DESIGN NAME: Zirconia Sharpener
PRIMARY FUNCTION: Pencil Sharpener
INSPIRATION: In everyone’s childhood, one of the first objects they encounter is a pencil and a sharpener. Standing over the trash bin and sharpening your tool, and make your marks on paper. This interaction can be related to everyone across different cultures and background. We think the pencil sharpener is a work of beauty. It’s a piece that expresses simplicity and the magic of analog. A pencil sharpener is honest, and as you sharpen your pencil, you see the graphite and wood shavings fly out each turn.
UNIQUE PROPERTIES / PROJECT DESCRIPTION: For drawings and note taking, we always sharpen our pencils. We believe a pencil sharpener made with beautiful and durable material is functional hence leads to desirability. We love the beauty of simplicity, and the magic of analog. The blade and body are made from zirconia and fused into a single unibody block. By utilizing zirconia's material property, the blade doesn't need to be changed and offers a smooth sharpening experience.
OPERATION / FLOW / INTERACTION: The beauty of Zirconia Sharpener is that it's a reinterpretation of the analog pencil sharpener that we're already familiar with, a product that we trust and use everyday. The blade and body are made from zirconia and fused into a single unibody block. By utilizing zirconia’s material property, the blade doesn’t need to be changed and offers a smooth sharpening experience.
PROJECT DURATION AND LOCATION: This project started in April 2016 and finished in May 2016. The duration of project took place in Brooklyn, NY.
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PRODUCTION / REALIZATION TECHNOLOGY: Our goal was to reinterpret the analog pencil sharpener that we’re already familiar with, a product that we trust and use everyday. We are also heavily influenced by a new design approach, Material Justice. We strongly believe that a thoughtful product should also provide the best use of material to accentuate the design. The blade and body are made from zirconia and fused into a single unibody block. By utilizing zirconia’s material property, the blade doesn’t need to be changed and offers a smooth sharpening experience.
SPECIFICATIONS / TECHNICAL PROPERTIES: Width 34.5mm x Depth 23mm x Height 15mm
TAGS: Pencil, Sharpener, Zirconia, Ceramic, Material, Zirconium, Manufacturing, Unibody
RESEARCH ABSTRACT: Practical research, Identify problems, generate insights and design solutions, Qualitative and Pragmatic research methodology, Conducted interviews, researched tensile strength and young's modulus of different materials, researched optimal manufacturing method, researched basic material life cycles, Conducted experiments of different sharpening angles of graphite, 3D printed prototypes to test shape, size, radius, ergonomics, and sharpening angles.
CHALLENGE: The biggest challenge was to validate our hypotheses, investigate variables and collect data. We've also set ourselves some project restrictions, such as; the sharpener must be analog and not electric, longer life cycle than traditional stainless steel blades, reduce the use of plastic, the sharpener must be aesthetically pleasing that it could be displayed like a sculpture. Although zirconia is one of the hardest material in the world, it's also more expensive to manufacture and sell to buyers.
ADDED DATE: 2016-11-10 21:51:14
TEAM MEMBERS (2) : Chengtao Yi and Bryan Wong
IMAGE CREDITS: Image #1: Creator Bryan Wong and Chengtao Yi, Zirconia Sharpener, 2016
Image #2: Photographer Chengtao Yi and Creator Bryan Wong, Zirconia Sharpener, 2016
Image #3: Photographer Chengtao Yi and Creator Bryan Wong, Zirconia Sharpener, 2016
Image #4: Creator Bryan Wong and Chengtao Yi, Zirconia Sharpener, 2016
Image #5: Creator Bryan Wong and Chengtao Yi, Zirconia Sharpener, 2016
PATENTS/COPYRIGHTS: Copyrights belong to Bryan Wong and Chengtao Yi, 2016
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