Philipp Mahrholdt

Flash back to 2020 – a global pandemic makes the world realise that, far from being peripheral, hygiene has it in it to determine a large part of our everyday lives. The pandemic lastingly changed the way we live. We keep well apart, wear masks and, by using other parts of our body to interact haptically with our environment, alter the way we perceive the world around us.

I have come to the conclusion, therefore, that this altered state necessarily also has implications for the Four Point Guide to Good Grip and that a solution may be found by turning the Guide on its head.

Defensive architecture

Whilst looking for a means of doing just that, I came across the subject of “defensive architecture”. This roughly involves fashioning public/private spaces such as buildings, furniture or other objects in such a way as to prevent any act deemed undesirable by their creator from being performed there.

I was able to apply quintessential elements of this quest for forms of design that condition how users behave to my own product.

Wishing to adopt a light-hearted approach to the subject given how life was during the Corona pandemic, I first came up with some antitheses of my own to the existing four points in the guide:

Thumbrest - thumb slide
Forefinger furrow - forefinger bump
Gripping volume – minimal volume
Support for the palm - sharp edge

I then modelled my avoidance handle on this basis. I drew inspiration from the blade of a knife with a serrated edge; it incorporates the properties set out in the anti-guide to perfection and yet always ensures there is scope for creative use, something I portray in satirical form in my “Tina Türdrücker” comic.

Conclusion

Though the piece can be looked upon as a mere curiosity, a second glance reveals that it actually does have something to say.