Combination Tools / Hochschule für Gestaltung / 2006
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Development of „Offenbach Combination Tools“ which provide new combinations of functionalities for the hobbyist model maker, the do it yourselfer, the professional tinkerer or the craftsman. The tool must be producible in a one-shot process.

The precise observation of actions, situations, workflows and the analysis of those observations is one of the most important tasks of the designer. For this reason each student kicked off the project with the visit of a specialised local craftsman, filming a documentary of the work procedures and the special tools. Watching and filming the likes of equine dentists, glass bead manufacturers, taxidermists, pastry cooks, restorers, leather workers or manufacturers of prostheses created a heightened attentiveness and fascination for highly optimised tools as well as highly specialised activities.

The new combination tools were inspired by the observation of one’s own activities or the everyday problems of friends, mothers, fishmongers…
The design, ergonomics, and the handling of the tool were refined by means of 1:1 models and tests until a convincing solution was arrived at.

The ravioli cutting scoop, the tube-squeezing toothbrush, the cookie-cutting rolling pin, the distance-keeping button sowing tool, the teabag-squeezing spoon, the cable reel guitar stand…all these tools were displayed as life-size models including instruction manuals at the end of the project and declared surprisingly useful.