![]({
"default": "https://ddw.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/thumbs/axis-1_1786538467_1800x1010.jpg",
"tablet-wide": "https://ddw.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/thumbs/axis-1_1786538467_1280x720.jpg",
"tablet-small": "https://ddw.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/thumbs/axis-1_1786538467_968x544.jpg",
"phone-wide": "https://ddw.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/thumbs/axis-1_1786538467_680x.jpg"
})
At the Designer Expo at Piet Hein Eek, Mal Yu presents Shift Hook and Axis Pencil: a wall hook inspired by the keyhole and a pencil that changes function as it moves. Both reconsider how interaction shapes the everyday objects we use.
Shift Hook
Shift Hook is an aluminum/brass/pla wall-mounted hook for keys and small accessories.
The project examines spaces of transition, specifically the threshold between entrance and exit. The keyhole acts as a gatekeeper, serving as a point of contact for moving into and out of a space simultaneously. Shift hook captures this duality of arrival and departure, holding traces of leaving while welcoming the user in.
The gesture of loading/unloading the hook creates an intuitive interaction that feels intentional.
Axis Pencil
Axis Pencil distills writing instruments to elemental forms. A triangle, rectangle, and circle intersect to create a minimalist silhouette.
Featuring a lathed and threaded aluminum ball, the user can spin it to make it travel along the steel rod shaft. Its position changes how the pencil can be used: as a stand, rest, grip or cap. A replaceable magnetic graphite tip completes the pencil.
Through one moving component, a familiar writing tool takes on multiple functions.
About Mal Yu
Her practice focuses on craft and industrial materials and processes to explore relationships between humans, objects, and domestic space through functional works.
