ruler design

Ruler designs have remained strangely static over time, seeming to persist despite recent revolutions in digital technology. Shay Shafranek is a creative industrial designer who is finally challenging the conventional low-tech ruler tool with a high-tech alternative.

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smart ruler

While the construction of this gadget is nothing if not complex the appearance is extremely simple, kept familiar through the use of the same form and materials as a typical ruler but with a display that shows very precise measurements made relative to start and finish points rather than reflecting absolutes on a fixed scale.

unusual digital ruler

For now, the prototype remains extremely easy-to-use and singular in its functionality, but the design could evolve to include buttons that change the types of units displayed or other interactive calculator elements. Whether this will replace the rules we all grew up with remains to be seen, but it is certainly an interesting alternative product design.

ruler creation process

Here’s how Shafranek describes the creation of this highly unique ruler design.

“Holding the ‘0’ button illuminates the rulers’ digits and the ruler is ready  to go. Passing a pen or pencil along the edge of the ruler will make the numbers go up or down according to the length of the line. Holding the button again resets the value. Pressing the button shortly will toggle the ruler to Cm or Inch mode.”

prosthetic vase

Another fun product by the same designer is the Prosthetic Vase, which looks a bit like a spiky sea urchin.

“When approaching a well-known and popular household object, which has been spoken of and analyzed for decades, is it possible to reach a new level of thought and take it’s design to new places? this project is in fact an outcome of a thinking process involving nature, humanity, flowers and vases in an attempt to create new definitions and raise new questions on the nature of objects.”