Wall Hook (Lift): Materials

Welcome back (or if you’re new, welcome for the first time!) We’re guiding you through the development of IPPINKA’s wall hook, a versatile organizer where you can hang and display all of your favourite things. In last week’s blog, we led you through the refinement of our design and promised to reveal our mystery material selections. Let’s recap a bit: we contacted makers, who helped us decide on a form of our design. They also helped us research materials. After talking to these makers about the pros and cons of different materials and how they work together, we decided to go with (drumroll please)… Wood, metal, and leather! Let’s take a look at why are each of these materials essential to our design.

Wood

Since we aim for a product that is minimal and functional, wood was a perfect choice. Wood has an amazing strength and is easy to manufacture, which makes production straightforward and affordable. It was also important to us to use a base material that blended in with what might already be in someone’s home. The natural look matches nicely with most furniture and flooring. We also like that when exposed to the sun’s rays, wood develops a darker tint. This natural aging adds a little something special to the design – it tells a story about how long the hook has been with you.

Metal

Like we mentioned in last week’s blog, our hook has to hold a bike. How do we do that? Well, my friend, metal is the answer. It’s amazing what a little sheet of steel can do. Not to mention how aesthetically pleasant metal can be. It can be given a surprisingly warm look by giving it a good powder coat – a thin layer of paint that is tougher than any conventional paint and that can resist anything. As we found while we were looking at powder coat options, metal can be beautifully paired with wood, giving the overall product an urban, industrial, or modern look by changing the finish.

Leather

One of our guiding principles is quality. And nothing communicates quality better than leather fills in that spot quite nicely. It also adds a certain extra allure and sophistication to the design. Why is leather essential in our design? We don’t want to give too much away, but think of it this way: leather is soft. It might even be used as a cushion for something! Like steel, it can be customized: there are plenty of colours and textures to choose from – you can trust us, we looked at lots of leather samples! Along with the wood and steel components, adding leather to the mix gave us opportunities to try out all kinds of material combinations. We tried some high-contrast combinations, as well as some more plain looks. Curious about how it all came together in our hook? Join us next week, when we might be revealing a lot more than you think!