measurements of the assembled and disassembled components provide a scaled view of the tool’s dimensions. Components are divided by colour to show their location.
05. Decomposition
To understand the distribution of the pieces, each component was dissected using guidelines and colour separation for visual clarity.
06. User and Use
The tool’s ergonomics and user interaction are shown through multi-position illustrations, highlighting movement and contact areas.
07. Reality
A rendered 3D model brings the tool’s dimensionality into a realistic three-dimensional field, presented against a simple background to keep the focus on the object.
08. Identity
The object’s geometry, as the basis of its functionality and identity, is translated into a mosaic-like matrix of hexagons, alluding to the hexagonal nuts most commonly used with pliers. Areas of interest are given more detail through clean lines and more precise geometry, without breaking the rules of the matrix.
09. Innovation
The project’s real value lies in transforming the plier mechanism into something new and improved. By maintaining the scale of the original mechanism, the object was reimagined as a door latch.
The suction grip created by the pliers’ safety button mechanism optimises an ordinary latch, eliminating the need for a separate locking bar and chain by combining them with the grip and force of the plier mechanism. Its copper finish and hexagonal details allude to the original identity of the pliers.
