Most of us have controversially difficult relations with small and basic hardware pieces such as nails, harbouring too many memories of enthusiastic DIY sessions that ended up with random fingers hit hard with hammers and other assorted minor accidents and domestic tragedies.
Things may change, though, thanks to very different and visually striking hardware pieces designed by Droog. The collection - entitled "Construct Me!" and featuring 210 hardware items - was launched during Milan Design Week in what could be described as the smallest Droog/design exhibition/presentation ever. Located in a proper hardware store - Ferramenta Alfredo Viganò & C. in Via Panfilo Castaldi (until today, 19th April) - the presentation consisted in a table display case with several examples of screws, hinges, nuts, nails, brackets and other assorted hardware. So where is the innovation or the twist in this hardware tale?
All pieces are characterised by an extremely sensual and functional design. Some of them come in bright pink or blue shades, others glow in the dark. Nuts have grown four wings rather than two to add more character, while screw heads were amplified, so that the user won't miss them. Tie wraps work two ways to combine posts or tie around table legs; pattern brackets can be tessellated, combined and arranged as the user wishes to update existing furniture (or even build your own).
Screws remain the most desirable pieces as they feature cute emoticons winking, smiling, or sticking their tongues out or graphic signs such as stars, dashes and letters.
Studio Droog's main aim with this collection was going back to the basics and make visible and desirable those ordinary elements that are usually small and discrete and that therefore go often unnoticed.
The other point of the collection is celebrating forgotten hardware in a quirky way that will complement also a furniture piece: for example, each flat mesh nail adds a fun touch to the piece it will be incorporated in, as the mesh head flattens in a unique way upon each strike of the hammer.
Functionality remains high on the agenda, though, as all the screws can be used with a standard screwdriver.
The collection is accompanied by a hilarious catalogue with cool graphics in which the hardware pieces shout "Screw me (All Over the Place)" or "Tie Me Up!", slogans that add further fun to the hardware theme, something that was emphasised at the live presentation also through a gumball vending machine selling smiley screws outside the Ferramenta store.
Nominated to the 5th Edition of the Milan Design Award and winner in the Best Tech category, the "Construct Me!" hardware collection by Studio Droog has just one fault: the designers didn't realise that some of the pieces look so desirable that many of us will buy them to incorporate them not in our furniture but in our clothes and accessories.
Image credits for this post
1. Selected Pieces from "Construct Me! Hardware" by Studio Droog - Milan 2015. Products shown (L-R): Flat Cross Screw X-Large; Wing Nut Large; Wing Nut Medium; Double Tie Wrap; Flat Cross Screw Large; Nail Holder with Cross Head Nail; FlatMesh Nail; Pattern Hinge (combination); Emoticon Screw (smile); Pattern Bracket One. Photographer: Ilco Kemmere.
2. Flat Mesh Nail by Studio Droog. Photographer: Ilco Kemmere.
3. Wing Nut (Size L and M) by Studio Droog. Photographer: Ilco Kemmere.
4. Flat Cross Screw XL (Blue); Flat Cross Screw L (Bronze). All designs by Studio Droog. Photographer: Ilco Kemmere.
5 - 6. Emoticon screws by Studio Droog. Photographer: Ilco Kemmere.
7. Nail Holder in Pink with Cross Head Nail by Studio Droog. Photographer: Ilco Kemmere.
8 - 9. The "Construct Me!" hardware collection by Droog inside the Ferramenta Alfredo Viganò, Milan. Photography by: Ki Leung.
10 - 11 - 12. Ferramenta Alfredo Viganò, Via Panfilo Castaldi 40, Milan, the hardware store where Droog presented the "Construct Me! Hardware" collection. Images by: Studio Droog.
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